Remember how big It Takes Twowas? Coming off of the success ofA Way Out,developer Hazelight Studios was intent on hitting the big time with its sophomore outing- and thats exactly what it did.It Takes Twonot only refined the unique narrative-driven co-op formula the studio was keen to build its reputation on, it also delivered spectacular, highly diverse, and consistently creative gameplay moments in one of the most delightful action platformers in recent memory. In addition to receiving widespread critical acclaim and winning a bevy of year-end awards and accolades (including Game of the Year at The Game Awards in December 2021),It Takes Twowas also a huge commercial success (at the time of writing, it stands at over 23 million units sold).Given that context alone, its not a huge surprise thatSplit Fictionis taking off the way it is. Hazelight Studios and EA recently released their third big co-op adventure, one that promises yet more of what the developer has by now become synonymous with in terms of co-op gameplay, but bigger and better than ever before. Excitement forSplit Fictionhad hit a fever pitch in the short span between its December 2024 announcement and early March 2025 release, and that excitement has been reflected in not only near-universal acclaim (with a Metacritic score of 91), but also impressive player numbers. Over its launch weekend, for instance, the game saw a peak of over 259,000 concurrent players on Steam, close tofour timesas high as the all-time high ofIt Takes Two.Clearly, then, the masses have taken toSplit Fictionjust as strongly as the critics have. What exactly is it, however, about the game that has struck such a chord with so many people? Releasing in the middle of a particularly busy period that has seen several other notable launches, fromMonster Hunter WildsandLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaiito the imminentAssassins Creed Shadowsand more, how is it that this co-op experience that actively eschews so many of AAA gamings most commercialized tendencies is selling as well as anything any publisher in the industry could hope for?Obviously, reasons one through ten are- its areallygood game, as the ridiculously positive reviews and eye-wateringly high review scores may have given away. Of course, quality is what is expected of Hazelight Studios at this point, given the excellent track record the studio boasts, and the acclaim, accolades and recognition that the studio has earned as a result. Living up to a reputation is often easier said than done for many in the games industry, however, so it absolutely should not be taken for granted that Hazelight not only keeps meeting expectations, but even surpassing them, with each new game building and improving on already excellent foundations.Thats exactly whatSplit Fictionhas done as well- at least in some really crucial ways, even if the game is not without issues. Much like past Hazelight titles,Split Fictionhas its deficiencies in the storytelling department. The characters are more bundles of tropes than actual, nuanced personalities, the dialogue interactions are often dragged down by clunky dialogue and painfully cookie-cutter cliches, the plot itself often tends to move in highly predictable ways. Personally, I thinkSplit Fictionis definitely an improvement overIt Takes Twoat least, where I activelydislikedpretty much every major character and plot development, but at best, it has gone from grating to serviceable.At best. Narratively, Hazelight still has a lot of growing to do.But many have found those issues rather easy to ignore purely on the back ofthe games gameplay and design strengths, and honestly, its easy to see why. Youd think that games directed by an ex-film director would be better at storytelling than they would be at game design, but just as it was withIt Takes Two,the opposite is true ofSplit Fiction.Hazelights newest action-platformer is an absolute blast to play, and from the first second to the last, it delivers spectacularly creative and varied gameplay moments. Perfectly paced, a constant joy to play, and boasting more variety in a single level than most games have across their entire runtimes,Split Fictionis a game design joyride the likes of which we dont see too often. That its seeing widespread success and acclaim on the back of those strengths first and foremost isnt surprising to see.A high-speed bike chase with enough explosions to put Michael Bay to shame, thrilling platforming sequences in the middle of dense traffic in a futuristic cyberpunk city, riotously fun boss fights, a hilarious one-off sequence where you play as pigs (and, eventually, sausages), a set-piece where you ride through a sea of sand on the back of giant sand sharks, and so, so much more- all of this happens just in the first couple of hours ofSplit Fiction,and it doesnt slow down beyond that point. This is a game that prides itself on its long list of ideas- a multitude of mechanics, locations, premises, set-piece sequences, each fully fleshed out and polished.And once it has done something, it just moves on to the next thing, which just highlights the value of its unwillingness to stay still and get comfortable in its skin that much more. Its a special game that not only has that kind of ambition, but is also capable of actually making good on those promises. The level of mechanical polish and thoughtfulness in design thatSplit Fictionboasts across the board may be easy to take for granted given the developers prestige, but it cannot be overstated just how impressive of an accomplishment it is. Three games in, Hazelight Studios doesnt seem to be running of ideas or creativity by any stretch of the imagination, and on the contrary, is still delivering co-op gameplay unlike anything else weve ever seen.Its also worth highlighting how consumer-friendlySplit Fictionis in so many ways, which you wouldnt ordinarily expect from a game being published by Electronic Arts. The flag-bearer of Hazelights popular practices has long been the Friends Pass, which has unsurprisingly made a return withSplit Fiction, once again allowing two players to play the game with just a single purchase. Whats more, this time around, the Friends Pass also supports cross-play, which means you can buy a copy on, say, PlayStation, and get a friend on Xbox or Steam to play with you by just inviting them to your game, as long as youre both signed in with a connected EA account. It works exactly as smoothly and easily as it should, too, and that lack of friction is doubtless going to attract plenty of players. And lets not forget the fact that this is a $50 game, which might be costlier than any of Hazelights previous titles, but is a notably cheaper price point than the vast majority of modern major releases, especially in the AAA space.After having impressed the industry at large with progressively improved landmark co-op gameplay experiences in the form ofA Way OutandIt Takes Two,Hazelight Studios has now delivered what feels like the ultimate realization of its unique brand of co-op withSplit Fiction, so to see the game getting the widespread praise and recognition that it so clearly deserves is heartening to see, to say the very least. Where the studio will go from here will be interesting to see, but in the here and now,Split Fictiondeserves a tip of the hat, and then some.Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.