On September 8, 2022, Splatoon 3 made a major splash into the gaming world.

Currently, the third installment of the Splatoon series, Nintendo was able to include many old and new features!

This game is one of my favorites out of all of the video games I have played. Splatoon puts a great and creative spin on traditional shooter games. For those new or just curious about the game, it is a great pick up game and a good game to play with friends and family.

Splatoon 3 is a third person shooter for the Nintendo Switch. It has several different game modes for people to play in. A mode in this case refers to a different section of the game, identified by a unique factor.

A great mode to begin with is the Story Mode. This gives you a great introduction to all of the weapons in Splatoon 3 that you will be using in all of the other parts of the game. This gives you an idea about what some of the levels you are going to come up against in Turf War. It also lets you get a feel for the basic game controls without having to compete against other players.

The plot is an entertaining part of Story mode. It brings back older characters and gives them a newer spin. This is by far one of the best stories out of all three Splatoon games. If you are starting out, this is the game mode to do first.

The main mode in Splatoon 3 is Turf War. Your team of four has the main goal of inking as much turf as you can before time runs out. As well as annihilating the other team before they can ink over your turf.

Anarchy Battles, commonly referred to as Ranked battles, are based around having control over an objective, no matter how much ink you paint on the map.

Salmon Run is a player versus environment type of game mode where you fight CPUs called Salmonoids. The whole objective of Salmon Run is to collect a certain amount of eggs to win the game.

Then we have the Shoal, this is a great mode to play offline with gamers who also have the game. You can set up private game rooms, depending on the mode, and play with just your friends!

Taking a look at Splatoon 3 in general, there have been many new changes to the game. These new changes range in importance, but many of them can make a difference depending on the player.

According to Nintendo’s Splatoon page, “The Splatoon experience has been ink-spected from top to bottom, adding big changes (like new moves, weapon classes, special weapons, and more.)”

Also added to the game was a “card based mini-game.” This new mode entitled “Tableturf Battles” enables the player to use “tetris style cards” to control as much of the game board as they can.

In Splatoon 3, Nintendo has brought back multiple popular game modes from older Splatoon games such as Turf War, Salmon Run, The Shoal and Anarchy Battles. These battles, however, have a small twist added to them. These game modes now have new training rooms in which you can wait in while your battle or run is about to begin.

Zach Nahorski, Vice President of Splatoon Club at Purdue (SCP), was able to shed some light on this new mode as well. “In the club’s opinion, most members seem to enjoy these new training rooms while they are waiting for a game. There are rooms for the online matches, salmon run online, the shoal, and for trying out weapons. In these training rooms, our club had created fun mini-games, like Pong (an old Atari game.) This presents an opportunity for greater fellowship between players.”

Now in Turf Wars and Anarchy Battles, the maps are more focused on giving a long-range character a fighting chance in the rapidly inked battlefield. In Splatoon 2, it was more close-ranged and longer range weapons were often discouraged.

Now, while the melee and closer ranged weapons go head to head, the ranged players can get in on the action as well.  In Splatoon 3, Nintendo added two new classes, the stinger class and the splatana class.

The stinger usually includes long range weapons like the infamous tri-stinger. This is a bow which can shoot long distances, but it also has a lethal explosive shot.

The Splatana is a melee weapon, it looks similar to the paint roller class. Depending on your movement, the ink will go vertical, horizontal, or diagonal in a line. This weapon packs quite a punch, in my opinion.

My personal favorite long-ranged weapon is the Hero Replica Charger because I can knock out my opponents from across the map. But it is good to have a variety of weapons that you are good at, not just one class.

A side note to the paragraph above; Splatoon 3 also features many new special abilities that come along with either your weapon or your clothing.

Highlighting my favorite, the Crab tank! This was leaked a little before the game came out, but playing with it now is SUPER fun. Once you are in the tank, you can roll and walk around on a crab, with the ability to shoot two types of shots.

Your first is kind of like an ink twin autocannon on the crab when you are walking. Another feature of the crab tank is the roll, which you can use to move around faster. After you get out of the roll, you can fire a mortar shot for high explosive damage.

This is only highlighting one of the many amazing new aspects to Splatoon 3. 

A general warning though for newer players: This game can become tedious after a while if you don’t have some contact with your friends while playing.

While it is fun, grinding levels for days on end can get boring. You can get items and power-ups, but most of them require you to win many battles.

And this game–if you want to get invested in it–will take some time to actually get used to. You will need to come up with strategies and spend a few hours finding out which weapons best suit you!

And if you want to play online, you will need to buy a Nintendo online membership to get in on the action!

Even with the time it takes to put into the game, this game is definitely worth purchasing! Whether you are playing for the first time or have been a veteran Splatoon player, this is an all inclusive game.

It is especially fun to get into with friends who like it as well. This game is a real hidden gem, with lots of action packed into each mode!

I believe that this game is one of Nintendo’s most creative games yet and I hope that anyone who decides to play it will love it just as much as I have.