TL;DR: Splitgate 2 is another victim of trend-chasing, and things have only gotten worse after the recent 24GB update.

I feel compelled to switch my review to negative. At its core, Splitgate 2 has bold, incredibly smooth movement and gunplay if you're a casual player hopping in occasiofcnally, you might stick around for a while. That's exactly what I did.

When people genuinely love a game's gameplay, they’ll keep it alive for decades. I recently toured some older FPS' and found active lobbies in Black Ops 2, DOOM [2016], and Quake Champions. I have no doubt SG2 will have its own small, dedicated fanbase that plays until the servers shut down but that’s not the point.

I never played SG1, so I can’t speak to what issues carried over. But right out of the gate, Splitgate 2 screams "just another trend-chaser." From its monetization to its menus, it all feels painfully ''same''. Sure, the gameplay stands out enough for some to appreciate it, but let’s be real: You don’t have the marketing muscle of Marvel Rivals or Call of Duty. You won’t land the same collaborations. So why should anyone drop $35 on your Astra bundle (an astronaut-themed skin added for the 4th of July update)?
PS: It’s not even $35 exactly, it’s 4,000 coins, but the closest pack gives you 3,800, forcing you to buy more. How original, how clever. Maybe make monetization great again before making FPS' and drop following the footsteps of ActiBlizz?

If you think as simple as ''Ok, I am not buying those and so can't you''. No one ain't gonna give you a business 101 but it should be intuitive enough to say the monetization kills the game's longevity. If you hypothesize a player shared between COD BO6 and SG2, I believe they'd be more likely to buy that Ballerina chick (which is hilariously cheaper) than the Astra. I guess they fixed at least some of the pricing but to think they initially charged $30 for a portal skin and dared COD at that... Holy! You exactly mimic their monetization from guns to victory celebrations yet act more aggressive, pricing them wilder.

The battle pass is serviceable and reasonably priced at $5 (could’ve been worse at $10), and you earn enough coins to unlock future chapters. There’s also a discount for buying all three at once.

Now, ranked mode. I get it that the devs were in a "damned if you do, damned if you don’t" situation. Players begged for it, so they added it. But in a skill-based game where map control and chokepoints matter, crossplay is auto. Halo Infinite initially separated KBM rankings before forced itself to cave it (you can guess why) and SG2 doesn't have that playerbase to begin with. It's an hell for solo player as you might expect.

My ranked experience has been miserable. It’s just glorified regular (arguably skill-based) matchmaking. At certain hours, you’re tossed into lobbies with the same handful of players - some Bronze, some Diamond, even Top 100! You can check the game's subreddit for more insight but it's absolutely a thing. I am truly unsure if I've ever seen a worse matchmaking.

Worse, the ranked system, much like the monetization, demands more. More of your time! Because that’s modern multiplayer. Why not just use placement matches instead of forcing a climb? Halo proved this doesn’t work. It especially doesn’t work for a game hemorrhaging players. By the time people's rank gets filtered out I'm afraid there won't be anyone left (at least not casually). You play a match, win it and it refuses to track. You are sweating your arse for 15 mins straight to be left at 0. Unfortunately the tracking issue also carries over to daily/weekly challanges and camos. Like are not these the barebones of the game? What we are left with if these do not work as intended?

And then there’s the "go play something else" crowd. People already are. Splitgate 2 is a hero-based arena shooter because that’s the trend. Fine. But Fragpunk (another trend-chasing, team-based hero shooter) exists. Quake Champions (see - another hero arena-shooter launched with busy visuals, non-existent secondary incentives to keep players going on and defunctional matchmaking) still limps along. Even Destiny’s Crucible somehow persists (which I think would not be any worse than SG2's ranked). I hate QC for what it is, but it has legacy appeal. Players will cling to it until something new comes along. Hardcore arena shooter fans aren’t quick to abandon their favorites, and the high-octane hero shooter market is so oversaturated that even games like THE FINALS are barely surviving. Splitgate 2 has a neat gimmick, sure but so did Fragpunk and THE FINALS. It’s inherently tough to maintain momentum, especially after a rough start. Still, I’d love to see a comeback.

I know there are a lot of comparisons but it's more like developers taking a survey to understand how similar and how different are their playerbase compared to other markets even if they are no-direct competitors. I essentially try to understand how Splitgate 2 positions in this whole plothera of FPS games. It sure has a high skill-ceiling but there should be casual fun if you stick with deathmatch. Just like QC. id had to differentiate themselves because it followed ''point-and-click'' purity for so long and they thought characters would add enough complexity, depth for game to thrive and it miserably failed.

And now Splitgate 2 is dumping resources into a Battle Royale? How does that make sense? It's funny how battleroyale killed Battlerite, one of the most original team-based arena brawlers I've seen in a while. It's not like there's not enough examples. I don't think BR would be where SG2 excel at and it seems like most of the people are disinterested in it.

Lastly, the ranked map/mode pool is weak. I honestly just don't like the modes but it's a personal thing. Team SWAT is the most fun I’ve had and I still think it should be permanent (but probably would be a bit off for ranked). The rotating modes are better than the core ones and deserve a "Party Games" playlist.

Enough with the negativity though, SG2 recently added COD-esque mastery camos (carbon, gold, proelium) and they look dope enough to aim for them. Should occupy the most players for a while. And I think TTK is pretty much right on the point, one of the better aspects of the game. Wouldn't mind a slight increase to bring it closer to Halo: Infinite though.

I’ll give ranked a little more time, but I don’t know what’s next for SG2. I do know I’ll be moving on soon. And when I return (if I return), I hope I don’t find a player count in the triple digits like its predecessor which now has a discontinued support and there's not much point for me to test it...

Wish Titanfall 3 was here! That's the only thing dawg is right about cuz 1047 ain't doing anything too different than the ''same COD every year'' and any other arguable competitor in the market (including Halo the CEO did grew up playing with :D). If this is how FPS' supposed to be great again we are doomed.

There is a lot of people complaining about nonsense in these reviews. The core arena modes are fun and the br mode is also a lot of fun. Movement is extremely smooth, gunplay is very solid, and the portals add for such a cool and unique way to flank enemy players. The game is easy to learn but quite hard to master.

sadly, cheaters and hackers already arrived in masses.....