Hazelight Studios has had an interesting path. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons had a huge impact on me after one of the final moments in the game in which a button press made me feel something. However, after overselling A Way Out on its versatility in storytelling, the response was mixed. My personal feelings were that it was a mixed bag that shined in its small moments. The way each character would react differently to different items and create a clearer portrait of who they were was A Way Out’s big strength. Then came It Takes Two – a game that was mechanically masterful if not a little narratively uneven that cemented the developers reputation as a team to watch.
Now, Split Fiction is here, and the good news is that in many ways it is the best thing that Hazelight have made; more confident, and polished than everything that came before.
The main story line is straightforward – in an alternate future an AI company (called Rader industries) wants writers to sign up under the guise of being published. This causes the two protagonists – Mio and Zoe – to sign up in the hopes of future gains.
Upon arrival the volunteers are introduced to a revolutionary new machine and are set up in individual areas to start the process. Predictably, this turns out to be foil to drain the brains of the writers, and due to a mix-up Mio and Zoe end up locked together each other’s imaginations. They then must rely on each other to help save their ideas from AI by completing their stories and finding glitches to destroy the machine they are trapped in.
The central conflict between Mio and Zoe (because Hazelight likes to create those in its co-op games) is that Mio is into Sci-Fi, and Zoe is into Fantasy. Mio is distant and dismissive, while Zoe is overly positive and chirpy. At first, I found them both really annoying but as the story progressed it painted a clearer picture of why Mio and Zoe were the way they were. I was really impressed with the writing in that regard, even if I agree a little with this Polygon article about the Sci-Fi/Fantasy conflict not fully working.
Even stronger is Split Fiction’s gameplay. The whole of it must be played with a friend, with each of you taking on the role of one of the two leads. The game is mainly a 3-D action platformer, with certain parts switching into two dimensions. Each level alternates between Sci-Fi and Fantasy themed – one level they will be tasked with stopping a sun meltdown, in the next they will need to defeat an Ice King. Although the core verbs of jump and dash remain, each level introduces mechanics to master. In some they will need to create barriers, or master magnetism, then in others will control giant caterpillars, or get to shapeshift.
What is so impressive is that whether you are playing a pig that farts rainbows or playing ‘pass the explosive potato’ in cyber arena, each one of the mechanics is well executed. There are barely any down points in the 10+ hrs of gameplay, and given how frequently Split Fiction mixes these ups is truly astounding. There is no time to get bored with a system before the level discards it and plays with another.
This is where Hazelight seems to have matured the most; everything is more refined, more polished and more confident. This leads into my one complaint about the game – having figured out what worked and what didn’t, streamlining the Co-op experience to almost perfection – Hazelight has also taken out some of the quirks that I liked the most. There is seldom downtime where the characters reflect, and even fewer interactables that show off the character’s personality. For me this was a major draw in their previous games, so the omission is sorely missed, even if I understand why they were taken out.
Conclusion
Split Fiction is a fantastic game, polished to perfection, I can’t imagine how the developers are going to top this.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
