Splatoon 3 Hands On: The Nintendo Switch Sequel Is Much More Of A Good Thing

turn 3 offers more of what fans have loved about Nintendo’s ink ’em up series since it debuted on Wii U seven years ago: more weapons, more stages, fancier gear, more splatfests and more co-op action in the game’s Salmon Run mode . Aside from being able to give Inklings and Octolings (and stages) goosebumps all over again in multiplayer modes, splatoon 3 brings with it a robust new story mode in which players will unravel the mystery behind the Fuzzy Ooze.

But will that be enough to bring back the Splatoon loyalists? Nintendo seems to think so, anyway, and is banking on years of additional content and an already-announced “large-scale paid DLC” offering to keep things fresh in the coming months.

Even the new-and-improved Salmon Run, which I played for a few spins at a hands-on event in New York City last week, is a “mountain of content,” Nintendo’s Nate Bihldorff told me in a Zoom call.

“I sometimes need a break not to mess with other live players,” Bihldorff said when asked about his favorite new signing turn 3. “I really love teaming up with my friends and taking on waves upon waves of AI. I loved salmon run in turn 2 and the way they spiced it up turn 3I’m just looking up this massive mountain of content that I know I’m going to climb over the next few years.”

Image: Nintendo

my time with turn 3The improved Salmon Run mode was messy and fun, even at a modest intensity. Raising that intensity showed how unprepared I was turn 3‘s adoption of the Horde mode mechanics, which Bihldorff said even experienced players will encounter some challenges.

“They added a whole bunch of new boss salmonids that all need to be learned,” he said. “I feel like I’ve just mastered the ones from the last game […] but the new ones require real mastery. And the extra wave that occasionally shows up with a King Salmon […] that brings a whole new intensity to the game. But the fact that [Salmon Run is] Always playable means it’s highly accessible and easier to assemble crews to play with [with].”

Newcomers to Splatoon, a group I belong to, can brush up on the basic mechanics of being a squid kid in the far less intense single player story mode. I brawled through a few levels in The Crater, a very introductory component of the Return of the Mammalian storyline where players battle the hairy Octarian army. In single player, I rediscovered Splatoon’s implementation of gyro-based aiming – which feels great despite my general dislike of motion controls – and the multi-faceted movements required to be a squid kid.

Image: Nintendo

I also began to familiarize myself with it turn 3The new moves from , the Squid Surge, which allows me to quickly swim up inked walls, and the Squid Roll, which allows me to jump out of the ink and quickly turn around while temporarily protected with liquid armor.

“It’s the combination of those two elements, that super armor and quick directional change that I think will really change strategy [in multiplayer]’ Nintendo’s Bill Trinen told me during a Zoom call. “I like throwing myself into the action, but what really draws me to the Squid Roll is this ability to rush to a group on the other team, drop a secondary weapon, [and] Take out a few of them while I do a backwards squid roll to defend against their attempts to get at me.

“But in my head, the strategy I’m hoping to perfect is pre-coloring some kind of wall, using Squid Roll to jump out from behind a wall, to use Squid Surge to get back behind the wall, just rocket-like the Wall up so that when the enemy comes around the corner to give chase, I actually come down from above and splatter them from where they least expect it. Of course, now that I’ve told you, everyone will know this strategy.”

Trinen was quick to admit, “I haven’t really pulled this off yet. That’s kind of my dream scenario in my head.”

During my time in competition turn 3 I’ve only created very few of my own dream scenarios in multiplayer. But I’ve had undeniable fun trying out new weapons, like the Splatana Wiper, a wiper-inspired sword that ejects a gush of ink with each swing, and the Tri-Stinger, a three-pronged bow-like weapon that fires a wide horizontal splatter on normal firing and a vertical splat while jumping. (Hard to convey why Landing a long splatter shot while jumping with the tri-stringer feels so good, but it does.)

Image: Nintendo

But Splatoon veterans and newcomers alike will have plenty to experiment with turn 3‘s vast arsenal. There are dozens of ink guns, launchers, paint cans, and bows to play with, as well as new specialty weapons like the Tacticooler, a fridge that dispenses power-up drinks for your teammates, and the Reefslider, an armed pool swimmer.

While multiplayer, both competitive and cooperative, is the clear long-term draw turn 3, the single-player story mode seems to have the same level of ingenuity and polish as any other Nintendo game. Spending some time in early levels in The Crater, I found loads of platforming and movement puzzles.

“I often think that the single player mode in Splatoon is overshadowed by everything that’s going on on the multiplayer side of the game,” said Trinen. “And this mode has also evolved quite a bit, especially between levels. I think a lot of people might see it as a bit of an extended tutorial – which it is in a way – but it’s still incredibly packed with what I think is a Nintendo strength, which is just a really great platform -Level design is . I think people will if they dive into it and start to kind of engage with everything this mode has to offer turn 3, I think will be pleasantly surprised because it’s just a lot of fun. There are some great boss fights in there [and] The overall creativity within the platforming is top notch.”

Nintendo Switch owners get a taste for it turn 3‘s updated offerings this week with the Splatfest World Premiere demo. This limited-time demo will include a look at the new Tricolor Turf Wars, as three teams compete in a 2v4v2 format for supremacy in Splatoon 3’s first online Splatfest event. Demo players can try out a variety of weapons and new gameplay techniques for this weekend’s big battle, which sees Team Rock, Team Paper, and Team Scissors go head-to-head on August 27th.

turn 3 launches in full September 9th on Nintendo Switch.