I’m a sucker for open console betas (Destiny, for example), so when I heard about the Splatoon Global Testfire, I figured what the heck, and promptly downloaded it. With only three one-hour windows when the servers would be live, I proceeded to miss the first two, but – as luck would have it – my oldest son and I were around for the third. After fiddling with the tutorial a bit to acclimate to the controls, we took turns trying out the multiplayer matches.
If you are unfamiliar with the premise, Splatoon is an all ages take on team-based First Person Shooters. Instead of firing bullets, you have paint guns, and the goal is not to rack up “kills”, but to cover the most territory with your team’s paint color before time runs out.
We lost the connection only once during initial matchmaking, otherwise our experience was silky smooth and problem free. We turned off motion controls after a few rounds, but I can see how they might be easier for younger players. Sampling the various weapons classes, the Roller seemed the obvious choice, at least when starting out. It’s easy to control, great at covering territory and effective as a short range weapon. The Charger acts as a kind of sniper weapon and proved too tricky for us, at least in the hour provided. The Shooter seemed to be more of a solid, jack-of-all-trades choice.
Like Mario Kart 8, the graphics in Splatoon are top notch. It would be difficult to imagine this game looking any better on a PS4 or XBone. However, unlike Mario Kart 8, this is a new IP for Nintendo, free from needs of meeting any prior expectations or conventions from previous games. Both my 7-year-old son and I had a grand old time, win or lose. During our brief impression, it felt like what a modern Dreamcast game would be like if they still made them in 2015, and I mean that in the best possible way.
I have no idea if my younger child (age 4) will be able to play without rage quitting, but this is now at the top of my list the next time we are in the market for a game.
Cheers,
Ben