Splatoon Review in Progress

I've been playing Splatoon, Nintendo’s new and unusual shooter, for just over a week, and my experience has ranged from delightful to frustrating. Its inventive mechanics are refreshing, making it easy to enjoy both the single player and multiplayer components.Since the game hasn't been released yet, my only time with multiplayer has been with other Nintendo employees and members of the press. Until I've been able to test multiplayer with a large number of people playing online, I unfortunately can’t pass judgment on the game at large. That said, when I have been able to get into a match, I've thoroughly enjoyed Splatoon's multiplayer offerings.

Unlike most shooters where the goal is to kill opponents, Splatoon's multiplayer Turf War matches are won by whichever team of four Inklings (shapeshifting human-squid hybrids) paints the largest area of the map with their team's color. This mode engrains Splatoon's non-violent gameplay into your psyche, and though you can technically "kill" members of the opposing team, which knocks them out of the match for three seconds and earns you a decent chunk of experience points, it's clearly a secondary objective. This takes a bit of getting used to, but focusing on shooting the environment rather than on shooting other players means that you can actually relax a bit while playing, free from the pressures of the highly competitive environment created by today's typical shooters. Being great at a game like Battlefield requires a lot of practice and discipline, but Splatoon doesn't punish newcomers, allowing almost anyone to enjoy some measure of success from the get-go. Turf War matches are the only available type of online match before you hit level 10 and unlock ranked battles, which I have unfortunately not been able to manage given my current matchmaking difficulties. There, objective-based matches will become available, but until I get to experience them for myself, it's impossible to say how they stand up to Turf War.

Regardless of whether you're playing online or offline, you have plenty of chances to put your squid abilities to good use, and you soon realize that ink is for more than just shooting. When you're running around in a patch of your own ink, you can revert to a purer squid form and swim at great speeds until you reach a dry spot or a puddle of your enemy's ink. Swimming through ink allows you to quickly move forward, or backwards if you're trying to find cover, but it also creates tactical advantages when used properly. If you stand still in a pool of your own ink, you actually appear invisible to your opponents, which makes it easy to get the jump on an unsuspecting enemy, or, to avoid conflict in a tight situation. You have to be careful of how much ink you're holding as it depletes rather quickly, but all you need to do to reload is to turn into a squid and watch your ink tank fill up.

As you progress in online multiplayer matches, earning experience and leveling up, you primarily unlock the chance to purchase new guns, headwear, shirts, and shoes. More than a fashion statement, choosing the right equipment will give you one or more stat boosts, giving you greater swimming speed or more effective ink, for example. The guns you choose are also important, as a wide paint roller acts very differently than a typical squirt gun. The ability to upgrade gear means that it's unlikely any two teams will be alike, making every match a dice-roll.

Thank goodness, because while the gameplay and progression systems in Splatoon are enjoyable and varied, the maps you play on are too similar, and I can't think of a single one that stands out. There are some elements that you'll pickup on, but these are isolated pieces that you recognize rather than recall fondly. For the most part, you swim over flat land, up a ramp, and maybe through a wire mesh, but I haven't noticed a case where a map emphasizes one particular element over another. Maybe this is a casualty of the game's painting mechanic, making every map feel like a big, neon puddle, but good level design should be able to overcome this. There's also the issue that Splatoon limits the number of maps that you can potentially play on to two or three per day, a limitation which is masked behind a daily announcement from a pair of Inkling celebrities, It's strange that Nintendo would want to limit the number of maps that you have access to and hope that a charming skit would make up the difference.

Online multiplayer aside, the single player campaign does feature a lot of variety, taking you through five worlds filled with minor puzzles, platforming, and some head-to-head matches against the game’s AI-driven baddies, the Octarians. The goal in each level is to reach an electrified fish known as the zap fish, which lies at the end of every level. Though the worlds aren't differentiated the way they are in so many Nintendo games, with different themes or natural elements giving them a strong identity, the objectives and goals you face along the way make the moment-to-moment gameplay feel fresh. Again, it's generally easy to make it through most levels, but you will be hard pressed to find the game's hidden items: Sunken Scrolls. Each one opens up a chapter in the history of the world of Splatoon. Collecting all of them may open up something new in the game, but I need to find a few more before I know whether that's true or not.

I'll be doing my best to find viable multiplayer matches and as many Sunken Scrolls as possible in the next couple days. Once I've got a good feel for the breadth of Splatoon's modes, I'll be back with my full review.