What's the deal with Splatoon 2?

Let's preface this by saying that this is all new to me. I owned a Wii U but never actually picked up the original Splatoon. This means that some of the many complaints I have read online regarding recycled content have had no impact on my enjoyment of the game. That being said, if you did play the original version to death then you can expect more of the same from the new version on Nintendo's fledgling console. This is not necessarily a bad thing however......

One of the biggest compliments I can give Splatoon 2 is that is very much a Nintendo game. All of the character and stage designs reek of quality and originality. Everything overflows with colour and whimsy, a welcome thing considering the brown colour palette of modern shooters. From the outset you will create a personalised Avatar in the form of your very own Inkling. You are given a few basic choices to start with, including eye colour, hair style etc, but you will soon have something unique that represents your personality better thanks to the awesome customisation options. After a short tutorial stage you will be dropped into the middle of Inkopolis, Splatoon 2's hub world. from here you can visit a number of shops that offer you the chance to buy cosmetic items such as hats, jackets and footwear as well as new weaponry. All of these items have different abilities that will also give you small advantages in the games multiplayer. After you have kitted out your new hero, you will need to make a tough decision on where to start the fun.

Splatoon 2 features a number of play modes. There is a single player campaign which actually reminded me of super Mario sunshine from the Gamecube era. There are collectables to find in each hub world and a number of "main mission " stages to conquer. The campaign works as a good training course for beginners as it lets you experiment with the games weapons sets and movement. There are also some amazing set piece boss encounters which I did not expect to find here. They are thoughtful, unique and demand the use of your skills rather than being the endless bullet sponges that they could have been. Overall, a solid single player offering that will last a good 6 hours.

The main draw of Splatoon though is the multiplayer, And what a refreshing experience it is. For those who have no experience with the mechanic's, let me explain. This is the only shooter that I can think of where the goal is not to kill the enemy team. All of the weapons available to you spray ink rather than bullets. The main objective of each game is to cover more of the stage in your teams colour than the enemy team. That's it. Killing enemy team members does not affect your K/D ratio etc, it simply removes that member from play for a few seconds which gives your side a temporary advantage. The weapon classes give you plenty of different options on how you want to play, from machine guns that rapid fire ink to rollers that allow you to physically paint the floor as you run around the map- there is plenty here for you to master. Once you reach player rank 10 you will open up ranked play which gives you access to more game modes and a more competitive experience.

Another novel idea here is the way stages are restricted to certain times of day. For example from 5-7pm there may be two maps on rotation. These will be introduced to you by the hosts of Splatoon 2- Pearl and Marina. I think this actually helps the experience. Everything has the feel of an event that only lasts a few hours rather than an endless, meaningless loop of the same 10 maps.

Last but not least we have Salmon run, Splatoon 2's only new mode. This plays like a wacky adaption of Gears of wars Horde mode with streams of enemies and boss encounters with resource collection. These resources then tally up over a certain period to claim unique rewards not available in other mode. When i originally saw the trailers for this mode I believed it would be nothing more than a throw away distraction but much like the main multiplayer mode, Grisco industries only hire Salmon runners during certain periods which feels like a unique event in game like Destiny where a large portion of the player base moves over to Salmon run in order to claim the rewards. It's also extremely difficult at times and requires careful planning and team work....... which leads me to Splatoon 2's biggest flaw.

Nintendo's App and the way it forces you to use you mobile phone in order to have any form of voice chat. There is no other way to describe this feature than a complete fucking shambles. A quick youtube search will provide you with endless videos of disgruntled players with an large assortment of wires all over the place, constant disconnects if you receive a text, phone call etc.......in 2017. This kind of thing may have been borderline acceptable in the PS2 era but now days we expect this kind of feature as standard. But Nintendo continues to march to the beat of its own drummer. If they could sort out the basics then they could get back to the forefront of gaming.

So should you pick up Splatoon 2? in short, if you have a switch then yes. Its charming, endlessly replay-able and will be supported free of charge for the next 12 months. If only i didnt have to use my phone to talk to my friends- stupid as that statement sounds.

Overall- Buy