Split Fiction can only be played with two people (EA)The makers of It Takes Two return, with an enormously entertaining follow-up that cements their position as the masters of two-player co-op.Swedens Hazelight Studios has built its entire reputation on the increasingly rare concept of two-player co-op-only video games. Whilst that went okay in their first game, A Way Out (and retroactively in director Josef Fares previous title Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons), the formula worked considerably more smoothly in It Takes Two, which learnt from both the successes and failures of the earlier titles. Its humour, kinetic action, and well-designed, collaborative puzzles made it both a major commercial and critical success.Hazelights third game is Split Fiction, which to the surprise of nobody retains the two-player structure of its forebears. It also sees the return of the Friend Pass system, which allows a second player to join in online without having to own their own copy of the game it even works cross-platform now. That generosity immediately bypasses most co-op games biggest problem, which is finding a friend whos bought the same game at the same time as you.The other winning feature that Split Fiction keeps is the ability to play not only online but in couch co-op mode. While online gaming is great in its ability to bring large groups of players together at all hours of the day and night, playing a game with the person youre sitting next to remains one of the best and funniest ways to enjoy interactive entertainment.Despite the somewhat unforgiving stipulation that you simply cant play Split Fiction without a co-op partner, its a game that brings together all of Hazelights experience in new and exciting ways, from the variety and intensity of its action sequences to the way the screen splits and re-merges so cinematically, whilst always keeping both players in view.The games plot and general set-up is very contrived, but it gets the job done. Taking place in the offices of Rader Publishing, its ebullient tech bro CEO has invented a device that lets readers experience books though VR. To rip stories into his new format, authors have to don a body suit and get suspended in a glowing pod, which then captures their ideas.Split Fictions protagonists are Mio and Zoe, two aspiring, un-published authors desperate to get their big breaks. Theyre the epitome of opposites. Ones chatty and outgoing, the other introverted; ones a city girl, while the other grew up in the country; one writes sci-fi, the other fantasy; and ones American, the other English.The action starts when Mio gets cold feet about the whole procedure and decides to back out. After a physical tussle with the increasingly aggressive CEO, she stumbles into Zoes pod, where both of them enter the same fictional world. Except now with two of them in there it starts to glitch and split, catapulting them between the competing cyberpunk and fantasy settings as their diametrically different sets of ideas compete for attention.What ensues is a helter-skelter of palm sweating action sequences bouncing between the two budding authors conflicting styles and settings. Flying car chases and aerial motorcycle pursuits give way to being hunted through a castle full of fast-moving trolls bent on your consumption. Theres also an entire, dizzying section where both characters are under the influence of different sources of gravity, simultaneously occupying walls, floors and ceilings as they move through the same space.Boss fights are equally inventive, although after your first few its no longer much of a shock when the giant robot you thought youd just defeated turns out to have a few more nasty tricks up its sleeve. All of them require you to work with your partner, collaborating on escaping from and eventually taking down the giant bad guy.Once again that process is wonderfully asymmetric, so on one level Zoe will be driving while Mio takes the laser turret, while in another each has a baby dragon. Starting off as eggs, they grow over the course of the level, one able to roll and smash things, the other capable of gliding and using its acid breath to melt armour and chains, combining their skills to solve massive traversal puzzles and finish off the levels final boss. Each player can often be doing very different things (EA)Hectic pursuits through glowing cityscapes give way to 2.5D side-scrolling platforming levels; as well as sequences with a puzzle focus, getting you to work together to make your way through strange poisonous plants, across deadly acid baths, or through massive automated factories whose robotic appendages youll need to jump between to escape.Generous checkpoints mean even the trickiest sections dont get in the way for too long, a few retries always getting you past the problem area and on to the next idea. Thats particularly true of the games optional side stories, which offer their own encapsulated concept or puzzle, some of which can be quite a bit more challenging than the main campaign.More TrendingThe ingenuity and wild invention are omnipresent though, so if you happen not to be enjoying a particular section (we really didnt get on with the Monkey King and his confusing rhythm action boss encounter) you know itll be finished within minutes and that youll be on to the next white knuckle flight of fancy soon after. It turns the game into a fast-moving tasting menu of perfectly realised little delights.The need to co-operate means youre constantly communicating, and the fact that youre regularly armed with guns, gravity whips, magic fireworks, or cyber-ninja katanas, means you can turn them on your partner at any time, the threat of friendly fire a frequent creator of mirth and silliness. There are times when you need to work together to succeed, but also plenty where youre just messing about.Brilliantly conceived, and highly polished from start to finish, Split Fiction is a further escalation of Hazelights growing expertise in co-op gaming, and as a piece of pure entertainment it takes a lot of beating. The laughter, jeering, and overriding sense of hyped-up hijinks is something special to video games, which cant be emulated by films, music or literature. And despite a couple of sections that fall a little flat, this is a dozen hours of the best fun youre likely to ever have with two controllers.Split Fiction review summaryIn Short: Another cracking co-op extravaganza that successfully blends collaborative puzzling and spectacular action sequences into a breathless, occasionally moving and often hilarious, two-player-only experience.Pros: Massively inventive gameplay ideas that are rarely repeated. Highly polished throughout, unique bosses, and you can play co-op with anyone on any platform even if they dont own the game.Cons: Some sections are inevitably not quite as engaging as others. Your co-op partner needs to be at least roughly the same level of skill as you.Score: 9/10Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: 44.99Publisher: EA OriginalsDeveloper: Hazelight StudiosRelease Date: 6th March 2025Age Rating: 16 The plot is silly but the emotional heart of the story works (EA)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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