2036: Splattering

Been playing a bit more Splatoon, and I really like it for a number of reasons. Turns out that Nintendo's first real foray into the dedicated online multiplayer sphere (as opposed to titles like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart, which include online but don't make it a focal point) is a really solid effort that does things a bit differently from the norm and is consequently a better, friendlier, more accessible experience as a result.

Splatoon's structure may seem restrictive to those who have been raised on more well-established shooter franchises. You can't purchase any new weapons or other equipment (each piece of which confers a buff of some description, and which can be levelled up at least once to unlock additional abilities) until you hit level 4, and until you hit level 10 you're restricted to playing just the "Turf War" battle mode.

In practice, though, this all works really well. Turf War — a mode where whichever team covers more of the map with their colour after three minutes wins — is a good introduction to the game, emphasising how it's important to work together as a team. By the time you hit Rank 10, at which point Ranked Battles with different rulesets unlock, you should be pretty comfortable with how the game works and perhaps even have found a favourite weapon style.

The other interesting thing about how Splatoon works is that rather than throwing all the maps and modes into the rotation and making people either vote on them or set up their own lobbies, it simply uses a small, rotating roster: two maps for Turf War, two more for Ranked Battle, and one of the available game modes chosen for Ranked Battle too. Every few hours this rotates.

This is also an excellent system. It encourages you to familiarise yourself with the maps, and since there are only two in a given set at any point, if you settle down to play a few games, you'll get the opportunity to learn their intricacies rather than being forced into always playing community favourite levels until the end of time.

So far I've only played the Splat Zones mode in Ranked Battle: a variant on King of the Hill in which you have to take control of one or more zones by painting its floor in your colour to score points. It's a different experience to Turf War; while Turf War is usually on the move, often with a scuffle over the map's middle ground, Splat Zones forces you to both go on the offensive and defensive according to the position you're in. Taking advantage of the squids' abilities to hide under their ink makes for some enormously satisfying stealth "kills" (sorry, "splats") and there's a real sense of fun when you manage to outwit an opponent who's been giving your team grief.

I haven't yet had the courage to jump into some games with the folks on the /r/splatoon Discord server, but they seem like a friendly bunch open to giving advice, so I may look into that in the next few days. After all, I am level 12 now; that's at least a bit fresh, I think…