Nintendo’s newest installment in the Splatoon series, Splatoon 3, hit the shelves across the world on Sept. 9 as video game enjoyers rushed to their nearest store to pick up a copy. Its colorful cartoons and kid-friendly look are sure to attract video game players of all ages. After the slow reception to the release of Splatoon on Wii U, the sequel, Splatoon 2, allowed the franchise to grow exponentially as it was played on Nintendo’s newest platform, the Nintendo Switch. Splatoon 2’s successor, Splatoon 3, was also released on the Nintendo Switch.
Splatoon 3 follows Splatoon and Splatoon 2 with the same core game modes: a single player mode, adventure style mode and the famous multiplayer mode called Turf Wars.
“Splatoon 3’s online services worked very well, as there wasn’t much delay getting into a game”
Turf Wars is the mode that took Splatoon into the mainstream. In teams of four, you must use various weapons and abilities as well as cooperate with your team to paint as much area of the map as possible with ink. The four-minute time limit allows each game to be fast-paced and packed full of action, as you won’t find yourself sitting around and not contributing to the team. I enjoyed the fact that no two games felt the same and that each game had its individual nuances. Turf Wars is a great mode for people just picking up the game for the first time, or for more experienced players who want to try out new skills and ideas.
The single player adventure mode places you in a post-apocalyptic world where the human race is wiped out, and all of the humans have been replaced with human-squid hybrids called Inklings. This was one part of Splatoon 3 that could have had more development. Along with a hard-to-follow plot, the repetitive levels and overall lack of effort that Nintendo put into this mode makes the single player mode a let down. The background and graphics also lacked color, an essential part of what made Splatoon stand out. The mode felt very one-dimensional, as I couldn’t play for more than 20 minutes at a time without going back to Turf Wars.
Some aspects of Splatoon 3 that caught my eye were its cute, cartoon-like art style with bright colors popping all over the game, as well as the gameplay adaptability. Although Splatoon 3’s gameplay felt very overwhelming at first, the controls and overall pace of the games are easily adjusted to. The smooth feel of the gameplay plays very well for video game players of all ages and skill levels.
After the successful launch of Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3 was heavily anticipated to be the next great game, as Nintendo clearly made major upgrades to it. The graphical user interface is a lot simpler compared to the first two games, as both Splatoon 1 and 2 had a subpar interface with confusing icons. Splatoon 3 allows you to go where you want, whenever you want, with ease. Splatoon 3 also steps up the quality of the graphics, as the designs have a lot more clarity to them compared to past releases.
“Some aspects of Splatoon 3 that caught my eye were its cute, cartoon-like art style with bright colors popping all over the game, as well as the gameplay adaptability”
The core game modes stayed the same, however, as all three had single player modes and Turf Wars. The mode still remains the most popular, with the only change in Splatoon 3 being that the length was changed from three to four minutes. In previous Splatoon games, online matchmaking has been an area of improvement, with subpar balancing and overall connectivity issues. However, Splatoon 3’s online services worked very well, as there wasn’t much delay getting into a game.
All in all, Splatoon 3 is a great video game and an improvement from the past two Splatoon games. By no means is it the greatest game of all time, but it is a fun game that is easy to pick up and get hooked on for hours. I will give Splatoon 3 4 out of 5 stars. I would definitely see myself playing the multiplayer modes and I would recommend this game to video game enthusiasts of all types.
