How has it been five years since Splatoon 2 released in the summer of 2017? Splatoon 2 was one of the earliest games released for Nintendo Switch, with Nintendo turning out a sequel for the Wii U original that could almost immediately reach a much larger and more appreciative audience. Alongside Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 was one of the two tentpole online multiplayer games behind the Switch’s early success, supported as it was by the regular trickle of game updates with new weapons, new maps, a rather large DLC expansion, and plenty of Splatfests to quiz the playing audience. Of course, that steady stream of support eventually slowed to a trickle and eventually stopped with a bang that was the final ultimate Splatfest to determine the future of this world: Chaos or Order? It was Chaos that won out.
So what does Splatoon 3 have in store? Well, would it really surprise you that much to discover that it is quite a lot like Splatoon 2? Heck, it’s a lot like the original Splatoon as well. It’s a straight-up sequel that takes the same foundations, many of the same fundamentals and works to refine them, making various expansions and improvements where they’re needed.
The heart of the game will be the competitive multiplayer, but for many of us, the first stop will be the new string of story mode missions in a story dubbed ‘Return of the Mammalians’. Once again, you’ll slip through a manhole cover – squidhole? – and into another realm with a slew of short and sweet challenge-like missions to beat.
Needless to say, there was some rust to shake off while playing a small selection of the single-player missions, getting used to the abstracted level designs, the want to paint a trail, switch to squid form and swim through it for speed, riding rails, and taking out the quirkily designed enemies you face. One level had me collecting keys, another was more of a combat run, and I’m sure fans of Splatoon will feel a lot of familiar concepts. A nice little helper through this was the Little Buddy, a customisable Smallfry which is sure to be a fan-favourite within about 5 seconds. In levels they can be thrown at enemies and nibble at them, as well as world triggering distant remote items that you need for progress.
It was here that I got to go hands-on with the brand new Ink Bow for the first time and in particular the Tri-Stringer. It’s a quirky take on the traditional bow and arrow with three shots that start well-spread before tightening as you charge up longer – time it correctly and you can hit three of the gormless Octotroopers at once through the level architecture. Jump and it switches to a vertical shot that’s better for pinpoint targeting. The Splatana Wiper is similar, going from rapid-fire horizontal swipes of ink to a more targeted vertical slash if you hold and charge up. They’re both fantastic examples of how Splatoon takes familiar-feeling weapons and throws layers of technique and skill on top of otherwise straightforward concepts.
Completing the story will set newcomers and returning players up for their first steps into the multiplayer, introducing you to those new weapons, refamiliarising you with old favourites, and letting you get to grips with the game’s default blended motion controls. If you hated the motion controls from the previous games, then Splatoon 3 won’t change your mind (and still includes the option to turn them off), but having traditional FPS stick layout augmented by tilt for more sensitive and twitchy inputs is something that just feels right to me in Splatoon and on Nintendo Switch in general.
The real aim of the game’s main Turf War multiplayer mode isn’t to go head to head with the other team and rack up a lot of kill splats, it’s to cover as much of the ground and environment in your team’s paint colour. Of course, taking out your rivals will give you a temporary advantage to cover more of the arena, and that can lead to some truly intense pitched battles for supremacy.
It remains an absolutely fantastic game mode, rewarding both those who really want to go for splats as well as those who play the objective. However you play, you’re almost certain to unlock at least one use of your weapon’s paired special weapon, each one coming with a predetermined loadout instead of giving you full freedom. The Killer Wail 5.1, which comes with the Tri-Stinger is particularly eye-catching, splitting the old Killer Wail into six separate streams that will target enemies.
If the core of the multiplayer is remaining the same, then what’s built up around it answers some of the weaknesses from Splatoon 2. In both match-made multiplayer and the local multiplayer that we played, there’s now a lobby area to hang out in before diving into battle. Here you can see the oddly 2D-ified ghosts of other players in your match, seeing them move around the space just as you can. You can swap out your loadout while you’re here as well, running down into a firing range room to blast away at a handful of targets, getting to quickly try out whatever weapon you’re about to be stuck with for the following 3-minute match.
That’s the same lobby type for when you’re about to leap into the co-op Salmon Run mode. Once again, the fundamental form of Salmon Run remains the same: face off against three waves of Salmonids, defeat the bosses, grab and then bank the golden eggs that they drop. You’ll have a randomly assigned weapon, so you’d best be quick to adapt to the change of circumstances, and that can be an overwhelming task when taking on the higher difficulty levels.
There’s a couple of new bosses here like the Fish Stick tower that floats in, drops to create a little tower and then sprinkles the area until you climb to the top and take out the salmonid flying around it. and the Slammin’ Lid that creates a protective barrier to your ink, slamming down if you pass underneath (but then that’s how you get it to the ground and weaken it!). They’ll be mixed in alongside a whole host of returning bosses, including the steel eel, bins lad and steel umbrella, to use the colloquial names I use for them.
But by far and away the best new twist to Salmon Run? Well, that would be the ability to throw the eggs! This costs ink, so will have to be used sparingly, but can really help in the mad scramble to bank as many eggs as you can before the end of a wave or to get out of a tricky jam.
There’s a lot that feels familiar about Splatoon 3, but that’s part of why I’m looking forward to it so much. With half a decade between them, stepping back into this ink-obsessed series will feel like a breath of fresh air to the shooters that are released year in, year out, and there are new ideas being added into the mix, good quality of life improvements, and new twists like the three-way Splatfests to look forward to.
Splatoon 3 is out on 9th September for Nintendo Switch, with the Splatfest World Premiere this weekend, and I can’t wait for either of them!
