It took a few matches of Splitgate 2 before I understood what 1047 Games was going for in the sequel. A preview session held a few weeks ago took us through every mode on offer in the alpha running today through March 2, and while I couldn't stay for the whole thing, I stuck around long enough to fall in love with Hotzone, 1047's take on King of the Hill.
In Hotzone, the first team to capture two hills wins the round. The twist lies in the respawns: Getting back into the fight takes longer and longer as the round goes on, but teammates can shave seconds off the timer by getting kills. It functions sort of like a comeback mechanic in a MOBA—if your whole team dies but you suddenly pop off with a three killstreak, they all come back in a jiffy. I also checked out Splitball, which reminded me of Halo Griffball, except once you score a goal enemies can sneak into your base and steal them back.
