In today’s time, playing video games everyday is how some of us cope with the stress of this pandemic. If you’re in the hunt for a new game to sink your teeth into, then you’re in luck. Splitgate is a fresh take on a classic competitive arena shooter in an era dominated by the Battle Royale genre in contemporary gaming. 

As someone who has previously played both the Halo and Portal franchise, I was excited to get my hands on the game. I was eager to play because these two games combined with my love of arena shooters like classic Call of Duty sparked a nostalgia factor that gravitated me towards these games. Additionally, I’ve played through most of the massive online games like Fortnite, Warzone or Apex Legends and Splitgate has a much more refreshing feel to the game. 

Breaking The Server

The game takes the gameplay of the legendary Halo series and adds a new mechanic of portals straight out of the old Portal games. It’s Beta release put the game into the hands of the people to test it out before its major release. 1047 Games, the developer behind Splitgate, did not anticipate the sheer number of people who were looking to piggyback onto a newly launched game. Splitgate’s servers did not handle the quantity of players and the team decided to set in a 30-minute queue every player had to go through before they could start playing.  

Different Modes for Different Moods

When you actually do get in the game it offers 18 different game modes like Team DeathMatch, Domination, VIP, and many more. These game modes deliver a unique experience for each game, and alongside its base mechanics, it provides the player an addictive and fresh adventure during this very explorable time in gaming. 

There are classic game modes that are familiar to the average player but there are also new modes like Oddball, wherein a player must continuously hold a ball while their teammates fend off other players. The game also gives players over 10 weapons to choose from to suit any playstyle that players want to use. 

The learning curve is much steeper than the ordinary FPS, due to the game’s mechanics featuring online player vs. player. New mechanics like the portals can be very intimidating for the new player, but provides a much higher ceiling for high-energy and intense gameplay that rewards practice and game time. So don’t think that this game will be a walk in the park on your first try.

Splitgate for All

I, myself play it on the PS5, and it’s very convenient to invite my friends to play this game because it can run on most of the platforms my friends use on a regular basis. It also runs smoothly and does not take up as much space on your device (15gb required) in comparison to games like Warzone that needs almost 200gb. Splitgate’s cross-platform feature enables all consoles such as the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox 1, and PC can all play together in one party (Nintendo Switch version to follow). 

Splitgate’s integration of old game mechanics being simultaneously used can very well be the next big thing once it’s officially released. The game’s mechanics can bring classic game fans are drawn to the arcade-like nature while also bringing in new players that want to stray from what is usually found in FPS shooters. 

I have my own reasons for continuously playing Splitgate. One of those reasons is that I am competitive nature, which Splitgate indulges. I enjoy progression in skill when playing video games, and Splitgate’s steep learning curve rewards players like me who want to continuously excel in competitive play. Its ranked system uses skill-based metrics to match you up with players in a similar skill bracket to test how far you’ve gone if you want to get better at the game. 

I’ve personally played Splitgate everyday for 2 weeks now and the difference from when I started is night and day, while proving that the more you get into a game and get better the more you will enjoy and understand it. On top of that, it’s crossplay functionality is king, as it bands all the consoles together and allows all different types of consoles to play with one another, which is important for me because most of my friends are stuck at home quarantining. 

Splitgate is a very promising game that is slated to fully launch around the month of August. The current state of online gaming seems to be at a standstill because there isn’t 1 game that stands atop of all the others as of the moment, and trying Splitgate with friends wouldn’t seem too bad while being in the middle of it. 

Go ahead and download the Beta for Splitgate on splitgate.com or via Steam right now and start playing. For more info on the game, you can follow their twitter @splitgate.

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