There are many triple-A first-person shooters with large fan bases. Franchises like Call of Duty and Halo have been making FPS games since the early 2000s. Sometimes with so many titles to choose from things can start to feel repetitive, so playing a completely new FPS can be a nice change of pace. Halo, in particular, is still receiving a lot of backlash from its most recent game, Halo Infinite, leaving some fans looking for an alternative.
As it turns out, there is an indie FPS game that captures the charm of classic Halo titles while incorporating a fresh mechanic. This game, which has been amassing millions of fans since 2021, is Splitgate: Arena Warfare.
How Splitgate Stands Out as an FPS
Splitgate is unique among other FPS titles for its fun new style of gameplay, but part of its appeal stems from how it was developed. The game is owned by a studio called 1047 Games, and Splitgate is its very first project. The founders of 1047 Games, Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian, thought up the basis for Splitgate during their time at Stanford University. As a project demo, they decided to add a portal system to an FPS game. After graduation, Ian and Nicholas hung onto that idea and built the studio 1047 Games, named after their dorm room number, and turned their project into a fully realized video game for anyone to play for free.
Splitgate's original release was in 2019, right about when the COVID-19 pandemic began, making any game released at this time difficult to pull off. Nonetheless, the game eventually became such a success that today millions of fans are downloading and enjoying this free online FPS on both PCs and consoles. What likely attracts fans the most is Splitgate's portal system, which operates identically to the portal system in Portal and Portal 2. Throughout every playable map, there are glowing blue walls that allow players to shoot up to two portals, and this offers loads of strategy in an already fast-paced shooter.
Splitgate's Many Game Modes
On top of the wrist portal device that every player is equipped with, everyone also has access to a jetpack with limited fuel, a vast arsenal of guns and melee weapons, numerous eye-catching maps, and various game modes. Fans of the Halo series should recognize many of the game modes already, such as Fiesta, Shotty Snipers, Gun Game, and Swat. Splitgate even has equivalents to Halo's Infection mode, called Contamination, and Halo's Oddball mode, called Splitball. Those playing the game in an online party will either find themselves cooperating with their team members or pitted against them depending on the game mode.
Beyond these game modes, Splitgate also received some updates over the years that have introduced a new map-creator system quite similar to Halo's Forge mode. With this, players can create whatever type of map they want using one of two starting locations. The creation menu has a wide selection of both synthetic and organic materials to choose from with a limit to how many objects can fit within the map, just like the Forge system. These objects can each be modified to the player's needs using rotation, scaling, magnetics, and more. Once players have finished their map, they can share it with friends online via a map code or by inviting them to join in on the creation itself.
Splitgate: Arena Warfare has come a very long way in just a few years. There are numerous ways to play that will satisfy the needs of both experienced and newer FPS players alike. Beyond this, Splitgate is free and available on all platforms. The developers have mentioned that Splitgate does have a lifespan to think about, and eventually they will be moving on to Splitgate's sequel. However, in the meantime, there's ample reason to enjoy everything the game has to offer.