Splitgate: The PvP Portal Game You Wished You Knew About

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Shahmeer Sarfaraz

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Five years ago, Splitgate was released in 2019 and has always been a free-to-play, fast-paced game. It has elements of Halo and Quake, with a slight twist, with portals as one of its main elements. To this day, it remains an underrated gem. 

Halo Meets Portal

College Project

Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian were two Stanford University students who combined the elements of the classic Halo 3 and Portal to make a single game from their dorm. Their passion led them to form 1047 Games, and they continued developing it.

They used fast-paced PvP mechanics and gameplay, as in Halo. This includes the jetpack, which you can use to traverse the map easily. It also includes weapons with little to no recoil, which makes shooting rather satisfying. Moreover, it features additional weapons like snipers and rocket launchers as pickups in some maps, which are advantageous for players who obtain them.

Portal

Now, let’s talk about the portal aspect because its mechanics are extremely good. You can place a portal anywhere on the map, and the combination of Halo-inspired combat makes for insane gameplay. 

For instance, you can place one portal at the far end of the map where the enemy team is and place the other portal near you. Similar to Portal, Splitgate has also maintained the see-through design of the portal.

Now, you can see your enemies through the portal and take shots at them while remaining in the comfort of your own team’s place. Similarly, you can make your way to the taller spots from this portal, which you couldn’t reach using your jetpack. 

Gamemodes & Weapons

Classics

It has similar game modes to Halo, such as Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and King of the Hill. It also has a match dedicated for snipers only and the other for both snipers and shotguns. All of these matches have quick spawns and allow for shorter gaming sessions.

Catch The Ball

There’s also a match dedicated to capturing a football called ‘Splitball.’ Here, you have to obtain the ball that unequips your weapons, and you can only run with that ball. The longer you hold the ball, the more points you make. Your enemy can shoot and take the ball from you.

Competitive Matches

For competitive players, there are matches with scores of up to five points, and each team has to eliminate their opponents. This is similar to Counter-Strike and Valorant except for the bomb-planting scenario. 

The matches get intense, especially when you’re the last man standing, and the enemy team still has three players remaining. Using the portal and the pickup weapons came in handy at that time. But, it can also lead to panic because the team rushes with jetpacks.

Weapons

The weapons are also extremely satisfying to use, and each has its own mechanics. For instance, snipers neither have a lot of recoil nor bullet travel, so you don’t have to precisely line up your crosshair at a certain angle.

Similarly, the melee weapon pushes you toward your enemy a few feet closer if you’re close to your enemy. This makes for John Wick-style gameplay when you shoot one far-away enemy with a sniper and switch to your melee to eliminate the closer enemy.  

Still Underrated?

In terms of graphics and movements, this game doesn’t feel like it’s a free-to-play shooter. It also doesn’t appear to be a five-year-old game, but it looks as good and robust as new. Its sound, visual effects, and fluid mechanics give it a timeless classic feel. 

Despite the immersive gameplay with the combination of portals, this game has always remained underrated. While some even consider it better than Halo Infinite, Splitgate’s player base is on the down low even though it is free-to-play.

Splitagate 2

Now the Splitgate team has announced that Splitgate 2 will be released in 2025, and we expect to see refined mechanics, physics, and gameplay. It would be great if the Splitgate team invested heavily in marketing so that many people would be aware of their game.

With the announcements of the trailers they are making right now, it seems that their next game will be more promising, and it might be well-received than its predecessor. 

Shahmeer Sarfaraz

Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.