
Splitgate is a free-to-play multiplayer FPS that adds a genuinely novel wrinkle to arena combat on PC: player-controlled portals. Advances in traversal turn every firefight into a three-dimensional puzzle, letting you fly, flank, and frag through the air while constantly repositioning to catch opponents off guard. The sci-fi setting frames close-quarters gunplay that feels reassuringly familiar to anyone raised on the past two decades of shooters, and IGN's shorthand for the mix, "Halo meets Portal," captures the appeal neatly.
The portal system is the heart of it. Rather than simply running and gunning, you can drop entrances and exits to loop behind a distracted enemy, land a no-scope headshot from an unexpected angle, or vanish from someone who still believes you are standing right in front of them. Keeping your head on a swivel is essential, because so can everyone else.
For a free title, the package is unusually generous. There are more than 15 casual and competitive game modes, over 20 maps spanning settings like a volcano research facility, an underwater luxury hotel, and an alien crash site, plus grindable challenges, dozens of customizable characters, and a ranked leaderboard system. Each map plays differently, rewarding players who adapt their tactics on the fly.