Splatoon 3 TEST: a juicy, fun and colorful sequel

nintendo had the excellent idea of ​​developing Splatoon a shooting game for its Wii U, skilfully exploiting the tablet of its home console to display the map, in the heart of the gameplay multiplayer. A sequel was released shortly after the launch of the Switch and here is a third opus now arriving in this new school year 2022still on the portable home console.

This is the best single player mode offered in a Splatoon game.

Splatoon 3 takes us this time to Cite-Claboussea new city in the heart of the Clabousse areaa region with a post-apocalyptic and arid atmosphere where a strange overturned tower stands, probably built by a certain Gustav. The game welcomes us with the creation of the character, allowing us to embody a Inkling or one octalingand of customize its appearance with a lot of options, for a unique hero or heroine, although most of the customization will be done later with the clothes. A brief tutorial is there to teach us (or remind us) the basics of the game, no surprises here, you have to cover the ground with colored ink to move faster in the form of a squid and shoot balloons with a weapon. Feelings return in secondseven if once again, the gyroscope aiming remains very particular, it is fortunately possible to deactivate it in the options after the tutorial.

Here we are now in the streets of Cite-Claboussea kind of open hub with many shops to buy clothes and weapons, the opportunity to meet several colorful NPCs. The humorous tone is always present, but a few lines of dialogue smell like a double-read joke, it’s a treat to wander around this small town for a few minutes looking for winks, but the desire to throw yourself into colorful battles is made quickly feel. However, the game invites us to first take a detour through the sewers, where an old bearded squid hides. Oh yes, theAdmiral Macalamar is back and it’s at the heart of the single player mode of Splatoon 3at least for the first few minutes, because the goal of the story will be to save him from the clutches of an enemy, the Octarians. Still them, yes, but another furry threat is also present, we will leave it to you to discover it. The single player mode of Splatoon 3 is a success, it serves above all as a very long tutorial to learn and master all the subtleties of gameplay and discover new weapons. Each level in fact encourages the player to use recommended equipment, adapted to the challenge, the opportunity to get their hands on the Piercers (bows) or theEclatana (a brush with better reach) and some devastating new ultimate abilities. We will especially remember the passages with a kind of grappling hook allowing you to propel yourself towards a distant wall and land in an explosion of ink, giving rise to very interesting and fun platforming and reflection phases.

The icing on the cake, the single player mode takes place at Alternaa region divided into six islands to explore more or less freely. It is indeed necessary to collect eggs by completing levels to free the passage and advance until the end of the story, which can be folded in two to three hours in a straight line (with as each time a final boss much more difficult than the rest of the adventure). But the idea is obviously to complete all the levels to unlock the entire map, which is not lacking in slightly hidden passages and objects to find. Clearly, this is the best single player mode offered in a game Splatoonit is complete, rich and fun to browse, even if the division into levels breaks the rhythm quite a bit. One day, maybe, we’ll have a really exciting story campaign, but for now, let’s just stick with this really good fun deluxe tutorial.

Splatoon 3it is above all multiplayer modes to have fun online with friends or with strangers, provided you have a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online obviously. And there, well, it’s due Splatoon pure juice.

Splatoon 3 finally feels like a real, ambitious multiplayer game.

We find well-known modes such as the Territory Warasking two teams to cover the maximum area on the map with their weapons, no matter how many kills. It’s fun, efficient, fast and nervous, sometimes frustrating when your team loses by a few percent, a real pleasure to have fun for a few games. The most motivated will nevertheless quickly embark on the Anarchy Matches with Zone defenseI’Risky shipping with a convoy to take to the enemy camp, the Bazookarp Mission with a big cannon to be brought (slowly) there again to the adversary or even the clam rainkind of capture the flag chaotic, but very nervous. The mode Salmon Run also returns, playing co-op against waves of Salmonoidswith new bosses, but not enough to renew the experience compared to Splatoon 2.

The big novelty is the mode Maps & Territorywhich uses a system of cards and decks with blocks to line up to cover as much surface as possible, like in the game of go. It’s fun for a game, but the concept is quickly repetitive, especially since it is necessary to face the AI ​​(or ghosts of friends), no real duel between players is possible. Finally, know that 12 maps are available for classic multiplayer modes, which is enough for a launch, but as always, they are offered with a rotation system depending on the time. Suffice to say that if you decide to chain a maximum of parts for a short time, you will quickly have the feeling of going in circles, even if they make us travel in the Clabousse area and to Chromapolisfor the nostalgic.

nintendo had the good idea to integrate the Lobbya lobby to wait and try weapons while waiting for the game to start, and even find ghosts of friends. It is also possible to view recent matches and access the locker room to change equipment before the next match, a locker moreover customizable. It may be anecdotal, but Splatoon 3 finally feels like a real, ambitious multiplayer game with these kinds of additions. Coming back to the equipment, Cite-Clabousse of course offers many shops to buy new weapons and clothes, which have passive assets (or assets for weapons). What to make a nice wardrobe over the games, provided you play regularly, Splatoon 3 indeed includes a temporary catalog, which will have to be looted before it changes. All the same, there is plenty to do, and some clothes fit perfectly with the post-apocalyptic style of the region.

Finally, a quick word on technique. The Nintendo Switch is not the most powerful console on the market, but Splatoon 3 is doing very well. In fashion Portable obviously, it’s beautiful, the textures are smooth, the game is fluid, there’s nothing to complain about, it’s a treat for the retina. On a TV with the Switch plugged into its dockwell, a very light aliasing points the tip of his nose, but it is clear that the title is still very pretty and just as fluid. Splatoon 3 benefits from a few doubled sentences, but most of the dialogue is done with quickly annoying sound effects, fortunately the dynamic and crazy music is regularly heard to energize the parties.

You have to admit it, Splatoon 3 is first and foremost a Splatoon 2.5. The game does not innovate much, but improves almost everything, and that alone is a great thing. The multiplayer is still just as fun, the unlockable content is substantial, the maps are varied and colorful (obviously), the gameplay is very easy to learn and at the same time rather rich, and the game is pretty. The single-player mode remains an excellent tutorial to get your hands dirty and discover what’s new, that’s all the players were asking for, who will be able to find the Splatfests (with three teams this time) for many months. Of course, we will have to see how the game evolves over the updates, but Splatoon 3 already has all the cards in hand to seduce fans of the first two games.

Clint008 Writer – Tester