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GoNintendo Review - Splatoon

by rawmeatcowboy
27 May 2015
GN Version 5.0


Some people would tell you that Splatoon is the first original IP that Nintendo has had since Pikmin. Those people would be wrong, but that's not the issue. It's that mentality that needs to be conquered. Nintendo fans know that there have been many other original IP since then from the Big N, but what we know doesn't matter. It's the hive mind that matters, and those people are stoked to see Nintendo working on something brand-new. I believe that ignorance by a large part of the crowd has really served Splatoon well. It's made the game even more of a spectacle than it deserves to be on its merits alone.

Now with all that aside, there's certainly one thing we can all agree upon with Splatoon. This game takes Nintendo into some very unfamiliar and unique territory. Unique for the world of Nintendo and its fans, anyway! Nintendo, in typical fashion, has decided to march to the beat of their own drum. They've taken a look at the world of online shooters and gone FAR above and beyond to create something that feels distinctly Nintendo. They say they didn't set out to create something that falls in line with the interest in shooters, but what they've come out with should certainly appeal to that crowd. The most important part of Splatoon is that it treads into this new territory with a voice that is very clearly that of Nintendo.

We all know that Nintendo doesn't do all that much in the world of online gaming, minus a few big-name titles here and there. That's what makes Splatoon stand out from the crowd. This game seems to be focused on online gameplay from the ground up. Nintendo saw the huge draw that the core gameplay could have when adapted to an online situation. Nintendo certainly loves their local multiplayer experiences, but this is one of the few times where they set out to make online the focus. That's extremely apparent in Splatoon, because you'll most likely be spending nearly all of your time online.

There are parts of Splatoon that will play directly into the knowledge you have of other online shooters. Skills you have amassed in hours upon hours of Call of Duty will definitely help you here. Actually, time spent online in any other shooter should aid you in your experience. You'll quickly learn that it's a cut-throat experience out on the battlefield. The aim of game modes may not be that of deathmatch, but rest assured that many people are going to be out to get you. You may not be killing your opponent, but 'splatting' them gives you a certain satisfaction that you don't get in other games. It's almost like a 'pop' of your opponent, like they're a balloon. That simple feeling always makes it harder to focus on the gameplay mechanics instead of just gunning down the opposition.

As you may have already figured out, taking down your enemies isn't how you'll win Splatoon. The online game is all about turf battles. Since you're brandishing an ink gun instead of a regular gun, you'll have to set out to cover entire arenas in your color ink. You'll work with your team to try and spread your ink as far as it can go in the span of 3 minutes. That entire time, the other team is doing the exact same thing, but with their own ink color. It's a constant, insane back-and-forth that can almost feel futile at times. The thing is, all it takes is the right combination of teamwork or approach to turn the tides in an instant.

Of course, some weapon choices are better at painting and others are better for taking out enemies. You have options like the default gun or the paint roller to really spread the ink around. These weapons help you to cover a lot of ground in your color, but aren't exactly the best for taking out baddies in your way. Then there's weapons like the sniper rifle that are clearly aimed at taking down the other team. You're really not going to do a lot of painting with that weapon, but find yourself a good nook/perch and you can help stop the other team from even casting off their first stroke of ink paint.

There are all other sorts of in-between weapons for you to sift through. You'll gain access to them the more you play the game. Gain experience points and move up in rank to unlock new options and weapon combinations. Then it's a matter of taking those weapons into the test range or right into online to see what you like best. The test range lets you fire away on dummies, but you'll need to hop online to really get a feel for what a weapon can do in combat. Each weapon also effects your movement speed, so you might end up loving the way a weapon fires but hating how slow it makes you when firing. It'll take some time to figure out what weapon you'll mostly main online, but it's certainly fun to go through the process.

Along with those weapons comes other special abilities. You'll have a sub-weapon that lets you tackle all sorts of situations. For example, you can have a triangle-like grenade that bounces out onto the field and explodes in ink around your competitors. There's another mine option that acts much like a Bombchu from the Legend of Zelda series. Fire that bad-boy out and it'll wiggle along the ground, leaving an ink trail behind it. It'll even hunt down a close opponent and try to take them out! Again, there are many other options to chose from, but you'll have to put in a good amount of time to find what works for you.

You also have special powers that really aim to level the playing field when you get in big trouble. If you paint enough of the level, you'll fill up your special power meter. This includes options of a shield that protects you for a certain amount of time, a giant horn that blasts out ink waves, a transformation into a giant squid and many others. These special powers are key to getting you out of sticky situations. Even better, it doesn't take them too long to build up. As long as you're inking opponents and the level around you, you'll have the option to use one early on. For example, having that shield ready and turning it on at the right time can help you push further into enemy territory to pave the way for your teammates behind you.

Even with all these special abilities and powers, you simply won't be able to win without a decent team. You will 100% live or die by your team. If your team is only worried about getting kills, then you're not going to win a turf war. You need a team that's ready to paint the town red...or blue...or pink. It can be frustrating to hop online with people that are only interested in racking up the kill points. Again, this is not going to get you a win in turf wars. If you get lucky enough to play alongside a couple gunners and paint rollers, you could end up being in a good position to take the win. If you have a team of 4 snipers, you have no chance of pulling off a win. This can be rather annoying, but playing online with friends is a great way to eliminate this stress!

Making online battles even tighter is the Splat Zones option. This plays similar to a King of the Hill match in other online games. The difference here is, the splat zone never changes position. You'll have one location on the map and both teams are aiming to cover it in their paint. When a majority of it is covered in your paint, the game announces that you have the zone. The objective is to hold the zone and move your team's counter from 100 down to 0. If you get the counter down to zero, it means you held the zone for 100 seconds and you win. As you can imagine, this becomes extremely hard to do. You're dealing with a tiny space and there are 4 people all gunning for it. Throw in the rest of your team and it can be extremely hectic!

Getting to your splat zone is a great point to show off just how the GamePad is used during gameplay. The touch screen becomes something that you'll use a great deal when playing online. Your GamePad screen provides an overhead map of the action, indicating just how much ink has been spread around the level. Even better, you'll be able to touch a fellow player's icon on the touch screen and jump right to them. This happens once you die and come back to life, making it much easier to get back into the action. Picking the right player to jump to can be a make or break moment. Pick a player in the heat of the battle and you could jump right into a firefight that blows you away instantly. Jump to a player a little off the beaten path and then use that to double-back and surprise your opponents.

The other big aspect of the GamePad comes in from motion control. While Nintendo might want you to think that motion controls are your only option, that's not the case. The game will default to motion controls as soon as you start, but you can turn those off in the option menu and choose more traditional dual analog movement. This may be the first thing a lot of players do, but you might want to put in some time with motion controls. Not only do they work very well, but they also allow you to be more responsive and adaptive to your situations. It certainly makes quick-decision aiming much better when in online matches. I can easily see top Splatoon players using the motion controls for the added benefits of speed and range of motion.

Further still, the GamePad screen also acts as a hub when you're just starting up the game. There are a few options that you can approach before jumping right into an online game. The GamePad lets you travel around to these hub options quickly. For example, you can jump right into the shopping district to grab yourself new weapons or gear. You can also choose to visit the battle dojo, which is for local one-on-one action. While you'll always have the option to travel around the hub world by foot, using the GamePad touch screen is without a doubt the quickest way to handle options, customization and any other activities you want to take on.

Speaking of customization, it's a really important part of Splatoon. We've already detailed the various weapons and special abilities you can have, but there's a lot more to it than that. If you visit the gear shops, you'll be able to purchase various items of clothing with in-game money. These clothing bits can help give you the edge online. Some of them make you tougher to take out, while others give you quicker overall movement speed and a bigger ink tank on your back. Again, this becomes a game of mixing/matching outfits to find one that really gives you what you need online. Obviously everyone is looking for something a little bit different when online, so fine-tuning your gear can take some time. You can even gain more abilities for articles of clothing the longer you wear/play with them. All of this is implemented to keep you interested in the long-game, rather than finding one outfit and sticking with it for a few weeks.

It's very clear that Splatoon is focused on giving you plenty of reasons to keep coming back. Online play alone can certainly do that for a lot of gamers, but the customization and weapon options make the experience even deeper. It's all about finding that combination of elements that makes you a true threat online. That means taking on a lot of matches and most likely losing a lot, but all of that helps you to get better overall. Spend time honing your craft in the random battles and then once you're really confident in your abilities, take your game into the ranked scene. Now matches REALLY count when it comes to wins or losses, which give you an overall letter rank. You'll start off at a C- and it's up to you to bump that bad boy up the charts. Lose a match and back down the letter chart you go...probably losing some of your pride along the way!

So...online has you feeling down and out. You're questioning your abilities and aren't sure what to do. This would be the absolute PERFECT time to check out the game's single player. I actually consider this to be a really important part of the game, and I fear that not many people are going to tackle it. Like most other online-focused games, plenty of people will hop right into the online modes and never touch the single player experience. If you choose to ignore single player the entire time you play Splatoon, you could end up making one of the biggest mistakes possible with the game.

Without any hesitation at all, I will tell you that Splatoon's single player content is absolutely fantastic. I feel like Nintendo hardly paid any attention to it in the build-up to the game's launch. Hell, we didn't even know there WAS single player until a few weeks ago! I mean, you can't blame Nintendo for trumpeting the online experience of the game, since that is definitely the focus. The problem is, that may convince some people that the single player experience is a lackluster and dull one. I sincerely believe that couldn't be further from the truth.

While there is a loose story aspect to the single player, it's mostly just a collection of extremely fun and funky levels. You know how Super Mario Galaxy 1/2 just seemed to throw together crazy fun ideas into various worlds? Level restraints done away with for the sake of making fun experiences? That's what Splatoon's single player felt like to me. There's a loose set of rules that are followed in each level, but designs and gameplay are just flat-out fun. Levels jump ALL over the place and offer up unique situations all throughout.

While online play has you painting territory to win, the single player is a mission-based affair. Each level has one item for you to collect at the end, and you have to plow through enemies and navigate the environment to get there. Sometimes you'll have to collect keys to open portals. Other times you'll have to eliminate all enemies to move progress forward. There are also set pieces that have you climbing up, down, over and around to get to the level's exit. They're almost like environmental puzzles, making you figure out the best way to paint your way to the next portion.

I really do love the fact that levels are loosely grouped into worlds, but they provide varied experiences. Yes, all the levels have you painting and gunning for the same goal, but their designs are so fantastic. Some levels are long and sprawling. Some levels have you climbing up huge structures. Others are just big enemy pits where you have to fight your way through wave after wave of opposition. It's so satisfying to explore these levels and make your way to the end. There's even a hidden scroll in each level for you to find, extending the time spent here. I loved single player SO much that I collected every single scroll possible! Oh, and did I mention that the boss battle at the end of the game is a stellar experience?! It's a really engaging, heart-pumping battle that really shouldn't be missed.

There's even more single player content for you to grab if you snatch up those amiibo. While they aren't necessary to the experience, they do net you a lot of content. You'll get another group of solo challenges to take on, as well as new outfits for your character that you can only get through the amiibo. If you're on the fence about picking the amiibo up, I'd say give the solo player content a try first. If you like what you play there, then you'll know that the amiibo are a must-have. If the single player doesn't tickle your fancy, it might be best to hang back. Sure, you'll get new gear and new mini-games to play while you wait for online games to connect, but there's no denying that the bulk of the content is for solo player fans.

So now you know what's tucked away in Splatoon, but there's still that all important question. Is it actually any fun to play!? While I may not play a lot of online focused games, I have definitely spent the bulk of that online time playing shooters. I really do like the genre when playing online, and I can say that Splatoon offers that same fun feeling. Beyond that, it definitely offers unique twists and Nintendo charm that you can't get anywhere else. It creates an online experience that feels somewhat familiar but completely fresh at the same time, and that's not something many shooters can lay claim to.

Finding your rhythm in the online play is where a big part of the fun comes from. That rhythm comes from your movement around levels. It's almost like Splatoon trains you to forget most of what you know from other online shooters. You shouldn't be interested in walking anywhere you want to go. It's all about painting your ink and then pulling the left trigger to drop into squid form. This lets you speed around the level while hiding deep in the ink. Then you can sneak around and pop up right behind an opponent and blow them away. Of course, spreading that ink helps with the main goal online as well. Working out that rhythm is super important and it may take time to get that under your belt, but it feels oh so good when you do it.

Also, I didn't think this was possible, but I feel like Splatoon is even more crazy than most other online games. The three-minute time limit in turf wars coupled with the smaller levels and paint flying everywhere makes things feel crazy. That's crazy in a good way! Games are ridiculously intense, even moreso when you peak down at the GamePad and see your team getting out-inked. It gives you that rush to jump back in there and really start working over the other team. I know that three minutes isn't a lot of time, but MAN does it really fly by when you're playing. An hour's worth of games seems to melt away in just a few minutes. I always find that to be a sign of just how fun a game is!

There is a ton of fun to be had, but there are also some issues to point out. This is Nintendo's first real foray into the world of online shooters, and while they do a fantastic job for the most part, there are some issues I'd like to point out. For me, the biggest problem came from how weapon changing is handled. Instead of being able to change weapons inbetween matches from the online menu, you actually have to leave the online room and go to the main hub for customization. It makes switching weapons multiple times a bit of a drag, especially if you're trying to stay with the same group of players. The same goes for control potions, which force you back out to the hub. It seems like a bit of an oversight, but it's not a game-killer. I'm sure this will be complained about by many, though. I'd imagine it'll be tweaked a bit later via a patch.

The only other issue I have comes from Splat Zones. Again, this is a minor complaint, but I feel I had to bring it up. I really do like King of the Hill game modes, but I appreciate how the hill changes in most games. As I said, Splatoon keeps the hill in the same spot for all 3 minutes. This makes it extremely hard for one team to wage any kind of comeback if they lose footing early on. The simple act of changing the hill once every minute, or even just twice an entire match would make the experience that much better. It would keep things fresh and also help the losing team feel like they still have a shot at winning. Matches end up becoming very lopsided early on, which can be quite disheartening. It can actually feel a bit unfair at times, and that's not often a complaint I have.

Again, just a few issues that I found noteworthy, but not game-breaking. With all the extra modes and future updates Nintendo is planning on bringing to the game, I don't see why these issues can't be worked on. For all I know, I might just be a whiny baby and others won't have any problem with my complaints. Either way, it's just good to know that things can and will be tweaked. You can bet that Nintendo is going to be listening to fans very closely as Splatoon launches, as this is really a new type of game venture for them. Splatoon is one of the biggest learning experiences Nintendo has ever received, not really knowing in a first-hand way how players respond to these type of experiences. It should be extremely interesting to see what Nintendo does.

It's been a long time since Splatoon was revealed. We were all surprised to see Nintendo bring out a wholly original, online-focused multiplayer game. The idea tickled our fancies when it was first announced, but was it worth the wait? I'd say Splatoon is a resounding success for Nintendo. It's an online shooter that has enough to entice both newcomers and longtime fans of the genre. It has enough new and interesting ideas that make the experience quite unique. The best part of Splatoon is the fact that it FEELS like a Nintendo game. You all know that feeling that Nintendo games give you...that tingle that is hard to explain...that vibe you don't get from other companies. Even with Splatoon heading into uncharted territory for Nintendo, the title is filled top to bottom with the company's unmistakable charm.

Nintendo's inky dive into the very deep pool of online shooters is one of their greatest achievements yet. Splatoon gives you that quirky Nintendo feeling you know and love, all while providing a deep and engaging online experience. There aren't many gamers out there that were crying for companies to make more online shooters. There are also lots of gamers that never thought Nintendo could pull off an online shooter experience. Splatoon shows that Nintendo has what it takes to make an existing, over-saturated genre feel fresh and captivating. They also managed to inject the genre with an element that most companies seem to neglect...pure fun.