Split

Set in a bleak future dystopia, Split submerges the player into a world of technological madness, where they’ll be forced to solve some mind-bending puzzles that will completely defy their perception of space and time. From cloning yourself to manipulating time, Split prides itself on just how varied and challenging its cyberpunk puzzles are.

If the puzzles aren’t enough to keep you entertained, then surely the game’s outstanding atmosphere and its colorful setting are sure to make the trick. This is a beautiful game that uses a ton of unique gameplay mechanics to encourage lateral thinking — and is sure to become a classic in this genre.

Across Time and Space

In the near future, giant city-states have become the new standard of living, isolating residents of each city complex from those of another. Your character gets drawn in into a world of conspiracies and nefarious plots from which the only escape has to do with modern cloning and time-manipulating technologies.

Split paints a bleak vision of a cyberpunk dystopia, but that setting is just there as the backdrop to the game’s clever puzzle mechanics. Much like Portal and Portal 2, it seems like the developers have grasped the idea that such a dreary setting makes solving puzzles all the more enjoyable for the player, for some reason.

The main puzzle-solving mechanic in Split relies on your character cloning themselves to achieve different objectives. Most of the time, you’ll want to clone your character to help distract enemies or activate switches; most of the time, you’ll have an undeniable sense of deja vu with some of the puzzles, but developer Garlic Jam has been very open about which games they drew inspiration from.

There are also some combat segments that make the game quite distinct from the iconic Portal series. It’s also worth mentioning that the plot is suitably dark for the game’s cyberpunk setting. Although much of the story is told using static cutscenes, the presentation on display here is truly exceptional.

Puzzling Escapades

As we mentioned before, the developers have been quite open about their intentions of paying homage to some of the most iconic games in the puzzle genre. It should come as no surprise that one of the games they cite as inspiration is The Talos Principle, and that’s because Split uses many of that game’s puzzle structures as building blocks.

Split relies a lot on its unique puzzle-solving mechanics, so much so that they become second nature to the player. This should be the objective of any great puzzle game: crafting gameplay mechanics that feel more like a tool rather than a gimmick — and Split absolutely nails that concept.

Never does the game feel like it's throwing the same puzzles at you, and the variety of challenges helps ameliorate the somewhat bland neon-lit levels that you’ll be seeing all through the game.

Even though the levels can feel a bit samey, the visuals are serviceable enough to keep players invested in this grim futuristic dystopia.

Pros

• Innovative gameplay mechanics
• Interesting plot
• Mind-boggling puzzles that will challenge even the smartest players

Cons

• Environments could use a bit of variety
• Some gameplay mechanics can take a bit of time to get used to