Three weeks ago I stumbled across a game that directly evoked memories of the good old days of gaming in me. Okay, pobably more my good old days, younger people have other good old days.
Back to the topic: When I started gaming, shooters were a bit simpler. No trajectories, no skills, no classes. The player, his skill and a lot of action.
Just to name a few names: Everyone knows Counter-Strike, Quake too. And of course Unreal Tournament. They all have one thing in common: the shot flies to the crosshairs, the maps are small by today’s standards and you need skills: reaction, accuracy and speed.
Since Battlefield and Call of Duty, arena shooters have disappeared into oblivion. Sure, there was a smaller game now and then, but really they just copied the old formula. They seemed old, unrefreshing, and had a small fanbase.
Even if I wish it differently, that’s probably also the future of the game I’m presenting here: Splitgate. The game is a perfect mixture of the old arena shooters, the slower Halo and… Portal.
Due to the slower speed it is not as challenging as Quake or Unreal Tournament. To compensate for this, the portals were developed. They work like in the Valve game Portal. You can place two portals on suitable areas. Once both are placed, you can see through them, walk through them and shoot through them. So they are both a shortcut and a spy gate.
This allows players to move across the map quickly and unpredictably. You shoot an enemy in front of you, he disappears around the corner and reappears behind you. No idea who’s lurking around the corner? Two portals, and the enemy is visible and you can shoot him in the back through the portal.
The portals expand the gameplay enormously. Unfortunately, thanks to technical limitations, you can only see through your own portals. The others are not visible to you – but you can pass through them. And you can see if an enemy is on the other side (or even in the line of fire).
The portals sound powerful, and they are. For both sides. You see through a portal like a telescope. I have jumped into a trap several times. To do this, you have grenades to close the enemy portals. Jump through and your portal is closed? Dumb if you’re alone.
If you like arena shooters, Splitgate is the game for you. Did I mention that the game is Free2Play and relies solely on real-money cosmetic items? Even the Battle Pass only has cosmetic items.
The game is available on PC (Steam), XBox (One and up) and Playstation (4 and up). If you want, feel free to enter my friend code before you reach level 10: W58VG4
This month there will be SKINs again, mainly for the Tempest. Like the last times, send me an EVEMail to eXeler0n with the subject “SKIN Splitgate” to participate.
