Tiem to jump into Splatoon 3!
SPLAT! Bravo Team rushes onto the field, coating everything in sunshine yellow. meanwhile, Charlie Team goes to town with a hard green. Armed with a semi-automatic Nintendo Zapper that shoots ink, my team has a minigun, a shotgun, and even an ink brush. Before long, Charlie and Bravo meet, and as we duked it out, it’s a total frenzy of calamitous proportions. Bravo team and I took the initiative and keep painting more spots until our specials were charged. Activated, a mech materialized and I crap walk across the battlefield for a few seconds, wiping the enemy team. We press the advantage and stay aggressive, but the enemy team is no pushover.
They saw an opening and charged through, wreaking havoc and using defensive shields. They splatted and gurgled green when we didn’t see them coming. The fight became a race. We rushed to the moment of contention. I separated and tried to achieve color dominance while the other distracted the enemy team. Seconds ticked and the enemy team got an upper hand and one last rally. Green was going everywhere, it seemed. Then, just like that, the whistle blew and the round was over. Yellow won, but just barely.
The Splatoon 3 Preview
TAt a private event at PAX WEST in Seattle Washington, I was given the chance to play Splatoon 3 for over an hour. This included 5 rounds in multiplayer, 3 levels in single-player, and several waves in Salmon Run. Splatoon has been an interesting franchise, and certainly one that has made quite the impression, even as it was released in the final years of the dismissed Wii U. The first Splatoon was released in 2015, in the waning years of the Wii U, and with its focus on ink, squid characters, and incredibly kinetic multiplayer, Splatoon made quite the impression as Nintendo set its sights on the Switch.
In 2017, Splatoon 2 launched, and like lightning in a bottle, it struck players around the world, introducing a new single-player campaign, and expanding on the multiplayer. Now, in its third iteration, at a time when the Nintendo Switch has been redefining what handheld and console gaming can become, Splatoon 3 is set to become one of the most engaging and robust competitive shooting experiences Nintendo has ever had. I dare even say this may be the big “it” shooter for the next year. Perhaps I shouldn’t necessarily call Splatoon 3 a shooter. This is a game where ink gets splatted onto others, but the controls, presentation, and gameplay clearly make Splatoon 3 a game that can hold its own against the battle-hardened players of Call of Duty and Battlefield.
Single-Player
My preview started with the single-player campaign. I was allowed to be in three levels involving keys. The first three levels introduced me to the mechanics, controls, movements, and overall momentum of the game. Compared to the previous two games, everything seems a lot brighter but far more polished. The ink, in particular, was clearly the best it had ever seen, shiny, thick, and with energy, as if all the energy went towards making the amorphous nature of the ink even better. There was a kinetic consistency to firing the ink, and in multiplayer, when players are waddling through oceans of ink, there it was clear there was a creamy design, a significant upgrade from its predecessor. The single player provides its own challenge including opening up the world of Splatoon 3 and the mysteries of the “Mammalians” and the fuzzy ooze, known as the Alterna.
The first stage was easy enough in regards to puzzle solving, while the other two stages included using a bow-shaped weapon for inks, and fighting Octolings that were retaliating. The second stage featured robots fighting with ink, along with expected platforming and puzzle solving. In the third stage, I was introduced to the bow weapon, which is familiar if you’ve played many other games before, but nonetheless enjoyable to use. In one challenge, I was tasked with using the bow to ink shield enemies. The bow can split into three and fire vertically as well as horizontally, giving a more tactical sensation to the loose chaos of the gameplay. The e single-player was in a hub world. Each completed level allowed me to throw a special bomb-like item to unlock another section of the map and proceed with more levels. The single player was solid and I can easily see it being a nice voyage into this unique world. This is further enhanced by the fact that all weapons will have attachable options and secondary modes. While the single-player seems to be the best it has ever been, Splatoon 3 gets exceptionally well in the multiplayer and co-op components.
Multiplayer
Salmon Run
The next phase of my preview of Splatoon 3 took us to Salmon Run. Similar to how Gears of Wave 2 set the Wave-based mode on fire, Salmon Run introduces a wave mode for up to four players, fighting off mobile mutant Salmon and collecting their eggs. Unlock other Wave modes, players battle not just the Salmon but the timer and collect enough eggs. During this mode, I had to work closely with my tea, being alert and coordinating where to go and what to fight. With many enemies on-screen, knowing where to go was essential, especially when a Salmon egg was in play. However, it wasn’t easy and only those with a keen eye for the Salmon eggs and a penchant for speed stood a chance in making it wave upon Wave. My time with this mode was brief and we were only able to pass wave 2 before being clobbered on Wave 3, but the retention of this mode is high for its competitive nature and the wave-based structure.
Turf War
The meat and potatoes of Splatoon 3 is multiplayer. There is a variety of customizable options for the multiplayer, from weapons to attire. For my playthrough, I went through 5 matches. Each match, I went in with a different weapon, each of which had a different special ability. In battle, a gauge builds up to unleash this ability. The more ink is fired at enemies and surfaces, the more it accumulates. After a while, it is ready to be unleashed, giving players a competitive advantage in battle. One ability allowed me to use a crab and crush opponents while another was a force shield to protect me from incoming fire. The primary weapons ranged from an NES Zapper with semi-automatic fire to a minigun that can be spooled and unleash a barrage of ink. For cosmetics, it was the typical flair of sunglasses, hats, headphones, and sneakers but I can easily imagine this expanding into more colorful and eccentric items as the game grows.
Each round we played was Turf War, a three-minute skirmish where each side sprays its own color ink. The side that covers the field with the most ink wins. These matches are wild, fast-paced, but infinitely enjoyable, as the fast-paced nature of the game, coupled with the kaleidoscope of color and California punk rock blaring through the speaker made this for a rip-roaring number of sessions. Swimming through your own color of ink reloads your weapon and allows for swift maneuvering, but getting into the opposing team’s ink leave players vulnerable to attack. The key is speed and aggression, as well as applying your ink to absolutely everything possible.
Verdict
Splatoon 3 is an enormously thrilling experience, whether playing with friends or online. Me and my team got together well in our coordination with competitive matches, and we cheered all the way through. There were sudden surprises and reflexes, some that made for make-or-break moments with each match. Experimenting with the new weapons and abilities was a blast and made for excitedly engaging battles. For Team Bravo, we won 4 of the five matches, some of which were in tight contention. Team Charlie actually l managed to learn from our tactics, and achieve the aggressive momentum needed to win. In the final match, they bypassed our defensive shields and flanked us. While they never achieved a Team Wipeout as we were able to achieve, they still managed to cover more of the arena in their own ink, even if by a slight margin.
After an hour with Splatoon 3, Came away with it remarking that Splatoon 3 achieves a vision that Reggie Fils-Aime stated during an E3 press conference some time ago. He said ” Nintendo stands as something for everyone,” promoting the company as one that isn’t for a specific audience but for all audiences. In a sense, Splatoon 3 has achieved this. As I played Splatoon 3 I easily imagined an entire swath of people being enthralled and excited for every moment spent together in competitive modes Kids, families, casual players, and gaming enthusiasts all vying to interact and play together.
Even myself, someone that spends his online moments in Fornite and Aliens: Fireteam found himself not only having a blast but wanting so much more. While there was so much I wanted to see, including multiple multiplayer modes and more of the single-player story, I was eager for more and excited about what I had played.
Splatoon 3 sets a new bar for competitive play and action on the go, and at home. There is a constantly contagious charm to the entire game, one that will undoubtedly bring in all players from every level. That is Splatoon 3’s finest achievement, and if the game is this incredible at the start, an amazing journey has only just begun. Splatoon 3 is shaping to be the definitive competitive game for all of us.
Splatoon 3 is now out on the Nintendo Switch
