Splice (PlayStation 4) Review

In Splice the goal is to move around cells to create different forms to make them able to evolve further. This gives the role and feel of a scientist that explores and discovers different logical patterns in which things evolve in a wonderful way that encourages creative solutions and exploration of its gameplay mechanics.

The game starts off without any tutorials at all. It is up to the player alone to figure out what to do and how to get the cells into the structure that is the goal for the evolution of the cells. At first, this will most likely be a very confusing experience while struggling to figure out what is happening, but very soon different logical rules will be clear and at that point Splice does add new mechanics and rules to play with and figure out.

New features are thankfully added in a slow and steady way with some easier introduction stages. The difficulty curve of newly introduced mechanics are very well developed and how Splice still manages to increase the difficulty of former existing mechanics to never make anything just rest is a sign of marvellous and well thought out game design.

While at first it might feel like an unrecognisable mess, after some experimentation and building, its gameplay will very quickly start to feel extremely natural and fluid. The game is very logical once the logic is fathomed out, and once it is, Splice is always ready to throw more at the player and, therefore, never fails to be challenging or turn stale like some puzzle games do.

One of the greater aspects of Splice is that its ingenious design encourages and rewards exploration and creative design with several puzzles having multiple solutions. This does become very clear later on when the strands come with several detached cells, but not all are part of the solution every time. This creates several moments of having to think hard about what is needed to fulfil the form required, and prioritising is necessary.

While the gameplay is good, as mentioned earlier it is very confusing at the start, which might turn off some before they have even started to figure Splice out, making its greatest strength also its potential greatest weakness. Sadly, it does not appear to be a game for everyone, but almost solely for those who likes exploratory gameplay. That being said, Splice is a perfect choice for those who like this kind of challenge.