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The Inkling War Is On! We Review 'Splatoon 2'

The minute the Nintendo Switch was released, you knew Splatoon 2 was going to be a part of the system. Nintendo's answer to the first-person shooter with neon paint and wacky squid-like characters, the original was a hit on the Wii U and spawned a new online community of multiplayer shooters that Nintendo rarely sees. But can the sequel hold up to the original? We swam through the ink ourselves and gave Splatoon 2 as best a test we could.

First and foremost, the sequel is basically like the original in all the ways that matter. You and a team of inklings do battle against another team with opposing colors to deck out the landscape with ink and defeat your opponents by hitting them with a different color. You have a variety of weapons to choose from, the ability to swim in your own color of ink for reloading and stealth mode and have the ability to reach high places by swimming through the ink you lay down. You'll use these abilities and weapons to win your four-on-four match-ups for rankings and points.

The single player mode returns with an emphasis on experimentation, discovery, and learning. You'll primarily be using the splatter shot to achieve your goals with other weapons coming into play for specific objectives. One of the great secrets to this mode is that it's basically teaching you how best to you all your weaponry and skills before jumping into multiplayer, so the game gets lovely kudos for teaching the basics without it feeling like a bad tutorial. Everything about this mode becomes harder as you go and mastering the previous skills are key to making it work. But when you do make it work, it is so satisfying to know you're mastering the game.

One of the downsides to this is that there's stuff from the single player area that didn't make it into the multiplayer, and ultimately feel like a waste of time and a missed opportunity. For example, paint grinding is a cool mechanic that could make for wicked sniper and bombing raids, but it's nowhere to be found in multiplayer games. Kinda depressing that there isn't more variety transferred from one version to the other, but at the very least the single player prepares you to go up against newbies and veterans of the multiplayer world.

Speaking of, multiplayer reigns supreme as Turf War is back, where you need to cover more ground than your opponents, only this time the level obstacles and the ink mechanics feel tighter and cleaner than the previous game. However, covering objects can feel like a greater challenge than before as the levels themselves have become more confined. The slight drawback is that this is the only non-competitive mode available in the game. It would have been a treat to have more variety here that didn't rely on status, but Turf War is still fine.

The issues with Splatoon 2's multiplayer are still a hassle and take some of the fun out of the mode. First off, you can't change weapons when you choose at the start. So if a strategy isn't going right, you're stuck with it. Second, lack of a proper in-game chat makes it difficult to coordinate with anyone, so often you'll see a lone teammate not on the gameplan. Third, if you go into a match with friends, there's a good chance you'll be split up as the game doesn't pair friends up consistently in the lobby. Some people may not care about that, but a lot of others do, and what makes that depressing is that those are simple fixes and options that have been in multiplayer games for about two decades. Why Nintendo saw fit to be "different" in this area is beyond explanation.

As far as competitive battles go in Splatoon 2, it's hit-and-miss as to what your favorites may be. Tower Control is basically an escort mission, Rain Maker is like capture the flag but done in reverse order, and Splat Zones plays like domination only without so much blood. The best of the bunch in our eyes was Rain Maker, but that's simply for the fact that it's a new spin on an old favorite and will challenge many who are so pre-programmed into fighting a certain way to change up their tactics. The worst is Tower Control, which has been done better by so many other titles that here it seems like a lame addition.

The co-op mode called Salmon Run is by far one of the best additions. Think of it as a zombie horde mode, but with fish. Two to four players will navigate a level, warding off all the salmon who will creep on shore in a different color to get around, as you do your best to keep the platform you're on protected. It is a far greater challenge than we expected it to be, which added to the fun of conquering it. But be ready because the bosses suck and you need to be on your game to take them out.

Splatoon 2 is a fine upgrade from the original, with a lot of tweaks and additions that can make experienced players feel challenged and newcomers not feel intimidated for missing on the first one. That said, Nintendo seriously needs to fix their multiplayer system to be on-par with the best of the best. Nintendo's efforts to be different than everyone else has been their greatest strength and their biggest weakness, and you can see both sides perfectly in a game like this. I still recommend getting it and having fun with your friends, just understand there are going to be some missing elements you'll need to work around.

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