Splatoon 2

Splatoon 2 is a sequel to the highly popular third-person shooter Splatoon developed by Nintendo. It was officially unveiled at the Tokyo Nintendo Switch Presentation in January 2017, and July 21, 2017 was announced as the release date.

So, two years have passed since the original game was released and time in Inkopolis also didn’t stay. Have you missed colorful battles and weaponized ink? Hope, you did because there is a plenty of new and exciting weapons, costumes and abilities are waiting for you.

For those who are new to Splatoon series: this game is about young characters called Inklings who have the ability to create multiplayer arenas just with the special colored inks which they also use as weaponry. Your goal in this game is to claim as much territory with the inks as you can but until the timer runs out.

Graphics 5/5

The more you play, the better Splatoon 2 seems to be. It’s tough to find anything to complain about. The graphics are displayed in a gorgeous 1080p resolution most of the time and just sometimes goes between 850p - 1080p and 720p in handheld mode. However, because of the Switch's quality screen, a smooth 60fps frame rate and Nintendo's excellent visual design, the graphics look gorgeous in each mode.

Splatoon 2 has not only a beautiful color palette but also surprises with its textures, arena designs, bump mapping, characters and animation that create the energetic atmosphere of the game. So the art team have done a fantastic job and made Splatoon 2 look impressively stunning.

Gameplay 4.5/5

Splatoon 2 continues the story that was started two years ago in the first game’s mode - Hero Mode. The second part of the game reminds us that Callie and Great Zapfish has disappeared and Marie needs your help to find them. Also, the snow globe of DJ Octavio was imprisoned and smashed into pieces along with Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack. Therefore, a new mode is set in Octo Canyon which looks similar to Octo Valley location from the first game.

As always, Splatoon 2 focuses on online multiplayer battles where eight players are divided into two teams of four. Each player has two switchable forms: the humanoid one with which they can use weapons to spread ink and splatter opponents, and another squid form that lets them quickly swim through ink, recharge own tank and hide in the teammates' ink.

The new weapons like Sub Weapons, Splat Bombs and Splashdowns appeared in the game. Moreover, now you can see the Heads-Up Display above your enemies that shows what weapons do they have and whether their Special Weapons are ready to be used.

Some new game modes were also added to the gameplay. One of them is a co-op horde mode named Salmon Run where you need to defeat Salmonids and collect Power Eggs and Golden Eggs to complete missions. Another mode is League Battle where teams of two or four battle other teams online for two hours to get points. A Private Battle mode is now available for Local Multiplayer, and there is a new LAN Play feature that lets you play on a LAN without an Internet connection. Another change is a spectating mode called Private Battle Spectator View that was added to Private Battles.

The Salmon Run mode is the most noticeable feature. Thus I’d like to review it more detailed. In this mode, you can choose to play alone or running in groups of up to four. While playing, you will face three waves of Salmonids and will have to destroy them, but it’s not that easy to do. There are three levels of difficulty that vary from 5% to 200%. Your salmonid enemy looks like a fish and is fairly simple to dispatch. However, to get to more powerful Salmonids, you should use more tactical approach. In this mode, you also have a time limit, and your goal is to collect a certain number of the glowing eggs. But the game won’t be over once you have all of them. Instead, each team needs to survive all rounds collecting eggs and challenging with the all the risks.

In overall, all the game’s modes are fun and exciting, and with their higher difficulty, there is more interest to play and communicate with other players.

Controls 4.5/5

The process of controlling Inklings is quite simple, and you don’t need to have any special skills. Your little characters can move quickly through the own ink and slow down when they get into contact with their opponents. They also have weapons so that you can shoot from something like conventional guns, giant paint rollers or exploding curling stones. Moreover, you can upgrade each weapon but to do so, you will have to collect a certain amount of Power Eggs that are produced by Sardinium. Old weapons like a rifle, sniper archetypes are also back, but the new ones add another dimension to game’s combat. You will play with the motion controls by default, but you can turn them off anytime.

Replay Value 4/5

Splatoon 2 has a quite interesting single player mode that will keep you busy for roughly 6 to 10 hours. But due to the new weapon system, you will likely spend much more time playing this game. Also, as you progress, you get a number of new weapons to be used, and whenever you complete a level, you can pick another weapon and try to play the same level one more time. All the weapons vary so much that playing one level can be felt as playing something completely different.

Conclusion

Splatoon 2 will quickly excite you with its beautiful characters Inklings, ranked battles, challenging single-player campaign and terrifying enemy Salmonids. Splatoon 2 has about everything you desire to see in a sequel, and it delivers to players the absolute best experience possible.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 4.5
• Controls 4.5
• Replay Value 4

Pros

new modes;

upgradable weapons;

intricate gameplay;

challenging multiplayer mode;

updated characters;

Cons

last levels might be too hard;

the single mode has a little content;