Ever since the release of the Nintendo Switch people have been desperately waiting for it but luckily it’s almost here, I am talking about Splatoon 2!!!
At the moment of writing this review Splatoon 2 is less than two weeks away for its long-awaited release. Luckily for us, we got the chance to take a look at the story mode of Splatoon 2, the sad part is that, for now, we only got access to the single player story mode; so the multiplayer turf wars, salmon run and the customization will be for a later review. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on that as soon as we get access to it.
Shooting games in general are notorious for their bad singleplayer story modes, most of the time this is not a problem since most players just go straight for the online multiplayer and never bother to take a look at the story mode. I think it made the developer invest more time in the multiplayer and this results in an ever worst singleplayer. I always play the singleplayer mode in every shooter even though they suck most of the time. I know I will play Splatoon 2 mostly for its multiplayer Turf Wars and Salmon Runs but I would never skip the story mode because I believe it is the best way to get into the game and improve your skills to dominate online.
The plot is pretty basic, there are shellfish missing in Inkopolis and you are recruited as a special agent to find and bring back the shellfish. It is pretty basic and it will probably never win an Academy Award for its plot but it’s straightforward and easy to follow and I never had any problems with the simplistic form. The levels are divided into different worlds, each world has different levels that you need to find on the world map.
The levels themselves are esthetically pretty basic; they all are on a platform in the sky and they all look kind of the same. But gameplay-wise every level is very unique. Every level you enter introduces a new mechanics and challenges that make them all feel unique and refreshing. After finishing each world there is… (I know you can guess it already) yeah that is right, there is an epic boss fight and in my opinion they were perfect. Both challenging and rewarding and they all felt very different.
Another thing that I really loved was the choice of weapons you got from Sheldon’s weapon shop. These are brand new weapons that you use to gather weapon’s stats for Sheldon to make a retail version of the weapon. For some levels you have to use specific weapons when you complete them for the first time but in others you are free to choose the weapon of your choice. The only downside of the weapon testing is that you can use every weapon in the story mode but not in the multiplayer. To put it in Sheldon’s words: “These are loaners, I am not a charity!”. The loaned weapons are still a nice feature that adds some extra diversion in the singleplayer and gives you the opportunity the experiment and try out different weapons to see which one you like and which you want to buy to use in the multiplayer.
The whole singleplayer mode of Splatoon 2 made my think of the Ratchet and Clank franchise which was one of my favorite games as a kid. It’s a funky platformer with crazy weapons and epic boss fights and if you add some of the wickedness that is Splatoon you get a fantastic game.
Although I think that I will mostly play the multiplayer modes of Splatoon, I definitely loved the singleplayer mode and I think it would still be a must-buy for me if it only was limited to the singleplayer. Ok to be honest I haven’t played the other modes in Splatoon 2 but I am already certain this will be a game I will spend many hours with in both the online multiplayer and the singleplayer because both of them seem like a lot of fun!
This concludes our review of the singleplayer story mode, a review and a final verdict of the game will follow later on, be sure to come back later!
