Splatoon 3: A Super Fresh Spin on a Splat-Tastic Series! (Review)
Released: 9th September 2022
Developer: Nintendo
System: Nintendo Switch
Price: $59.99 USD / £49.99 GBP
Splatoon 3 splatted its way onto Nintendo Switch on September 9th 2022. Many gamers wondered if there was a need for another mainline Splatoon game on Nintendo Switch, after Splatoon 2 had released in July 2017 and was still very much a popular game. Luckily, Nintendo offered its fan base a chance to test out the new features of Splatoon 3 during the Splatfest World Premiere which took place on Saturday 27th August, featuring the all new Tri-Color Turf War. This was a big deviation from the norm, whereby three teams would battle it out to ink the most turf.
I took part in the August Splatfest World Premiere with some friends and I have to say, the new features of Splatoon 3 convinced me to pre-order the full game. Before having tested out the games’ features via the Splatfest, I was against buying the game for many reasons. The number one reason being that there were still only two maps being featured at any one time for Turf War. I will run through the features which impressed me later in this review.
Naturally, Splatoon 3 came priced at the full $59.99 or £49.99 for those based in the UK. For those in the UK who have a Nintendo Switch Online Membership, there is still the option to purchase the game vouchers, priced at 2 Vouchers for £84 - so this is how I bought the game and saved myself some money. If you wanted to grab the game at the cheapest possible price then I would recommend buying the physical edition as some retailers have been known to sell copies for less than RRP.
Let’s jump right into the main event - Turf Wars! Undoubtedly, this will be the feature of the game that most people head straight for. I can happily say that the lobby and matchmaking system have been fine-tuned and streamlined in Splatoon 3. Unlike its predecessors, where you are stuck on a waiting screen to enter a match, you can now freely run around the lobby, inking the area and practicing your moves on the moving blow up squids while you wait to be slotted into a match. It’s no Squid Jump (think back to Splatoon 1) but it’s a major improvement on the boring lobbies of Splatoon 2. Joining friends is much easier now, as you can simply ‘drop-in’ on your friends while they are in a match and wait to join the following match. I’ve found so far that more often than not, I am grouped onto the same team as my friends, which is a very welcome change.
Splatoon 3 uses a mixture of older maps from previous games as well as some new maps - as far as I know, there will be free content updates in the future which will add more content with regard to weapons and maps. In the new Turf War, you start the match/respawn from up in the air while standing on what seems to be a coffee machine… very random but an interesting change! Nintendo has also changed the way disconnects occur. If someone drops out of the match, it instantly ends and the match does not count towards players scores. Although this does fix the issue from previous games where a team may be down to two players due to disconnects and being slaughtered by the opposing team, it does create the issue that matches instantly ending could become tiresome and be an overall detriment to gameplay.
As mentioned previously, only two maps are available at any one time and the maps rotate every two hours like in the previous games. One thing I was absolutely delighted to discover in Splatoon 3 is that when the maps change, or when you start the game, you are forwarded to the newscast of the new stages. In previous games this newscast was unskippable, long and extremely frustrating as it disrupted gameplay. Nintendo must have taken this criticism to heart because in Splatoon 3, you can click the left joystick to switch to ‘Listen Mode’ for the newscast, effectively moving it to the top left corner of the screen. I can’t even describe how wonderful this change is - it has changed the game immeasurably, being able to effectively skip having to watch the newscast every time you open the game, or every time the maps change.
There are other game modes available to play such as Anarchy battle which unlocks at level 10, unless you have Splatoon 2 save data, and then it unlocks early. Personally, I do not play league battles or any other modes other than Turf Wars. I’ve found that they make me quite ragey, and therefore I will not be including them in this review.
Nintendo have also added a new Table top Turf War mode that you can play in the Square. It’s very easy to learn, and it uses playing cards that you can find from playing the single player campaign. You are given a starter deck to begin with and instructed on how to play the game. Each card has a certain amount of colored squares on it in different shapes - this is your ink. The objective being to ink as many squares on the grid as you can. All of your ink must touch your own color ink, you cannot ink over your opponent's squares. There are 12 turns, and you also have the option to pass if you have no available cards that would fit into your inked area. It’s sort of hard to describe, but this game mode is actually a lot of fun, I can definitely see myself spending countless hours playing the table-top Turf War mode. You can play against the computer ‘Jellyfish’ or against opponents in the square.
The single player campaign so far has been impressive (judging by what I have played of it so far at the time of writing this review). To me, it feels like a mix of previous Splatoon single player campaigns with some elements of the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion DLC tied in together with it. It’s a welcome change and I have been enjoying what I have played so far. A nice added bonus is you can find display items, as well as trading cards and stickers to display in your locker in the locker room in the lobby.
I won’t go into describing the weapons and clothing options in the game, as it would take forever - but the new abilities such as run speed up, ink saver and faster respawn are very useful, and I have enjoyed taking advantage of these abilities to make my Turf Wars a little easier to handle. I believe that all of the previous weapons are available from Sheldon, however, as a creature of habit I just tend to stick with my good ol’ Aerospray!
Nintendo very recently announced the next Splatfest due to take place between September 23rd - 25th with the following theme - What would you bring to a desert island? Gear, Grub or Fun? I look forward to taking part in the first post-release splatfest! Which team will you choose? Let me know in the comments!
Pros:
Pros:
Streamlined Matchmaking & Lobby
Easier to Join with Friends
Skippable Newscast/Splatcast
Tabletop Turf War is a welcome addition
Salmon Run now available 24/7
Cons:
Still only 2 maps available at any one time
Sheldon still takes forever to run through the weapons, with no skip button
I have experienced quite a few ‘communication errors’ so far