Splatoon 3 Reviews
Splatoon 3 adds nothing of significance to the series, which is quite disappointing considering that it, as a whole, was bursting with originality when it first launched.
On the whole, Splatoon 3 is a family-friendly shooter that’s bright, dynamic, and well-polished. Depending on your experience, communication errors and lobby wait times can hold things back, but regular events to bring the community together, as well as the desire to dominate the leaderboard is likely to keep me coming back for more ink-fuelled anarchy for some time to come.
While it’s weird to see Nintendo deliver such a safe sequel, there’s no denying the continued pull of Splatoon’s splotchy skirmishes. Seasoned inklings can dive straight in; casual dabblers might find it a bit bare.
Sadly connection issues can still plague the game at times, but at the very least things are now balanced out if you drop during a match. While I still have my concerns, Splatoon 3 still has that frustratingly addictive gameplay that we all know and love, just stick to one title per platform from now on.
Bullets are replaced with gallons of ink in Nintendo’s take on the FPS Genre. Is Splatoon 3 a game worth spending a few (s)quid on? Find out in this Rapid Review.
Splatoon 3 is basically exactly what it set out to be: a third entry in the Splatoon series.
But even that remains a step down from the obsessively fun vertical scrolling platform game you could play while waiting for a full game of eight players in the original Splatoon. It feels strange to complain about simply getting more of a good thing, but Splatoon is still a young and creatively fertile series that can do even more, and should. At present, Splatoon 3 is a good game that could very easily evolve into a great one. The single-player campaign is, largely, proof of that. But it’s far too soon for a series this unique to feel like it’s already in “ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mode. Splatoon is one of the coolest things to happen on Nintendo’s platforms in the 21st century. The least it could do is follow its own advice and try to stay fresh.
The Alterna campaign is only a slice of the Splatoon 3 pie. As such, my final score comes with some caveats. Though the mechanical elements are rock solid, the look and feel of the game is still off. At least for me, this campaign content feels subdued and a little lonely. Taken as part of the complete experience, the single-player content is something of a safe house. A quiet space where you can sharpen your skills and experiment with new weapons. Even so, the solo campaign for Splatoon 3 had me longing for the chaos of the online arena.
Splatoon 3 isn't quite as novel the third time around, but a great campaign, tons of multiplayer options, and a few new surprises make it much more of a good thing.
Overall, Splatoon 3’s single-player and tabletop modes are refreshing, but the multiplayer modes and equipment play things super safe. There is a bucket load of enjoyable tweaks to the game, and Splatoon 3 is undoubtedly the most accessible and entertaining entry so far, but issues dating back to the original Wii U version (like voice chat and the stability of the online experience) are yet to be addressed, and after 7 years, it’s starting to wear thin. But despite the negatives, Splatoon 3 is a fresh coat of paint on a tried-and-tested formula and a perfect starting point for those looking to squid-jump into the series.
Splatoon 3 continues to ride on its ink wave of success thanks to a solid gameplay foundation, with some minor tweaks, extra content, and an improved user experience. Whether or not that's enough, after years of development and another full price tag, will depend on what you're looking to get out of the experience.
Splatoon 3 may be the series’ best entry yet, featuring some nice gameplay tweaks and new weaponry, an expanded and polished story mode, and more launch content than its predecessors. That said, it’s very much an evolutionary sequel, every bit as iterative as many of the shooter franchises it’s meant to be an alternative to. After a five-year absence, that may not be enough for some. Splatoon 3 is still fun and funky, but Nintendo’s squid shooter series can’t get by on freshness alone forever.
All in all, putting the online infrastructure disaster aside, Splatoon 3 is a lot of fun, but I can't help but feel like it could have been an update to Splatoon 2 rather than a new game. I enjoyed the new story mode, the new weapons are great, and the lobby changes are fantastic, but everything else just feels like too little to warrant $60. I generally don't like to evaluate games on price point, but it needs to be said this is more like Splatoon 2.25 than a full jump in number or even just half. Once you take into account the awful connection it definitely doesn't feel worth it. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good game and a great entry for new fans, but I'd get basically the same experience and probably slightly more stable in Splatoon 2 and that's still right there on my home screen. Nintendo really needs to step their game up in terms of updates, and for God's sake invest in some servers or better netcode.
I jumped into the world of Splatoon as a newbie with this piece. And I was pleasantly surprised at how the game mechanics welcomed me. I learned everything I needed to within a few hours and felt like I benefited from many of the games. Good strategy in competitive play often made up for the unaccustomed console aiming, and I also learned that very quickly. The surprise was the often neglected single-player game, which was fun and took me through all the essential steps I subsequently capitalized on in the battles in Splatlands.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Nintendo fun at it’s finest, maybe not the most essential sequel but a fine time around
Splatoon has managed to prove itself to be one of Nintendo's key franchises. Only Nintendo could pull off a non-violent, extremely addictive and fun shooter for the whole family, and Splatoon 3 is the best the series has had to offer so far.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Splatoon 3 builds on a successful formula with some new features, weapons, maps and modes, but doesn't stray too far from what made the previous games so fun and interesting. With Splatoon 3 being the first new Splatoon game in five years, the franchise follows the lead of other shooter franchises by making only minor tweaks to its gameplay and experiences, mostly through the addition of a few new weapons and maps and by addressing some user experience complaints fans had about Splatoon 2. As players progress through Splatoon 3, it's clear that the game is simply bigger and better than its predecessor with more for players to enjoy without feeling too overwhelming.
Even if I need a bit to wipe the rust off, I know I can fall back and make sure to cover all the spots the sickos left open by the home base and help bring in the wins. And there’s no disgusting wartime propaganda blaring at me on loading screens.
In a world where 2014's Mario Kart 8 is still going strong, on the face of it, it seems hard to justify a third full fat Splatoon game in the same time frame. While it might not be groundbreaking, Splatoon 3 is nonetheless a high watermark for the series, and is a welcome premium product in the era of battle passes and microtransactions.
There’s very little wrong with Splatoon 3. Almost everything it does is done well, and the few minor complaints I have are likely to be fixed or involve a card game that most players will likely ignore. Its plethora of quality-of-life changes means this will almost certainly be the best game in the series going forward and the place for new players to jump in. Right now, though, if I have to pick between those quality of life changes or the larger amount of content in Splatoon 2, that’s not as easy a choice as it should be because the gameplay hasn’t evolved in any major way, and little of the new content truly stands out. Which means that while I can easily recommend Splatoon 3 to series devotees desperate for new content and new players needing a good starting point, anyone who falls in between may want to wait for the game to be fleshed out before diving in.