... and it might be your fault.
Josef Fares is the king of co-op adventures, capturing hearts with Brothers* and cementing his status with a Game Awards win for It Takes Two. Fares’ Hazelight is back with its next co-op EA Original in Split Fiction — and while it will certainly entertain, it doesn’t take co-op hijinks to new heights.
Announced at — you guessed it — the latest Game Awards, Split Fiction has two players fill the shoes of aspiring writers Mio and Zoe. Mio’s mind is firmly rooted in science fiction while Zoe writes tales that are decidedly in the fantasy genre.
Faster than you can say, “Elon Musk is allegedly attempting to obtain Americans’ social security numbers and feed them to his pointless Grok AI”, Mio and Zoe are conned into hooking up their consciousnesses into a machine that’ll suck their creativity dry. The pair are then forced to work together in order to escape as their stories fuse together due to a nasty technical glitch.
Players have the choice of pairing up on the couch or online (my husband I opted for the former), and friends can even take advantage of a cross-platform Friend Pass that means only one of the two players need to purchase the title. Fittingly, the Trek nerd that I am chose Mio, while I tore my hubby away from Avowed long enough to control Zoe.
Mio and Zoe come from decidedly different backgrounds and imagine lives in remarkably different settings. Their differences feed into their frustrations, and that results in banter that is equal to that of Cody and May in It Takes Two.
For that matter, gameplay is largely the same between Fares’ two latest titles. Bouncing between sci-fi and fantasy worlds — and also inside side stories that break up the larger worlds — Mio and Zoe adopt different powers and must use them co-operatively in order to survive.
That ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality is applied to Split Fiction‘s overall structure. Mio and Zoe face relatively simple challenges as their stories begin, though things quickly ramp up. Side stories also provide ever-increasing challenge; my hubby and I needed to put our DualSenses down and take a breath after fighting a particularly homicidal robot that saddled us with ticking time-bombs.
Well, it was either that or get divorced. (We didn’t, by the way, and we eventually got our timing down to best the robot too.)
While It Takes Two was always about serving an overall narrative, Split Fiction plays things fast and loose. The nature of its narrative means Hazelight can throw everything including the kitchen sink at our heroes, but nevertheless things feel disjointed.
In comparison, It Takes Two had far less explanation for its wildly varied gameplay, but things felt like a better fit nonetheless.
For a game about writers, Split Fiction continually is in need of an edit. Mio and Zoe’s individual tales just stretch on a little too long in every instance. One great example is in a creation of Zoe’s involving shapeshifting. After one too many bouts of towing your partner through a lake, there’s one too many instances of moving platforms so the other partner could clamber through.
The intent of the level is to find and fight an Ice King, but you’re suddenly informed you’ll need to take on a Monkey King before you do that. Said secondary ruler requires you to take part in rhythm-based spectacles (though not really); several challenges over, my hubby and I kept saying, “another one?” as another incredibly minute iteration was then demanded of us.
Side stories offer fun little, bite-sized escapes from larger worlds, but don’t offer the same replay as similar diversions — aka competitive mini-games — did in It Takes Two.
Despite these pain points, there’s no denying Split Fiction is an enjoyable romp. It is equal parts platformer, shooter, and puzzler. Grab a friend and get playing (though if you’ve not played It Takes Two as yet, that’s recommended above this).
Split Fiction heads to Windows PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5 on 6 March.
*And yes, I know that Brothers wasn’t inherently co-op, but you could play it that way. Shh.
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Split Fiction6 March 2025, 5 June 2025 (Switch 2)PC PS5 Switch 2 Xbox Series S & X
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Split Fiction was reviewed using a promotional code on PS5, as provided by the publisher. Click here to learn more about Stevivor’s scoring scale.
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