Split Fiction review: "Cements Hazelight as the master of co-op games"

Between the threat of AI, studio closures, and game cancellations, the death of creativity is a sad theme of recent years. It's something that's at the core of Split Fiction – the latest game from co-op specialist Hazelight (It Takes Two, A Way Out) – where corporate greed is literally sucking inspiration directly from creatives. And yet, it's also its antithesis, where yet again this developer proves it has more ideas for game mechanics and level design than some may have in a lifetime. And it manages to cram all of them into a single game.

As two young writers desperately trying to get published, Mio and Zoe find themselves lured to Rader Publishing. But unlike your average book publisher, Rader is a tech company that uses Star Trek holodeck-style technology to instantly bring their stories to life in a type of futuristic ultimate virtual reality.

When Mio smells suspicious intent, she and Zoe are thrown into the same simulation, forcing the two to live out each other's stories with genre-breaking effect. With Mio only focused on sci-fi with robot rampages or races against time and space, and Zoe honed on the dragons, wizardry, and folklore of fantasy, it makes for quite the tonal shift between the game's various levels.

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Robots vs Dragons

Don't read that as a bad thing – it's a brilliant way of ensuring that nothing ever feels monotonous. Like Hazelight's last co-op extravaganza, It Takes Two, there's an absolute abundance of ideas contained within Split Fiction's 15-hour playtime. One minute, you're being chased by a robot hell-bent on revenge for unpaid parking tickets; the next, you're climbing the side of a castle with a baby dragon on your back. Not only have you essentially got two unique games here between the two girls' narrative genres, but each level introduces a completely new way to play.

There are so many game mechanics in Split Fiction that it's almost sad to see some of them get replaced with something new. Without diving into spoiler territory, because there's so much joy in discovery here, there are some levels or smaller ideas that I'd have happily clung to for a full game. My only slight frustration is that sometimes the game decides to take control of the camera at inopportune moments, causing platforming to become awkward, turning you away from the action just when you need to see the next platform. However, these moments are few and far between, and because you don't linger on a mechanic, you're rarely annoyed for long.

The sheer variety here continues to cement Hazelight as the master of cooperative gameplay. While there are some moments where it's a case of pressing a button in sync with your partner, those don't define Split Fiction's co-op experience. Its approach to working in harmony is constantly refreshing, to the point where my partner and I would have a little chuckle on the sofa about the sheer ingenuity of it all. You always have a unique power each per level, such as one level making you into ball droids - one capable of magnetising to different surfaces, the other turning into tiny spider droids that can float like a parachute or get into smaller spaces. The fact you never have the same abilities means you have to communicate to be able to progress, and it's a neat hook to make you want to replay as the other character.

The puzzle-solving isn't ever taxing – which I'd argue is important for keeping the fun at the core of co-op gaming rather than frustration or antagonism —but it's smart and often whimsical. There are some small repetitions of ideas in It Take Two, or at least some familiarity, but never direct copies, which feels like a feat in itself for a game of this size. I love the fact that there are knowing nods to other games, or self-referential jokes and winks to Hazelight's previous games and creator Josef Fares himself.

The co-op is also generous in other ways. Like It Takes Two, Friend Pass returns here. It allows you to play online with a friend for free, with only one of you needing to own the game. You can also play split-screen locally, too, which is how I chose to play.

Bros vs foes

And all of this is without even mentioning the Side Stories that you'll find hidden in the main levels. These smaller self-contained adventures are where Split Fiction really experiments with even more mechanics and themes. It's here that things can get seriously weird and wonderful, from playing as a farting pig to SSX Tricky-esque snowboard racing. Split Fiction is also really good at giving you options to just play around with the world. At one point, you find yourself in the middle of a magical market of sorts, and we lost a good 30 minutes just messing around with spells, magic potions, and giant balls of wool. It's not afraid to press pause on its own action to let you just enjoy the experience of being in its world with someone else.

All of this mechanical creativity is set against the core storyline that brings us closer to our duo of heroes. Mio and Zoe are interesting protagonists, initially reticent to engage with each other's fictions. Thematically, I don’t think it could really be more on point for 2025. Contrasting against the folklore and flying cars, is talk of deep personal trauma, the terrifying rise of the cost of living, and tech bros getting far more powerful than they should be.

Hazelight has created another brilliant adventure that's going straight into our best co-op games list. Split Fiction is quite the opposite of industry trends right now; amidst everything, it's a bastion of ingenuity and gives me hope that creativity isn't quite as in danger as I feared.