Splatoon Global Testfire

This demo began at 11pm (BST) on Saturday 23^rd May, 2015.

Throughout their history, Nintendo have created games covering numerous categories. Platforming (Mario), real-time strategy (Pikmin) and community simulation (Animal Crossing) to name a few examples. However, they’ve never attempted an online multiplayer shooter. With the release of Splatoon tomorrow, that is about to change.

When watching the trailers, Splatoon looked very much like alien teenagers playing paintball on steroids. It didn’t make much sense to look at. Fortunately, the Global Testfire gave Wii U owners hands on playtime with an intriguing and genuinely innovative take on the genre.

First impressions were positive. The demo application loaded quickly with no problems. I was then asked to create a basic character, referred to as Inklings. Gender, eye colour and skin tone were the only options. Nothing fancy but the final version will apparently contain clothing stores that offer more possibilities for customisation.

It began with a single player tutorial stage. Dual thumbsticks controlled movement and turning, very familiar to anyone who’s played a modern third-person shooter. The only difference was the use of motion tilt for aiming. At first, I thought this was going to be another gimmick but it works very well with a few minutes of practice. By comparison, the control stick aiming was wild and surprisingly imprecise.

The Wii U GamePad triggers are well-used. The right trigger and shoulder button fires the weapon/sub-weapon respectively. My sub weapon was an ink grenade but others are available. The left trigger transforms your Inkling into a squid. Being in this form has many advantages if you are in ink matching your team colour. Movement speed is doubled, ink (ammunition) is regenerated and your squid can even travel under gates and up walls.

With the tutorial stage completed I was very impressed and excited for more. The GamePad screen even had an arcade style game to play whilst waiting for multiplayer to load. It was a reasonable time filler and much better than looking at a loading screen. Unfortunately, after having my fill of squid jumper the connection problems started.

Twitter was full of players having similar issues. #SplatoonGlobalMisfire and other sarcastic hashtags became popular. I even thought about cancelling this blog because it wouldn’t have been fair without experiencing multiplayer. Eventually an announcement was made about a one hour extension. I managed to log back in about 12:40am.

With these delays, three games of ‘Turf War’ was my meagre reward but this four-versus-four mode was honestly like nothing I have ever played before. After choosing from four weapons, it’s straight into the action. The focus is on marking territory with ink rather than ‘kills’. Regeneration is instantaneous; a fast travel mechanic only adds to the chaos. Whichever team makes more of a mess is the winner. A remarkably simple concept with excellent execution.

Weapons are suitably wacky, in tune with the colourful graphics that ran crisply without any sign of slowdown. The giant paint roller was popular, probably because it is effective at covering ground surfaces. Other choices fell into the machine gun and sniper rifle types, each with their own strengths, sub-weapons and special moves.

Teamwork is very fun and almost mandatory for success. Whilst using the roller, I was unable to wall climb because it was covered in opposition colours. A teammate armed with a Splatter shot noticed my difficulty and created a path that assisted my squid climb up the vertical surface. Strategically all bases are covered including stealth, aggression and sniping. Those intricate details will only evolve throughout the games lifespan.   

A few words of caution before considering a purchase, not including the potential server problems. The lack of single-player modes may be a negative. Campaign is estimated at 4-6 hours so if you’re not playing online it isn’t worth the price (£25-£35). Also, Splatoon is not yet ‘complete’ with only a limited selection of multiplayer options. Free updates and a major upgrade in August are scheduled so it might be best to hold back until then. If you played the demo and loved it, Nintendo will knock 10% off the digital download price for one week after release.

Splatoon deserves to be a hit but it is far too soon to say if the unique gameplay will catch on. If that happens, Nintendo fans may look back on this title like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario 64 or Metroid Prime. It is no exaggeration to say Splatoon could be the start of a franchise; one that is the standard bearer for generations to come.