Overview:
14 years after release of Pikmin
Nintendo finally launches a new big IP. To be fair they often launch
smaller new games like Dillons Rolling Western or Pullblox, but
nothing that has the potential to stand up there with Mario, Link and
the others. But Splatoon sets out to change that fact and a lot of
shooter traditions along the way. In its core Splatoon is an online 4
on 4 arena shooter, but unlike other representatives of this genre
the team that wins isn't the one with the most kills. In Turf Wars
the team that covers the most turf with their own ink wins. This
creates an unique dynamic unlike any other shooter I have played.
After starting the game for the first
time a small tour of Inkopolis Plaza, the main hub of the game,
introduces the player to the different features of the game. While
the online component is obviously the main point of the game, it also
offers a small Story mode.
Story:
Inkopolis huge Zapfish has been stolen
and after following some crazy, old dude down the sewer he introduces
himself as Captain Cuttlefish. After 100 years the Octarians, the
natural enemy of inklings, have returned and now it's up to you to
save the Inkopolis.
As always the Story of a Nintendo game
is pretty basic, but it has charming characters.
And they even thought up an explanation
for the multiplayer. Turf Wars are simply the favourite way to spent
ones free time in Inkopolis.
Gameplay:
But enough of the Story. Let's get to
the main course. The Gameplay. And here Splatoon absolutely shines.
Like I said earlier, the games main feature are 4 on 4 online
battles. Currently the online modes are quite sparse, but
Nintendo intends to support the game over the summer with a steady
stream of free updates. Turf War is the main online mode. It's perfect for quick,
intense and fun matches, while ranked matches offer a more
strategical approach with the Splat Zones mode.
In Turf Wars the simple goal of your
team is to claim as much turf as possible during the three minutes a
round lasts. This is possible, because the weapons of Splatoon don't
shoot lasers, bullets or whatever, but harmless ink. Altough it's not
as harmless to the enemy, but more on that later. Covering the ground
the ground with Ink provides several advantages apart from winning
the game. First and most important you can swim in your own Ink.
Through a simple button push you turn yourself into a squid. While
not really fast on ground, you can swim through your own ink at
incredible speed and also swim up ink covered walls, which completely changes the way you traverse around the maps. This also
replenishes your ink tank, which serves as ammunition for main and
secondary weapons. While swimming in ink only small ripples tell your
location, and when remaining completely still, you are pretty much
invisible. A perfect way to set up ambushes. The second advantage is
that enemy players are slowed down in your ink and gradually take damage.
But don't think that claiming your turf
is a entirely peaceful operation. You can, and have to kill your
opponents. This provides two important advantages. Firstly a dead
enemy explodes into your own ink, claiming the turf around him for
your team. Also it prevents him from claiming turf of his own. If you
die you respawn at your starting point, but you don't have to get
back to the fray by squid, although this is sometimes preferable.
With a quick press on the gamepad you can jump to any player of your
team. This quickly gets you back into the fray to help, but is also
quite dangerous. Without the proper gear the location, where you will
land, is shown to all players in the area, so it can happen that you
jump right into an ambush and die again.
I have to talk about the Game Pad here,
because I think Splatoon has one of the best uses for it yet. The
Game Pad always shows a live map of the area. That means you can see every change
in turf and all your teammates directly on your gamepad. This is
important to keep an overview of the battlefield, as one player that
slips behind enemy lines and starts to claim turf there, can deal a
lot of damage.
All this features together create an
incredible fast paced and action oriented gameplay, where it is
possible to turn the game till the last seconds. It often happens
that one or two Players slip through enemy lines and start claiming
turf, while the other two hold the enemy team off at a choke point.
You have to cautiously think if it's better to pursue an withdrawing
enemy or claim some turf instead.
Splat Zones on the other hand can only
be played once you reach level 10 and offer a different playstyle
from the often chaotic Turf Wars. In this mode your team has to
claim and defend a specific zone on the map. This makes sure that the
battle is always concentrated on one single spot and also increases
the value of, for example, sniper rifles, because killing enemy
players is much more important in this environment. When your team
claims the Splat Zone a timer begins to tick towards zero. However if
you loose your Zone you'll get a penalty added. With much back and
forth Splat Zone matches usually last far longer than Turf Wars.
Even with only this two modes Splatoon
creates many different playstyles which are all valuable, and
supports them with a huge array of gear.
Like in any other online Shooter you
earn exp and start to climb levels. This unlocks new gear
opportunities at the shop keepers in Inkopolis Plaza. And here it
shows how deep this game can truly get.
You can individualize the look of your
Inkling with Shoes, Shirts and Hats. There is a ton of choice.
All of this gear comes with different stats. For example you may buy
shoes that increase the rate on which your recover Ink in squid form
or a hat that makes you completely invisible while swimming in your
own ink. With this the player can build an
outfit perfectly fitting his playstyle. A piece of gear can hold up
to four effects, but only the first is known from the get go. The
others are randomly selected when you level up, but there is a way to
reroll the abilities on a piece, if they don't suit you.
The weapons are the most important part
in any shooter and Splatoon offers a wide variety of them. Sniper
rifles are good for killing enemy players, but not the best to claim
turf, while the big Paint Roller is perfect for this and ambushes,
but often loses in 1 on 1 combat. There is a weapon for everyone and
all of them play pretty differently. A part in this plays that you
don't buy one weapon alone, but a set of three. Main Weapon,
secondary and Ultimate. Some players have complained that this preset
isn't good for variety, but it provides a basis on which all weapons
can balanced. This ensures that there won't be one perfect build,
which gets used all of the time. As with the Main weapons the
secondaries and ultimates offer a great variety, both in defensive
and offensive ways.
But as much variety as the weapons and
gear offer, the same can't be said for the maps. At least just yet. Splatoon
launched with only five multiplayer maps. However one new map and
weapon have already been released just three days after launch for
completely free. But still, 6 maps aren't something to brag about.
Also Splatoon decided to hide this factor, or at least weaken it,
with one of the dumbest decisions of all time and my only true
complaint about this game. No matter if you play Splat Zones or Turf
Wars, the maps are always chosen out of a pool of two. This pool
changes every four hours, but still this is a pretty stupid decision.
I, for example, love the map Arowana Mall, but I haven't played it in
over two days now, because it was never part of the rotation when I
played. This can create a feeling of fatigue pretty fast, and should
be addressed.
But there are still other modes apart
from online. The battle dojo is the place to go if you fancy some 1
on 1 local multiplayer battles. It handles like multiplayer in Hyrule
Warriors. One player uses a Pro-controller and the TV, while the
other plays on the game pad. In this mode the goal is to pop as many
ballons, spread across the map, as possible. It's a fun and small
distraction, but nothing more. I would have loved the ability to play
this mode online for some battles against friends, who don't live in
my vicinity.
And of course there is the Story
mode. Even if it was just an addition to beef up the game a little
bit, I'm pretty happy they did it. Levels in the Story mode play
pretty differently. Here the platforming aspect is much more
important. The levels in Octo Valley consist of several floating
islands which you have to traverse. It really feels like a shooter
version of Super Mario Galaxy. The levels offer a great variety of
ideas, although some get used several times. From sponges that grow
lager as they're splattered with ink, to invisible paths which you
have to make visible, the single player campaign, as short as it is,
never gets boring. After roughly five hours you then end one of the
best boss fights I have ever faced.
Sadly you can't use the gear from the multiplayer in single player. Your inkling will always use the standard Hero Weapon and Hero Suit. However you can choose between three types of grenades. Ultimates, like the Ink-Zooka, are actually collectibles during missions.
In the levels you'll find two things to
collect. Orange Orbs, awarded for killing enemies, destroying boxes
or collected simply in the world, are a currency to upgrade your
weapon and side arms. And every level contains a hidden scroll, which
contains trivia information about the Inkling Society and at the end
provide some (rather dark) background lore. I won't spoil anything,
but it's worth to collect them all.
Overall the sinlge player is a little
bit too easy, apart from the last boss. Enemys often don't pose a
threat and there are many checkpoints.
Now lastly let's talk about Amiibos.
While the Splatoon Amiibos are absolutely stunning, they're
integration into the game is probably the worst use of Amiibos so
far. To be completely honest they are nothing more than on disc DLC.
Through scanning an Amiibo you unlock a set of callenges in single
player levels. The female inkling forces you to play with the sniper
rifle, while the male uses the Paint roller. The squid Amiibo, only
available through the special edition of the game or the special
pack with all three Amiibos, provides you with such challenges as
time limits or limited ink. These challenges change the way of
approaching the stages pretty drastically. Completing a set of
challenges then awards a piece of gear to wear, an 8-bit mini-game or
a new skin for a weapon.
I wont detract any points for this, but
it should be noted that this is the absolute worst use of Amiibos
since the exclusive spinner weapon in Hyrule Warriors.
Also no other Amiibos are supported. So
you won't get Marios Hat as an outfit choice if you scan him.
Presentation:
Splatoon looks absolutely stunning and
it can compete with Mario Kart 8 and Captain Toad for the title of
best looking Wii-U game. The game runs with smooth 60fps and 720p
resolution. Some textures in the back, outside the actual arenas, may
look a little bit outdated, but during the intense gameplay you most
likely won't notice. I also have to specially talk about the Ink. It
truly looks great. Splattering it every where, swimming through it...
All of this looks absolutely beautiful and... fun. Without any
noticeable frame drops, even during heated matches, and a great
attention to detail (even though this will disappear under a layer of
ink shortly after the start of the game) Splatoon just oozes the
usual Nintendo charm.
The music on the other hand is unlike
anything any heard in a Nintendo title. It strongly reminded me of
Jet Set Radio. Sadly they aren't all to many tracks in the game, but
some of them, like the Main Theme or the second stage song of the
final boss, are instant classics to me.
Conclusion:
What a great start for a completely new
IP. Never has getting messy been so much fun. The gameplay is fresh
and a stark contrast to other modern shooters. It reminded me of the
good old days of Quake and Unreal a lot. Fast pace action and a giant
variety of playstyles secure a long interest in the game. The two
modes, currently available, play different enough and need a
different approach for winning. However content is still lacking, but
Nintendo intends to provide lots of free updates over the course of
summer, culminating in a huge August update. I never had the feeling
of playing an incomplete game, but still if you prefer a huge variety
of content, I can't recommend this game to you yet, even if it only
costs 40 bucks. But even when more maps will be available, they still
will be hindered through the stupid rotation mechanic. Also the
Amiibo integration is questionable at best.
The Gameplay is Splatoon strongest
selling point, supported by great graphics and a nice single player.
In the end Splatoon is a great
foundation on which future sequels can stand, but also has no problem
holding it's own turf. A unique and fresh breath of air into the
world of Online Shooters.
+ Colorful and charming visuals
+ Exciting gameplay, which supports a
big variety of play styles
+ Free support with new weapons, maps
and online modes
+ Suprisingly great Single Player
- Currently small amount of maps
- Map rotation every four hours
forces you to play the same maps over and over.
- Amiibo are just On-Disc DLC
8/10
Source of all pictures: Nintendo
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