When two writers get sucked into each other’s fictional worlds, the chaos that ensues makes Hazelight’s latest co-op adventure a masterclass in shared gaming experiences.
The co-op genre of gaming is one that has been sorely overlooked in recent years. With the rise of online gaming, many local split-screen franchises have fallen by the wayside.
But developer Hazelight Studios has dedicated itself to making great narrative-driven co-operative games, with the likes of It Takes Two and A Way Out showcasing this.
Ready, player one and two
Split Fiction is the studio’s latest release, which blends a co-op teamwork experience seamlessly with an engaging story-driven adventure, literally requiring two players to complete it.
Split Fiction tells the story of two writers who get pulled into one another’s stories and have to work together to get through some zany and bizarre scenarios. This is the absolute beauty of Split Fiction.
Don’t strangle your partner!
Some levels will see you fighting aliens, while others will have you riding dragons. It’s all about trying to work in tandem and get through the experience without strangling your co-op buddy.
And while it might seem quite chaotic, the controls and gameplay mechanics are established early on, which allows you to kind of know what you’re doing, so there’s no difficulty in how to play.
Noob-and-veteran collab
As an added feature of accessibility, Split Fiction is quite forgiving in order to promote gamers of different skill levels to play together, but still requires one another to progress past certain puzzles and objectives. It’s simply a testament to the ingenuity of the design of the game.
On the graphical front, Split Fiction is a really great-looking game with some stellar motion capture work used during cut-scenes
Tough… but not too tough
If you’re looking for something to play with a friend or partner, Split Fiction should be on your radar. It may be a little more demanding than other light-hearted co-op games, but its forgiving nature and fun premise make playing through it an absolute joy.
Split Fiction is available at around R900 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It scores 5 out of 5.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
