In this universe, humanity has disappeared, most of the earth's surface has been covered by water, and aquatic life has evolved and can now live on land. Upon starting the game, you are given the opportunity to create your own Inkling/Octolings and your little companion. After you finish, your hero will enter the train which will have as its destination the city of chaos Splatsville. Once you get off at the stop you have two main options. First is to go to the big
building where the online experience is or follow a gentleman who is staring at you into the sewer for Story Mode. Aside from these two, the town has various shops where you can buy equipment and various perks. Finally, other players' avatars appear on the track whether the players are online or not.
If you decided to follow the old gentleman into the sewers, he will introduce himself as Cap'n Cuttlefish who will tell you that life is in danger from a fluffy slime that you are slowly spreading around the world and anyone who touches it will suffocate in the fluff. Your pet has the ability to eat the fluff paving the way. Seeing this fact the master enlists you in his team giving you the name Agent 3 of the Squidbreak Splatoon team which aims to solve the mystery of the fluff.
Before they can do anything, an event will find your hero in an underground city, in the company of the agents of the group who explain to us how the old man is dying and how there is fluff everywhere. At this point the rescue mission begins as well as the mission to uncover what is causing the muddy fluff to appear.
Nintendo's 3rd person shooter picks eight (8) players and puts them into two teams of four. The two teams have three minutes to cover the track with their paint. At the end of the time whichever team has painted the most are the winners. During the battle you can paint the floor with your weapons which the more you use them the faster they will run out of ink. To refill your tank, all you have to do is swim in your own color ink. Doing so will refill
your tank. In battle you can use guns, pistols, brushes, rollers, buckets and katanas. Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages of the type, they paint faster but cannot compete in ranged combat. They also have different specials and ultimates. Specials can be used often as long as you have ink in the tank. The horizontal line on the tank indicates the amount of ink a special needs. On the other hand ultimate charges based on your performance.
When available, your player will glow as an aura surrounds them. If you die before using it you will lose a percentage, which you will have to regain. Wetting opponents with your ink gives you a small advantage, as for a short period of time you play with one player more and on his fall the opponent causes a small explosion in your paint. These matches are known as Turf wars.
For the more competitive players, you are given the opportunity to compete with others in various game modes in which there are other rules than the standard Turf wars. The first mode is called Clam Blitz. Two teams battle on a track where oysters are scattered, which you must collect (10 limit) and drop into the opposing team's base. The game ends if one team drops all of the other's shields or if time runs out then the team with the least damage wins.
Similar to Turf wars is Splat zones. The only difference between the two is that unlike Turf wars the goal is not to paint the entire track but only the areas defined by the game. Painting the track is only important to fill your tank and move faster on the battlefield. Additionally, another mode is Tower Control which is similar to Payload missions. In this two teams battle around a tower, the winning team of the battle moves the tower to the
opposing team's side with the aim of taking it to the end of the course. Winners are those who pushed him to the end or further. Finally, there is Rainmaker in which two teams try to be the first to reach the object, collect it and take it to the target located in the opposing area.
If PVP isn't for you and the story mode isn't enough, you have the chance to form a team of four and play PVE in Salmon Rush, a game mode that first appeared in Splatoon 2 and returns again in 3. Here you have to survive 4 rounds against the AI as your goal is to eliminate all the bad guys as well as the Bosses. Each boss when it falls from your inks drops a number of eggs which you must protect and take to your team's basket to drop. To win you have to
survive 4 waves of bad guys while at the same time killing all the bosses in a certain amount of time and collecting the number of eggs you need. To increase the difficulty of this game, each hero has different weapons which are defined by the game and at each completion of a round you switch between them. In Salmon rush there are various bosses each with its own mechanism. Finally, depending on your level and that of your allies, the more difficult your opponents
will be.
Finally a new game in Splatoon3 is Table-turf. During the story and also in the store you can buy/find booster packs which contain cards with the heroes. With these cards you can create a deck of 15 cards. Each card has a Tetris-like formation on it. During the game you draw 4 cards from which you choose which formation you prefer to use in each round. The game lasts for 12 rounds with the aim of placing as many blocks as you can. Each round you draw a card
and place one. If both players place a card in the same area then the card with the lowest score wins the battle. Finally, when placing the card, it is forbidden to add it to an area where there are blocks of your color.
A game that relies heavily on the online Community!
The town of Splatsville is the area that acts as the hub world where there are shops for clothes, weapons and perks. When you enter the game, two reporters will inform you about the news of the game (which maps are available online, if there is or is an upcoming event, etc.). Beyond the standard shops, there are various heroes of other players who, when you approach them, will display bubbles with drawings or sayings. These same designs also decorate the walls of
the city which are constantly changing. Also, if a character wears clothes that you like you can order them. Near the arena there is a tall guy who brings you your orders, paid with ingame currency. During events like Splatfest, you choose one of three teams and continue the game as normal, scoring points for your team with each victory. Also, the entire Splatsville is decorated in the colors of the festival while the heroes of the show dance around town.
The fact that the game is based on its community is also one of its negatives. First of all, if you don't care about the online experience then directly the game is not for you, because its story alone is not enough as it can be finished within 4 hours during which the goal is to go from one side of the track to the other without much fighting happening. Next, to wear nice clothes you have to have the Nintendo app because all the weird clothes are there instead
of in the hub world store. Additionally, you can only order one at a time. During game time, two teams are randomly selected which can create issues such as one team having 4 players with snipers against a team with katana, rifle, sniper and pistols which will not end well for one of the teams. Last but not the least is the fact that splatoon3 failed to create significant changes compared to splatoon2 as the core gameplay is the same, the story plot is almost
the same, the game-modes are the same and the only thing new are some new weapons and life quality changes such as the permanent PVE option and the waiting in the lobby change.
Honestly if you played Splatoon 2 then you ll find 3 to be very similar. The characters look very similar and the audio tracks follow the same style. Theres not too much things to say regarding this. What you see is what you get. I could go ahead and mention the bizzare cutscenes during story mode but these are not somehting THAT impressive. They re nice,
their addition is always welcomed and thats just it. Same for the audio, its not the kind of music i would personally hear outside of the game but during it its fine. It works its purpose.
Whats worth mentionning is the map transformation during Turf wars. The entire hub world is decorated on the believes of each team and people/NPC seems to be celebrating it. If you have friends that you play with, you can spot the players avatars and paintings around the map.
In conclusion, Splatoon 3 is a nice game that while it has sold better than any previous Splatoon has divided its audience. On the one hand, if you are new to the game, you will most likely like it as it is an enjoyable experience. On the other hand, if you are a veteran of the series, then most likely you will like it, but you will not find anything new in 3. Everything that was in Splatoon 2 returns here with the difference that when you are in a lobby to play, you are not waiting in an immovable screen with the players present but in a training lobby where you can move around freely. After a round is over you can continue to another match or change your equipment before the next one. Salmon rush is no longer a seasonal mode, and amiibo once again don't add anything other than clothing if the figure's character was Splatoon. Furthermore, the game is heavily focussed on its community and wants you to use the app in order to obtain cool equipment. Finally, the music and graphics remain the same with minor changes.