Splatoon (WiiU)

I don't play a lot of shooters, but I was super-excited when Nintendo previewed Splatoon- to me, it looked like the kind of game that people would go out and buy a WiiU for. It looked fun, cool and fresh all at the same time.

Let me tell you, it sure does live up to the hype.

Controls

You entirely use the WiiU's gamepad in this game, which is great for people like me who haven't forked out for a Pro controller. The gamepad is used in a very intuitive way, including seamlessly using the in-built motion detecting.

Battle controls

In-lobby controls

Exploring Inkopolis

The little town you spawn into in Splatoon is called Inkopolis. Its main source of power is Zapfish, which are these cute little dudes that power things by being inside them. The storyline is very much reminiscent of the Super Mario Sunshine plot, except that there isn't someone masquerading as the hero who's actually the bad guy- the bad guy is made clear when you talk to an old guy who goes down a manhole at the beginning of the game.

There are many different areas to explore in Inkopolis, which encompass the different game modes. You can accessorize your character, which gives you buffs, by visiting stores within Inkopolis. The single-player mode is pretty fun, which you access by following the old man I previously mentioned. There are a few multiplayer modes- these include 4v4 matches with random opponents/ allies, the same but with friends, and an as-yet unreleased ranked mode. You can talk to people in Inkopolis and gain their gear once you reach level 4 in PvP, which I guess is to make sure you're confident with the controls before you get new weapons. There's also Amiibo support, which allows you to gain coins to spend in the stores by going back through single-player missions you've completed, usually through a time-trial format.

PvP 

At the time of writing, there are only 2 PvP maps, which are equally as fun. There don't seem to be set tactics to follow, and even losing is fun sometimes!

PvP matchmaking seems to work fairly well, though for my first couple of games it did seem a bit unbalanced as there was a level 14 player online who kept being put onto the same team. I think with a bit of tweaking, the matchmaking system would be perfect- these tweaks could include matching up similar item builds and levels, as well as randomly changing up the teams so that the same people don't end up facing each other 4 or 5 times in a row, which is something that happened to me.

Single Player campaign

Though the single player campaign isn't particularly long, it is incredibly fun. The enemy mobs are quite varied, and they very much have a Super Mario Sunshine vibe about them. You start off with easy mobs and gradually they become harder. Each "world" has a boss, which is in a boss kettle (which is the coolest thing in the known universe), and each has their own set of unique moves.

Honestly, the game would be worth it for the single player campaign alone in my opinion, but adding the Amiibo support and online multiplayer makes it 10x more awesome. I set out to play the game for half an hour whilst some of my videos rendered and ended up playing for two hours straight, and I only stopped because I had to go to work.

It's a game that I'm so glad I bought, and if you don't own a WiiU already, they are doing the coolest looking WiiU ever which comes bundled with the game. Seriously, check it out!

Click to go to the store!

So yeah, get it if you have a WiiU. Get a WiiU with Splatoon if you don't already own the console. It's the best!