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Splatoon review

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    Splatoon review

    So, as I'm not sure I'll get the chance to try this out later on in the later test hours I got up early to give this a few rounds.
    Can't say doing so has helped me make a decision yet on whether to buy it.

    Nintendo being Nintendo, the set up to the matches is very straight forward with the first thing you do being to choose whether to play as Girl or Boy followed by selecting a skin and eye colour combo. From there you jump straight into a tutorial level. It's a very straight forward basic command tutorial teaching you the commands, doesn't take long to get through as the game only really uses the sticks and three buttons most of the time:

    X-Jump
    ZR-Shoot
    ZR-Squid Mode

    The tutorial uses Gamepad motion control aiming as default, something I'm not a fan of at all. However, once past it and into the weapon select screen you can change that to right analogue aiming. It may have been a glitch but I'd leave aiming sensitivity alone as I tried moving it up two notches and the camera would flick airwards of its own accord every few seconds.

    You have four weapons to choose from which are pretty much a weak but rapid shooter, a standard shooter, the roller which can also charge a sonic weapon and a charge shot weapon. On the face of it there's little difference in what you choose, as I played further most people seemed to settle between the standard shooter and the roller (the roller is probably the easiest to cover ground with but can't paint walls).

    Only one mode and map is available, the aim simply being to pain as much of the level as possible before the time runs out. The map is small and basic, in the matches I played things tended to be fairly closely matched at the end unless one team got too close to the respawn bottleneck point of the opposing team.

    It feels kind of hard to say much else about the game to be honest. I didn't dislike it, it works fine enough and is straight forward to play. I think if I had to pick a word at the moment... it would be functional.

    In terms of concerns, assuming the demo map is one of the five available at launch and is fairly representative of what to expect, there's no chance at all that it will be enough to hold most gamers attention. There's no immediate impression that the game has any real depth to the gameplay either. Later down the line when Nintendo patch in the ability to play with friends in teams it will probably add more to the experience, but anyone who plays regularly with friends like that will probably find the game too fluff to bother with.

    I dunno, I'll be curious to see what others make of the demo. Normally I'd say there's not enough meat here to judge but given the final game doesn't offer much more at launch... it might be a little to My First Online Shooter to warrant picking up beyond cheap second hand at the end of the year when Nintendo has released its wave of updates. I'm going to try to get onto one of the two remaining test hours to try it out again.

    EDIT: Turns out I was unlucky in a way as there was a second map available but I kept getting the same one, the other one looks a bit better. Hopefully I'll get to try it out later.
    19
    1 - One in the Eye
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    5 - Dripping in Meh
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    10 - Gushing Me Completely
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    5

    #2
    Well one can see why this is bargain prices already if this demo is anything to go buy. .Its a nice fun game, but the fun only lasts for a few mins and the up and down controls just runin the demo .

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      #3
      The other map is a bit better but already found myself getting bored during the second demo hour.

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        #4
        Crikey, sounds like from their point of view they should have not done a demo.

        Since seeing this originally showed it struck me as an "iPad ten minute pick up and play game", I feel brave enough to say that now on the impressions around the interwebs.

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          #5
          Cannot even connect to shop to download demo at the mo so doubt I will get on now. But yeah, doesnt sound great.

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            #6
            Having played over an hour of this today (25 mins at 12:00 + 40 mins at 20:00) I think it's validated my ?22.95 pre-order, it's a really nice controlling game and the maps are well laid out which bodes well for the single player (my main interest in this).

            I do think it's going to have a very short life for me personally, the single player looks like something I'll complete in a weekend and unless there's some really addictive challenge/achievement/unlocks system that gets expanded on with the updates I can't see the multiplayer being an incentive to keep me playing.

            Having played Splatoon now though I'm a fan, it may even be my favourite shooter but my dream for the franchise would be future instalments become a Jet Set Radio or Timesplitters like affair with proper story and levels in the manor of those games.
            Last edited by Pikate; 09-05-2015, 20:09.

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              #7
              Not that hot on it, if I'm honest.

              Played in both beta tests today. GamePad controls are WAY too twitchy and not nearly tight enough in my opinion. Pro Controller support upon general release has to be a must, surely?

              The guns are as weak as piss with zero range to them, imo. Doesn't bode well for other weaponry if there is going to be any more coming. I just stuck to the Splat Roller, which was fun but the novelty fast wore off. Again, the mega-twitchy controls didn't help.

              Fun in bursts but not always (though it clearly remains to be seen as to what other game modes come to the table).

              The lack of voice chat is a strange one. I've never cared for it in any FPS that I've played but I've always been able to appreciate why others like having it. The lack of it in Splatoon just makes it feel like there's something missing. Sure, Nintendo will obviously look to push local multiplayer but I fail to see how having the option would've been a problem.

              As a bargain buy like Captan Toad, this could well be worth it. Premium-priced? I'm really not so sure.
              Last edited by Nu-Eclipse; 09-05-2015, 20:17.

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                #8
                Yeah, there's some crackingly low prices out there which can swing it a bit. It reminds me too much of Nintendo designing a whole game around the Mario Sunshine sections where you spray up the paint, it got tedious there too. Viewed in light of being like a decent PSN style release it's solid, it's no new big hitter though

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                  #9
                  Heh, couldn't be more different here.

                  Absolutely loved it once I turned off motion controls. There's so much smart design in it. Instead of looking at a scoreboard to see how your team is doing you just look at the game world. The reload is tied to the movement. You can be a core member of your team without shooting anyone unlike in other shooters. Your ammo counter is displayed on your character rather than the HUD. Each character has a built in stealth option. There are traversal tricks that aren't immediately obvious. Kill streak weapons aren't tied just to kills and don't fully reset on death.

                  They just do so many good things and interesting twists with the shooter formula. Super joyful and bright and fun and I cannot wait to play more.

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                    #10
                    I think that's why it didn't grip me, the key way forward in the game is paint as much of the map as possible rather than dealing with opponents and I don't find painting floors and walls in the game that fun, it's a spin on the formula but a low skill and quickly dull one. It's almost like playing an online shooter where you're tasked with shooting everything but other players. I still swear that if the Nintendo name wasn't associated with the game...

                    Edit: I just read that of the 5 multiplayer maps that are in the game, you can only play from a selection of two of them every four hours after which the rotation of two maps changes. WTF?
                    Last edited by Neon Ignition; 10-05-2015, 11:20.

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                      #11
                      That sounds insane. Not sure if the rolling out and limiting of maps and modes is madness or we're not seeing the genius behind some plan. Seems crazy to do it like this. Especially after the buckets of maps in MK8.

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                        #12
                        Thanks for the impressions all. Sounds like they should've held this one back a few months, but I'll be curious to try it later.

                        Full marks for effort for anyone who got up at 5am on a Saturday to try it!

                        I'll give it a blast this evening. Why they are doing this bizarre timing based selection of maps once it's out I have no idea. Also the paltry selection of 5 seems genuinely insane compared to the 48 tracks MK8 now offers.

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                          #13
                          I think there's that sense that they're pushing this out months ahead of it being complete to fill some of the barren release schedule, the whole handling is very much against how they usually do things.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by wakka View Post

                            I'll give it a blast this evening.
                            How so, Joe? The Global Testfire ended yesterday evening our time. You're waiting until release day now, no?

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                              #15
                              Yeah I had the times all wrong I guess, then I forgot about it anyway. Lol! Oh well...I'll still pick it up but I'm lowering expectations a little based on what people have posted on here.

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