I have something to confess: I'm not big on online multiplayer. The lack of face-to-face interaction generally means I simply don't have as much fun as when I gather friends on my living room to play, for example, extended sessions of Super Smash Bros. What I am big on, however, is great gameplay, and in that regard Splatoon made me a believer. Thirty-five hours in, I'm utterly enthralled by its endless stream of addictive three-minute ink-shooting matches, and I'm convinced this new franchise is going to be a massive player in the Nintendo IP roster going forward.
As
you're probably aware, Splatoon is a third person shooter with a focus
on online multiplayer matches. When it comes to shooters, however, I
don't think there's ever been anything that plays quite like it. You
play as inklings, squid-human hybrids that shoot ink instead of bullets,
and while you can (and certainly should) shoot opposing players, the
focus is on covering the battlefield with ink. It's a genius approach
for a couple of reasons: first, because it positions the shooter genre
into Nintendo's family-friendly approach in a convincing and utterly
addictive way. Secondly, the "shoot the environment" mechanic is a great
way to make novice players feel useful even in a highly competitive
environment, as it's more about clever strategy than it is about precise
aiming.
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| Why not indeed. |
Splatoon launched with only one online multiplayer mode
(called "Turf Wars"), but has since gotten several free updates. As I
write this, there are two other online modes available, with a few more
planned for the next months. At this point, we have already experienced a
"Splatfest": an online event that makes players pick sides and battle
it out for their team on a big day-long stravaganza. All of this makes
the game feel like a living, breathing thing, rewarding early adopters
and keeping the hype ball rolling well beyond release. It's a smart
strategy that has been compelling me to keep playing.
Of
course, the game also has an offline side: it consists of around thirty
levels of inkling war against their hated octoling enemies. The level
design is simply astonishing, throwing loads of clever twists on the
ink-shooting formula as stages go on. There's an overworld to explore
and find new stages, but most of those stages are very linear; some,
however, are more open affairs, in which your character has to fight
octolings in larger environments much like the online multiplayer modes.
It's a mixture that certainly works, even if I'd have preferred more of
the latter than the former.
 |
| You bet I am. |
The
single-player mode has another crowning jewel, though: the boss fights.
They are five overall, and they're all so entertaining that I got
genuinely surprised. When it came to the final boss battle, my
expectations were through the roof... yet the game somehow managed to
surpass them entirely. I won't spoil anything here, but suffice it to
say that it's a lenghty, challenging, and massively fun war against
what's probably my favorite character in the entire game. It's probably a
bit early to say, but I'm guessing I'll forever look back to it as one
of my favorite boss fights of all time.
There has been criticism thrown at some of the game's quirks, such as the
lack of online voice chat (which would be useful to some, even if it's
not really my thing) or the poor local multiplayer options (and I fully
believe a Goldeneye 007-like four-player split-screen mode could be
absolutely fantastic). Taken for what it is, however, Splatoon is
nothing short of a rousing success for Nintendo. It's innovative, it's
addictive, it's got great graphics and music, and this is why it's
probably one of the games people will always bring up in the future
whenever talking about the Wii U. If you're on the fence, absolutely
give it a shot.
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