The Wii U delivered undoubtedly some of the best first party games on recent consoles, yet the console itself was largely panned by critics and gamer’s worldwide. One of the biggest hits was new Nintendo franchise Splatoon, a wacky MMO shooter involving squids, children and massive puddles of coloured ink. It was an incredibly addictive game and a huge hit for the Japanese gaming giant. With the recent high sales and praise of the Nintendo Switch, the company have now released a follow up simply titled Splatoon 2 (or in our office Spla2oon) exclusively on the Switch. The sequel features a better story mode, new online features and new and different ways to splat your opponents.
Playing in story mode, the games picks up a few months after the first one. With The Great Zapfish (the source of the Inkling’s power) being restored, things are going relatively well until Callie goes missing and surprise surprise so does the great Zapfish. Players get recruited as part of Agent 4 of the Squidling Splatoon to save Callie and retrieve the Zapfish (yet again!) at the Octo Canyon. The story mode this time around feels like a lot more love and attention has been given in comparison to the rushed first game. If you are not interested in playing online, just getting this game for the story mode is worth it.
When you first start the game, you are given a fairly in-depth tutorial so newcomers can get used to the controls, similarly I would recommend playing Story Mode as a great way to learn the controls and the best way to take down your opponents. Getting to know which weapon suits which character as well as recharging your ink, the coverage of the splatter and getting your speed up will ultimately benefit players when they reach online mode. This may look like a game for kids but it is far from it.
Playing Splatoon 2 online arranges players in teams of four with the goal of covering as much ground as possible in your chosen team’s coloured ink. Speed and ink-recharge are the skills you will need to be successful at these skills and working the controls to win an online battle (particularly against seasoned players!) The mix up of the colours in each round help not getting your teams colours mixed up and you also have the option to turn off motion controls in the settings menu (something I highly recommend!)
If you want to use chat and social features there is a companion app for Smartphones, and while some have complained it is clunky and slow, I found no issues and enjoyed having it there next to me, and really when you think about it, when you play games in this day and age, having your phone next to you and constantly checking it is just part of our life now so it makes sense to put it on an app on a device we are checking anyway right? (that’s just my two cents!)
Splatoon 2 delivers a highly addictive and satisfying sequel for the Nintendo Switch system. Featuring intuitive controls, a more thought out story mode and a bunch of Splatoon themed accessories including controllers, amiibos and joy-cons, Splatoon 2 has taken the Switch by storm and after spending an embarrassingly large amount of hours playing online and with friends, this is another gem in the Switch’s crown as one of the most social and entertaining console’s that Nintendo have ever produced.
Splatoon 2 is available exclusively for the Nintendo Switch now.
