Split Fiction is one of the best co-op games we’ve played recently, offering sharp split-screen gameplay across a wide range of platforms, including PS5, PS5 Pro, PC and Xbox Series X/S. Perhaps that’s no surprise, given that this is the latest title from the team at Hazelight Studios known for It Takes Two, A Way Out and, under Starbreeze, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. But on what platform does it play best – and is this a rare example of a perfect Unreal Engine 5 release?
Before we get into the technical minutiae, it’s important to underline that Split Fiction benefits from a rightly generous philosophy. Not only can you play together with a friend on one console, but you can also do so online and on different platforms. Moreover, there’s even a pass system that lets you play the game with a friend even if they don’t own it – very cool stuff.
The game is also one of the most polished releases we’ve experienced on console for quite some time, which is surprising as it’s an Unreal Engine 5 release – which allows for some striking visual features, but also typically opens the door to some familiar issues, vis a vis compromised image quality and traversal and/or shader compilation stutter.
The reason is perhaps that the game doesn’t look to use any of the headline UE5 features, such as Lumen global illumination, Nanite geometry, MetaHuman NPCs or virtual shadow maps (VSMs). Instead, Hazelight has opted for more established techniques that work well within the game’s design goals. Characters look good and are animated effectively, while lighting is handled via baked global illumination and environments are on the smaller side. That allows for nice visuals that don’t push any boundaries, but also don’t exhibit any of the aforementioned UE5 issues or more widespread limitations like visual pop-in.