Between runs, players will visit the Turtles’ lair. There, they can interact with allies like April O’Neil and Metalhead, buy permanent upgrades, equip artifacts, and switch characters. Permanent upgrades cost Dreamer or Dragon coins, the two currencies that are not lost between runs. Roguelikes are the most fun when they offer plenty of permanent upgrades to buy, and Splintered Fate doesn’t disappoint. Gamers can upgrade the team’s health, attack, special and tool damage, currency gain, and so much more. Most upgrades apply to all of your characters, so you’re not discouraged from changing characters. Artifacts will also unlock as players progress through the game and complete various objectives. One artifact can be equipped at a time, and they provide various boosts and effects.
The other key difference between Splintered Fate and Hades is multiplayer. The TMNT property naturally itself to cooperative play, and the 4-player co-op doesn’t disappoint here. While there are no specific cooperative moves, co-op really feels like a hectic TMNT fight whether the team chooses to focus on the same enemies or divide and conquer. Pizza drops from Foot ninjas are first-come, first-serve in multiplayer, but everything else (scrap, coins, and pizza drops from bosses) is shared amongst the whole team. Players can’t directly revive each other, but if at least one person clears a room or boss, everyone gets revived with a small portion of life.
In fact, because online players retain their own individual progress, coins, and rewards, it’s entirely possible for strong players to carry weaker ones and help them progress through the game faster. Online play also has the advantage of players not being confined to the same screen like they are in “Couch Co-op” mode. In “Online” mode, can choose to find a public run, create a private run, or join with a run code. If no public run is found during the matchmaking process, a public run will be created. During a private run, the host can also choose to switch the run to public. The cinematics that play during an online run are determined by the host player’s progress, and only the host player can choose whether to play or skip them.
One little annoyance about online games is that players can’t change characters in the Lair (unlike in offline games), so you have to leave the game and reenter if you want to switch characters. It would also be nice to have the option to create different online game types, such as a run with all Gauntlet bosses or specific Portal challenges required. This would let players who seek those challenges match up with likeminded players and perhaps discourage beginner players from joining hard game types before they’re ready.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate doesn’t have as many unique levels as TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, but the smart roguelike design here provides far more replayability than that lauded beat ‘em up. Some of that design draws obvious inspiration from Hades, it’s true. Still, the plentitude of playable characters and the sweet co-op (with full cross-play between all platforms!) set Splintered Fate apart. Add some incredible authenticity and stellar voice acting, and Splintered Fate truly qualifies as the finest game to ever star the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I’ve dedicated more than 30 hours to the Steam version, and I’m now happily on my way to doing it again on Xbox. Hey, Super Evil Megacorp, let’s bring on some Jennika DLC and then get cracking on a sequel!
TMNT: Splintered Fate costs $29.99 on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam, and it's also available on iOS.
Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam download codes were provided by the publisher for this review. We really tried the game out on everything!
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: As is tradition, each of the four turtles can be controlled by a human, working together to take down Shredder.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.