Alone in the Paint of Splatoon Raiders

Splatoon is one of the many legacies of WiiU, perhaps the most underrated console in history, and one with the most astonishing ratio of masterpieces to published games. An apparently daring move for the conservative Japanese company, a third-person “shooter” with a strong multiplayer focus. A gamble that evidently paid off, as Splatoon not only survived the WiiU but managed to carve out a place among Nintendo's many icons. After three chapters that expanded the original formula, it's time for a turning point with Splatoon Raiders: presented last summer and featured in a Direct a few weeks ago, Splatoon Raiders is a spin-off of the main series, this time with a strong single-player focus. And we had the chance to try it out early in recent days.

The Plot of Splatoon Raiders

Do you remember the Deep Cut, the group composed of Shiver, Frye, and Big Man, seen in action in Splatoon 3? We find them aboard a helicopter searching for mysterious Spirhalite Islands, which apparently re-emerged following tectonic plate movement caused by an earthquake. Arriving at the scene of the incident, however, a menacing bubble of light contained within a hurricane looms before their eyes. When a beam of light shoots from that sphere towards the sky, things go awry for Deep Cut. Their helicopter gets caught in the turbulence caused by the air vortex and crashes on one of the islands below.

When we find our group again, a month has passed since the accident, and the three members seem to have adapted quite quickly to life on the island where they crashed, having repurposed sheet metal and other scattered pieces to build what was necessary for survival, namely a spartan headquarters. It is at this point that we meet our alter ego, simply called the Mechanic by everyone, whose appearance, hairstyle, and skin, eye, and hair color can be customized. Now it's time to get into action.

The Mechanics of Splatoon Raiders

The first levels we were able to try obviously served as a tutorial to assimilate the basic mechanics. As in Splatoon, you move with a paint-shooting weapon and can swim in the paint itself to bypass or overcome obstacles, as well as to refill your weapon's tank. During the very first exploratory phases, however, a versatile robot enters the scene, which can host one of the Deep Cut members inside to accompany us on missions. The robot doesn't just offer company: it is also able to find and signal interesting places and objects, as well as extract large quantities of precious crystals (useful for upgrades).

The Spirhalite Islands, however, hide not only precious stones but also much more menacing inhabitants. Between one surf raid and another along the archipelago, it is frequent to encounter menacing Salmonids, who usually control large arenas rich in treasures. Salmonids not only have a numerical advantage but also significantly larger dimensions compared to our Mechanic. In these early stages, therefore, it becomes very important to exploit all the tactical possibilities offered by the scenario, swimming in the paint to escape shots and quickly re-emerging to paint over enemies. Obviously, there are also secret areas, challenges, and other distractions from the main mission.

Among these, customization should not be forgotten: in addition to the imaginable aesthetic adjustments, collecting power-ups and Salmonid eggs allows you to expand the range of tools at your disposal, as experienced firsthand in the brief transition to advanced levels, where the Mechanic had a vast array of rifles, brushes, tanks, and other gadgets, each with its own peculiarities and style. And add to the menu, of course, special abilities, not only for the Mechanic but also for the robot, which change depending on the Deep Cut member chosen as the driver.

Our Preliminary Thoughts on Splatoon Raiders

The strong point of Splatoon Raiders is its setting, obviously very colorful and linked in forms and styles to that of previous chapters. The idea of a mysterious archipelago far from civilization, however, allows for a certain amount of experimentation, with a bit of Mad Max here and there (even in the look of the Salmonids) and even a certain proximity to Waterworld, the famous 1995 flop with Kevin Costner. The game's structure itself, however, is quite linear, as far as we've seen so far, with island exploration broken down into progressive missions that seem quite varied. And the arsenal we'll get our hands on will be equally varied, a way, among other things, to allow anyone to tackle the challenge with the approach that best suits their abilities (remember to train with the gyroscope if you've lost your touch a bit!). Multiplayer is also present, with frantic and challenging PVE battles for up to four players. Splatoon Raiders is coming soon, on July 23rd: we'll be back on these pages for a more in-depth evaluation after trying the full game in the coming weeks.