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The State of Split-Screen Gaming

Can two play at that game?

Kristan Reed avatar
Feature by Kristan Reed Contributor
Updated on
67 comments

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Infinity Ward's take on split-screen gaming looks decent on the surface, with support for up to four players. That said, it's disappointing there's no facility to play the campaign with a friend at all, no option for AI bots to fill out matches and a limited selection of maps. Could do better.

  • Max Players: 4
  • Campaign co-op: No
  • Competitive: Yes
  • Split type: Horizontal-only
  • Drop-in/drop-out: No

Mario Kart Wii

  • Publisher: Nintendo
  • On: Wii

It's somewhat bewildering that split-screen racing has fallen so far out of favour in recent years, especially when it comes to a genre that so obviously lends itself to the concept.

Mario Kart Wii does nothing special whatsoever, but with support for up to four players on one telly, it's an obvious must-have for any self-respecting split-screen fan.

  • Max Players: 4
  • Campaign co-op: No
  • Competitive: Yes
  • Split type: Horizontal-only
  • Drop-in/drop-out: No

Forza Motorsport 2 & 3

Let's face it, it has been slim pickings on the split-screen racing front during this generation.

With that in mind, we should be grateful that Turn 10 bothered to include basic two-player head-to-head support.

But, having made the effort, would it really have been so hard to go the whole hog and offer four-player split-screen, guys? Just saying.


  • Max Players: 2
  • Campaign co-op: No
  • Competitive: Yes
  • Split type: Horizontal
  • Drop-in/drop-out: No

Project Gotham Racing 4

As with Forza, basic two-player split-screen is the order of the day for Bizarre's farewell to the series.

Again, although the presence of split-screen is welcome, it's baffling why so few racing games support more than two players offline.

Honourable Mentions: Other split-screen titles worth checking out

  • Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
  • Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (Xbox 360)
  • Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WW2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Earth Defence Force 2017 (Xbox 360)
  • Kameo: Elements of Power (Xbox 360)
  • Kane & Lynch (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360)
  • Resistance 1 & 2 (PS3)
  • The Simpsons (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Unreal Tournament 3 (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Warhawk (PS3)

Upcoming split-screen titles to look forward to:

  • Brink (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Halo: Reach (Xbox 360)
  • Rage (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360)

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