There’s nothing quite like that moment when a video game has you exclaiming ‘wow’ without a second thought. And when it happens frequently, that’s when you know you’re onto something special. That’s exactly how I felt during my one-hour hands-on session with Split Fiction, the latest co-op adventure from Hazelight Studios, soon to be released under EA.
Teaming up for the session was none other than Josef Fares, Hazelight’s charismatic founder. In the UK, we’d probably call him rather suave, but using today’s slang, I’d say the man’s got rizz. Meeting him, dressed as sharp as a knife, made me almost regret the fact I was here as a gaming journalist rather than a GQ writer. As someone who has a keen eye for timepieces, I couldn’t help but check out his wrist the moment we shook hands, and yes, he delivered.
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A quirky detail about Fares is that whenever I use my phone as a dictaphone, Google’s AI always tries to christen the conversation with a fitting name post-transcription. A chat with the maestro of Flight Simulator was simply dubbed ‘Flight’, while a conversation with Ryozo Tsujimoto from Capcom was predictably named ‘Monster’. My meeting with Fares? The transcript ended up called ‘Shitload’. This makes perfect sense given both Fares’ hearty language style and the essence of Split Fiction itself.
The design philosophy of Split Fiction revolves around a plethora of content, but not in a cluttered open-world kind of way. Following the success of It Takes Two, Split Fiction smartly places you on a linear narrative path interspersed with diverse and often surprising segments. The game continually astonishes, evoking a ‘wow’ or sometimes a more colorful exclamation multiple times in a session.
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Hazelight has consistently followed a distinctive philosophy in its games, but the concern with new projects is the danger of them feeling too familiar. That was my initial worry when I got the first sneak peek of Split Fiction’s concept. Yet, the game stands out with its ingenious design, captivating setting, and innovative ideas, making it a completely fresh experience compared to It Takes Two, despite some surface similarities.
The core concept revolves around the clash of opposites: two protagonists, Zoe and Mio, each with unique personalities and distinct writing styles—sci-fi for Mio and fantasy for Zoe. Interestingly, the duo ends up at a mysterious company reminiscent of Abstergo from Assassin’s Creed, which uses a mind-scanning machine to transform their stories into a sort of virtual reality experience. What unfolds is a mix of their disparate worlds when both accidentally end up in the machine, leading to an unexpected blend of their narratives.
In Split Fiction, gameplay is, you guessed it, split between these two fictional realities. The journey takes you from gritty sci-fi backdrops straight into enchanting fantasy landscapes, highlighting Zoe’s imaginative creations right after battling through a Blade Runner-esque city with Mio.
Dios Mio! | Image credit: Hazelight Studios / Electronic Arts
The brilliance lies in how the game leverages familiar video game conventions and gives them a new twist. For example, while some sci-fi environments echo the puzzle-solving essence of Metroid, another level morphs into a snowboarding game reminiscent of SSX, complete with all the tricks and scores—a fine demonstration of Split Fiction’s adaptability.
Josef Fares knows he’s onto something revolutionary. His enthusiasm is palpable as he toggles through debug menus, teleporting us from level to level in disbelief. It’s not just about content; it’s diverse content. Tons of it. I like to call it ‘a shitload,’ because that’s exactly what it is—a collection of varied and engaging gaming experiences.
Every now and then, elements are thrown in purely for their novelty. You might find yourself thinking, “the team must love Contra,” or that a particular segment was included because it amused someone, especially the optional parts featuring never-to-be-repeated gameplay mechanics that last barely a quarter of an hour. Naturally, the co-op aspect, a hallmark of Hazelight games, remains central to Split Fiction.
Between the ever-evolving settings, players will encounter precision platforming, cinematic sequences, clever split-screen design, and puzzles that require collaboration to overcome. Crafting these elements and knowing them inside out is Hazelight’s forte, honed over years of dedicated practice, which gives this game its remarkable polish and depth.
“I think we’re getting better and better at it, because we’ve been doing co-op for such a long time,” Fares muses, clearly pleased with how impressed I am.
“We’re almost the best in the world at what we’re doing because nobody else is approaching it the way we are—from the ground up as a co-op experience. While others may have split-screen single-player modes, none craft it from the very beginning like this.”
Wood if you could. | Image credit: Hazelight Studios
Naturally, this approach isn’t without its trials. Take that snowboarding sequence, for example—there’s a specific quality bar set, and it’s imperative that the team meets it since players are sensitive to even the briefest gameplay segments.
“When you’re on a snowboard, as a player, you expect it to feel like you’re on a snowboard. That’s expected. Because as players, they don’t rationalize that, when experiencing combat in games like Devil May Cry, developers polish the combat for the entirety of the project. But with our game, we can’t do that,” Fares elaborates.
“We work hard not to compromise the quality, ensuring that even short-lived mechanics meet polished standards. And that’s become Hazelight’s specialization—identifying which mechanics can be perfected and which can’t, often discerning this early on or even late into development.”
Almost as if to prove his point, Fares dives back into the demo, showing me later sections from the game that left me reeling. There’s an insightful trailer narrated by Fares revealed just after my session at The Game Awards. It excellently illustrates the game’s vision, even though explaining it all is no easy feat. Clicking through the developer tools, he reveals top-secret scenes and fantastic mechanics that are far beyond what I can disclose here, leaving me equally astounded and impressed. These guys are, quite frankly, a bit crazy—but in the best possible way.
Wall-to-wall fun. | Image credit: Hazelight Studios
Two comparisons to other creative undertakings come to mind when playing Split Fiction. Its approach seems inspired by two different kinds of storytelling: one, it has a vibrant, almost Nintendo-like energy but with a lead that swears like a sailor. Second, there’s something distinctly British to it, akin to Doctor Who.
Stick with me here. What makes Doctor Who extraordinary, despite its production challenges, is its unpredictability. Consider Star Trek. Most episodes of The Next Generation or Discovery take place on a spaceship packed with expensive standing sets that are repeatedly used. Crew members transport to a planet for a few scenes, a quick death for a redshirt character, and back to the ship. Contrasting this, Doctor Who boldly constructs entire new worlds for the duration of an episode, only to dismantle them afterward, maintaining a dynamic sense of variety.
You can draw a parallel between the typical game development model, akin to the Star Trek method, and Hazelight’s unique way of doing things—more like Doctor Who, building, dismantling, and moving forward at a rapid pace. This is intended to leave players spinning with the sheer speed of innovation.
Ultimately, this is more of a guided experience than a typical hands-on demo. Instead of playing through entire levels, I was taken on an orchestrated tour through segments of the game, with Fares passionately detailing the studio’s vision. As a result, it’s challenging to gauge the complete package Split Fiction will present. But as far as initial impressions go, it doesn’t get much better. With its scheduled release on March 5, Split Fiction could very well become one of 2025’s most exhilarating games—and I can hardly wait to fully immerse myself in it.
