Splatoon

A little context before the review proper:

It's hard to believe that a fresh, new Nintendo IP is a reality in 2015, but perhaps even harder to fathom the genre: online shooter. For many, myself included, the thought of having to play (endure) an online shooter brings about anxiety and despair. Example: in 2009, Uncharted 2 was a masterpiece in cinematic story-telling, and included an online mode that I reluctantly decided to try. About five matches in, I was struggling, and in a moment of panic and desperation, lobbed a grenade that ended up killing myself and a partner within close proximity. After the match, I received a message from the player. Two words. "u suc" (sic). Cold. That same year, I tried my hand at Modern Warfare 2, and after two punishing hours, I finally scored three consecutive kills. Whether by skill or sheer luck, it really doesn't matter, for I decided to leave the genre on a high note. For good. So when Nintendo announced that Splatoon, their first original game in quite possibly a decade (because who honestly remembers the Wonderful 101?), would be a team based, competitive shooter, disappointment set in. It was off my radar.

And then I played it. It WAS a shooter, but one for people like me who lacked the twitch reflexes but yearned for a rewarding, cooperative experience.

For all the flack Nintendo has received in the past few years, especially in regards to innovation, Splatoon is their solution to the problem most players have with online shooters. Splatoon is colorful, zany, intense, but more importantly, inviting.

Not to say the anxiety goes away in Splatoon. The game's main mode, Regular Battle, is an intense, chaotic turf war that has failed to lose its luster, even with the paltry amount of maps available at launch. It's a four vs. four squad based showdown with the simple objective of laying down enough ink to cover more of the ground than your opponent. Matches last three minutes. Instead of mowing down the opposition, coordination with your team is essential so as to cover as much ground as possible. It sounds like a wacky, naive concept thought up by a seven year old, but props is due to Nintendo for hashing it out.

Maneuvering around the map is another essential and fun part of the experience. At any given moment, your avatar can transform into a squid by diving into the ink and swimming through the environment. And terrain isn't simply restricted to even ground; the skate park level introduces half pipes, and the local mall includes steps and higher to reach platforms. Simply ink these areas to navigate them.

Visually, the game is a gorgeous mess of color. During battle, the game pad will display the entire map and all of the ink splattered in real time. It's an amusing and rewarding image , but also a tactical one, as you can see which areas need attention. There's a sheen to the ink that looks especially vivid in HD, which only further welcomes the potential of Nintendo in our current age.

The game is relatively deep as well, offering a decent variety of weapons once level 4 is reached. There's the beginning weapon, the Splattershot Jr, equivalent to any generic assault rifle. Other dealers of blotchy destruction include the Splat Charger (a charged weapon), the Squelcher, used for precise aim, and the furthest and most intriguing deviation, the Splat Roller. Resembling a giant paint roller, the Splat Roller's purpose is two-fold: to cover the most ground in the shortest amount of time, and its devastating close range attack, one which closely mirrors that of a shotgun in those more traditional shooters. Each weapon comes with its own unique ink grenade and special weapon, offering the player a good number of strategic load outs.

Learning what each weapon does would by clicking an icon and reading a sentence would have been sufficient, but in typical Nintendo fashion, an annoying merchant named Sheldon will tell you everything you need to know and then some. Sheldon is one chatty dude who constantly updates you on your current level, every single weapon you can possess at said level, and even the weapons you're still unable to access because you simply aren't fresh (too low leveled) enough. It is 2015 and Nintendo still opts to go the route of speech bubbles, meaning you must skip through each and every nugget of wisdom Sheldon has to offer. A small nitpick, sure, but a trope of Nintendo's that few appreciate.

With all the online focus, Splatoon actually sports a surprisingly entertaining single player campaign called the Octo Valley. Lasting around six hours, the brief campaign serves as a sort of quasi-tutorial to the game's mechanics. Early levels are easy enough, emphasizing navigation and light puzzle solving over combat, but the latter stages become complicated trials that entrust the player to piece together everything they have learned so far. Sadly, the only available weapon for this mode is the Splattershot, so anyone hoping to bring their weapon of choice to the campaign will be met with disappointment. The boss battles are the highlight of the Octo Valley, culminating in a difficult but epic final confrontation that is well worth the frustration.

One more mode of note, simply dubbed "Ranked Battle," serves as the game's take on domination. One or two areas on the map will need to be controlled by you and your compatriots, and though this is indeed where Splatoon decides who is truly worthy of rank, I gave up on the mode after two games (though not for ineptitude, for my teams went 1-1).

The Wii U is, and has been facing an upward battle since its inception, but Splatoon is a truly innovative and NEW IP from Nintendo. Once again, it solidifies Nintendo as one of the premier developers and pioneers of innovation. It also reaffirms our frustrations that this kind of thing only comes from them every few years. There will always be the Super Mario's, the Legend of Zelda's, hell even the Donkey Kong Counry's, but Splatoon is enough for now to make us forget that Nintendo is still banking on the past.