Fourteen years ago, Ian Proulx was unhappy. He had just bought Halo Reach, and when faced with the new abilities available to the Spartans, he worried that them sprinting around and dodging rolls would take away from the spirit of the old Halo. Fast forward to today, and a twist of fate has him becoming the co-founder and CEO of a video game development company, while his colleagues at 1047 Games find themselves adding abilities and factions to Splitgate 2. .
The original Splintergate was definitely a nod to those halcyon days of old-school Halo, despite its portals and power twists that had FPS fans mesmerized when it launched in 2019. , but its sequel, Splitgate 2, is a bigger, better-financed offering. While many things are changing, Proulx told me at Gamescom last month that the core spread of Splitgate’s fundamentals must remain the same. Gunplay, portals and a unique fun atmosphere. But something still has to change.
Manage cookie settings
“A big [weakness] Proulx explained, “In Splintergate, everyone is exactly the same. There are 20 different game modes, but they’re all different styles of the same thing. It’s very interesting, but what we saw Yes, players come in, have a great time for three to four weeks, and then they have nothing to do.
Has 1047 Games decided to inject a solution to player retention and diversity issues? A faction system. Three different factions cater to different play styles, and Proulx wants the factions’ abilities to stay fresh. The overall quality has also improved, and I tried the game at the show. You can certainly feel more money pouring into Splitgate, but there’s also a slight change in direction, thanks in large part to the factions and the benefits they bring.
Proulx elaborated on what it was like going into Splitgate 2 and the added pressure he faced following its previous success. “In Splinter 1, there were no expectations, so there was no point of comparison. In Splinter 2, every decision you made felt like ‘I preferred the old way’. I remember I It’s one of those! I remember playing Halo arriving and saying “What the hell, why are they adding abilities? “Same as Halo 4, right?”
“I definitely noticed it, it was very important to us to retain the feel of Splintergate 1. That’s why we retained the same emphasis on gunplay, portals, and movement as on the first one. So you’ll notice all the Factions in the game – They all have the same movement, health and kill time, these new abilities add an extra layer to the cake, but it still relies on the basics of portals and shooting.
But surely the presence of one-way barriers that can be shot through, one-time health boosts, and short-lived wall hacks that reveal enemies behind walls would have a huge impact? Did Proulx realize he was in the same position as Bungie and later the 343 employees who made the decision years ago when he was skeptical about the powerful abilities included in the Halo series? Those controversial choices? Is he worried?
“Yes and no,” the developer said, “I’m not too worried because we’ve been playing the game internally for a while, we have external playtesters, and now we’ve opened it up to new players , we’ve seen many players who were initially worried that it would turn into an ability-based shooter realize that it’s still about shooting and movement.
So what are the tips for avoiding Halo Reach problems? According to Proulx, you can’t completely dodge, but you can strike a balance. “No matter what you do, you can’t avoid it 100 percent. You can’t please everyone. If all we wanted to do was please everyone, we would make the same game with better graphics and call it a day.” At the same time, it also opens up more diversity and gameplay.
Inevitably, some people will play Splitgate 2 and want to go back to the classic experience, but for me at least, it’s kind of interesting to see an FPS obsessive’s journey from fan to lead developer, solving the same problems, And it’s certainly warm. At least in my opinion, that’s how real innovation happens when a new generation takes that leap and thinks they can do it better than their predecessors. So can Splitgate 2 avoid the Halo Reach problem? Maybe not exactly, but the people behind it are definitely trying it out in unique and ultimately interesting ways.
