EMPULSE is the new movement shooter from 1047 Games, the team behind Splitgate 2 (aka Splitgate: Arena Reloaded). The game is a premium title, priced at $20, but it hosted a free week during Steam Next Fest.
While EMPULSE is positioned as a movement shooter rather than an arena shooter, like Splitgate, at their core, the games feel almost too similar. After playing EMPULSE throughout the open week, the game felt like Splitgate, but with a few gimmicks and a different aesthetic.
From movement and gunplay to even modes
If you have ever played Splitgate, many features in EMPULSE will look familiar. The core movement, gunplay, and the jetpack were carried over from the arena shooter. While the guns in EMPULSE are different, they feel similar, if not identical. From firing and reloading to ADS and hit marks, the gunplay is the same, but with a different paint job.
When it comes to customizing loadouts, the attachments and Perks also follow the same formula. You can equip up to two attachments per weapon, ranging from Barrel Extension to Extended Mag. The Perks have more distinct effects, like granting an extra grapple charge, but it’s still three Perks per loadout.
Some of the similarities carried over to the game modes, too. Upload instantly reminded me of Splitball, where you contest the ball to try to score it into the opponent’s base. The scale and maps are different, but the ball mechanics are the same.
EMPULSE‘s distinct feature, mechs, feels more like a gimmick. Because those act as power weapons, mechs aren’t as integral to the core game, except for a mode like Capture the Mech. After playing the no-mech TDM mode, Lancer vs Lancer, I didn’t feel like jumping back into the regular TDM.
A fluid high-octane experience
That is not to say EMPULSE is a bad game. At its core, Splitgate has one of the best movement and gunplay systems in a multiplayer shooter. EMPULSE then builds on that with expanded movement features, like wall-running, longer sliding, grappling, and P.A.I.N.T. Bombs. P.A.I.N.T. Bombs replace traditional equipment and are gadgets that affect surfaces, increasing your speed, jump height, and more.
Chaining P.A.I.N.T. Bombs into slides and then grappling into a wall-run allows for some high-octane gameplay around much larger and open maps. The speed makes gunfights trickier, creating a new level of skill expression. Whether it’s wall-running as long as possible to upload data in Intel or trying to intercept a mech without getting killed in Capture the Mech.
It doesn’t make the games less similar, though, and after revisiting Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, it became clearer that EMPULSE could have been a dedicated mode rather than a standalone game. Despite a low player population, Splitgate is still incredibly fun, and I would much rather see EMPULSE‘s movement gameplay in Splitgate: Arena Reloaded instead of its battle royale.
Understandable pivot, but with a lack of trust
There’s likely a good reason why 1047 Games made EMPULSE its main priority, though. As a free-to-play game, Splitgate 2 required a stream of revenue from microtransactions, which immediately sparked a controversy after release for being overpriced.
In an interview with Gaming World Interviews, Ian Proulx, CEO of 1047 Games, highlighted that the team wants to focus on what matters most to players. This is why EMPULSE has a $20 price tag and releases in early access.
At the same time, the developer promised no store, no battle pass, no paid cosmetics, no microtransactions, and no additional paid content with the early access launch on June 24, which is refreshing to hear from any multiplayer shooter.
But the quick reversal of Splitgate 2 back into beta after launch, re-release as Splitgate: Arena Reloaded, an immediate pivot to EMPULSE, and similarities between the titles don’t inspire confidence. Despite its solid base, EMPULSE doesn’t seem distinct enough to justify being a standalone paid title.
On top of that, history might repeat itself, and if EMPULSE doesn’t get traction, it might get abandoned just as quickly.
