[0:01] It is a truth universally acknowledged
[0:03] that a multiplayer game in possession of
[0:05] a passionate fan base must be in want of
[0:07] a single player game. So it is and so it
[0:09] was and so I think it ever will be.
[0:12] Enter Splatoon Raiders, a single player,
[0:14] well, mostly, we'll get there. Joint
[0:17] from Nintendo because the ever dedicated
[0:19] Splatoon fans are insatiable. But here's
[0:21] the good news, squid kids. It seems to
[0:23] be shaping up real nice, at least from
[0:24] the couple hours I spent with it.
[0:35] My demo started off with a cutscene to
[0:36] set things up. My character was a
[0:38] helicopter pilot, but my friends call me
[0:40] the mechanic. Flying treasure hunters,
[0:43] Fry, Big Man, and Shiver to the Spire
[0:45] Light Islands when they all saw a big
[0:47] old light coming out of what looked like
[0:48] a hurricane. Things went sideways real
[0:51] fast and our copter went down.
[0:55] One month later, we've built a floating
[0:57] fortress with just about everything you
[0:58] could want except for a way home and
[1:01] we're hunting for treasure. When in
[1:03] Rome, right? [music]
[1:04] Soon enough, I was setting off to hunt
[1:05] for treasure. If you've ever played
[1:07] Splatoon before, you'll feel right at
[1:08] home in Raiders. I started with the gyro
[1:10] controls and while that normally isn't
[1:12] my bag, it's Splatoon and they feel
[1:13] great here. Pretty soon I was doing
[1:15] Splatoon things, inking up the
[1:17] environment, swimming around in it, and
[1:19] collecting mysterious shards. I'm not
[1:21] being cheeky, that's what they're
[1:22] called. Movement in Splatoon is a joy
[1:25] and that's no different in Raiders. Even
[1:27] something as simple as using a wooden
[1:28] plank to surf across the waves is
[1:30] awesome.
[1:32] As I moved forward, I came across my
[1:34] enemy, the Salmonids. They start small,
[1:36] these deranged fishy critters, but the
[1:38] solution, no matter their size, is to
[1:40] ink them up and paint over the ugly goo
[1:42] they leave on the ground. Theirs,
[1:43] hideous, yellow, likely stinky. Mine,
[1:46] beautiful, green, probably smells like
[1:48] lavender. They just can't handle that
[1:50] squid kid firepower, but you're doing
[1:52] the environment a favor, too. When they
[1:53] go down, they drop eggs that'll come in
[1:55] handy later, but I don't fall in love
[1:56] with the goofy goobers until I see one
[1:58] that looks like a fat version of that
[1:59] one hyena from the Lion King with the
[2:02] droopy tongue. He's called Salty Tongue
[2:04] and I love him. He gets the ink, too,
[2:06] and drops a fancy weapon. More on that
[2:08] in a second. After that, I stumble upon
[2:10] a cute little robot that the crew hauls
[2:12] back to the hideout and the mechanic
[2:13] manages to fix up. From there, it's time
[2:15] to take that bad boy out on a new
[2:17] mission and kick the tires. [music]
[2:18] My mission plays out a lot like the
[2:20] first level. Run around, explore the
[2:21] environment, fight salmonids, ink things
[2:23] up. The difference this time is that
[2:25] I've got my handy dandy bot piloted by
[2:27] Big Man.
[2:30] The bot is helpful in combat, but can
[2:31] also boost me up in the air so I can
[2:33] glide to new places and leap to where I
[2:35] tell it, splattering the ground with
[2:36] ink.
[2:38] Lovely. The bot's real trick, however,
[2:40] is that it can drill into big crystals
[2:41] [music] and get us more of those sweet
[2:43] sweet mysterious shards and other
[2:45] goodies. The crystals themselves shoot
[2:46] these big old beams of light into the
[2:48] sky, so you know where they are. The
[2:50] trick is using your tools like the bot
[2:52] jump or flowers that blast you into the
[2:54] air or your ability to swim through ink
[2:56] to get where you're going, [music]
[2:57] merging salmonids along the way. If
[2:59] things get hairy, the bot and your buddy
[3:01] inside of it give you access to
[3:02] showstoppers. If you get enough of them,
[3:04] salmonid eggs. With Big Man, that means
[3:06] he hops out of your mech and you ride
[3:08] that bad boy like he's a horse while
[3:09] he's blasting away John Woo style. It's
[3:12] great. Salmonids don't like it much,
[3:14] THOUGH.
[3:17] AT THE end of the level, I find a huge
[3:18] crystal protected by salmonids who are
[3:20] popping out of a nearby grate to defend
[3:22] it. Between me and my bot, it wasn't a
[3:24] big thing. They got the ink, but it was
[3:26] a lot of fun anyway, just because
[3:27] Raiders always feels good as you play
[3:29] it.
[3:30] My reward for salmonid slaughter? A big
[3:32] treasure chest full of new ink tanks.
[3:34] Speed, power, and tactical.
[3:37] The neat part about these tanks is they
[3:38] each come with different gadgets that
[3:40] provide cool and new abilities in
[3:41] combat. The speed tank, for instance,
[3:43] gives me blast boot, which allows me to
[3:45] eat myself through the air and land with
[3:47] a big splat that damages everything
[3:48] around me. While the tactical tank
[3:50] offers the turret by any other name
[3:52] still shoots just as good shot pot neat.
[3:55] Of course there are cool downs attached
[3:57] to all of these abilities because video
[3:58] games are only allowed to be fun
[3:59] sometimes but still I dig it. After
[4:02] another mission where I grab some more
[4:03] weapons and other goodies and discover
[4:05] the joy of floating I head back to base
[4:07] to sort through my wonderful tools. In
[4:09] addition to my tanks and the gadgets
[4:11] that go with them I've also got gadget
[4:12] parts which do things like juice the
[4:14] explosions on your gadget abilities or
[4:16] make them bigger shorten cool downs add
[4:18] explosions to your ability charges and
[4:20] the like provided you have enough slots
[4:22] to equip that gadget part. You'll also
[4:25] gain levels as you play which can be
[4:27] spent to upgrade your health weapon
[4:29] damage and gadget part slots and even
[4:31] craft new gadgets. I was particularly
[4:33] fond of the power tank splatter lights
[4:36] which orbit you and spray ink everywhere
[4:38] and the bomb loons which are bomb
[4:39] balloons you can connect and do
[4:41] absolutely massive damage when you blow
[4:43] them up. Then of course there are
[4:44] various weapons to collect like the oil
[4:46] blaster and roller all of which can be
[4:48] upgraded at your base. Finally you've
[4:51] got salmonid relics which grant bonuses
[4:53] like a double jump or reduced weapon ink
[4:55] consumption. It's a lot of customization
[4:57] but it means you get to build a
[4:59] character you like and you can get truly
[5:01] overpowered if you play it right. You
[5:03] can also just hang out and vibe at your
[5:05] base and read lore about the salmonids
[5:06] in the world too. No pressure.
[5:09] Then you head out on a mission and do it
[5:11] all again. Turns out Splatoon Raiders is
[5:13] kind of a rogue light with persistent
[5:15] progression. Who knew?
[5:17] But it does give you an opportunity to
[5:18] try out all your wonderful toys and
[5:20] things like shiver showstopper which
[5:22] summons a giant rocket powered shark.
[5:25] Yes really. The blast through anything
[5:28] unlucky enough to get in your way.
[5:31] And based on what I played Raiders seems
[5:33] to be trying to do enough that while
[5:35] your core action blast through salmonids
[5:37] and get stuff rinse and repeat is the
[5:40] same things always feel different enough
[5:43] that it stays interesting.
[5:46] All of Splatoon Raiders craziness comes
[5:48] to a head in raids that take us
[5:50] underground, where I'm trapped in a
[5:51] small space and I have to collect a
[5:53] certain number of salmonid eggs in a
[5:55] limited time to make it to the next
[5:56] level. I won't lie to you, friends. I
[5:58] thought I was kind of nice at Splatoon
[6:00] Raiders until this point. I was
[6:02] cruising. But when I tell you I got
[6:04] smoked multiple times in a row doing
[6:06] this, I'm not kidding. But man, I dug
[6:09] it. It forced me to refine my build,
[6:11] pick my spots, use all my tools, and
[6:14] learn how to play fast. Even when I was
[6:16] getting walloped, I was having a good
[6:18] time.
[6:20] Finally making it to that last level and
[6:22] beating the boss just as our time for
[6:23] that portion of the demo expired, my
[6:25] friends, I exhaled.
[6:29] And then we got to play four-player
[6:31] co-op, and it was rad. Nothing really
[6:34] changes in co-op. It's just more of the
[6:36] same, but with friends. I named my squid
[6:38] kid John Inkling, we got to work. I
[6:41] don't have much to say about the
[6:43] multiplayer. We only got about 10
[6:44] minutes with it, except that you can go
[6:46] real fast if you want to, and that's an
[6:48] absolute blast to play with all those
[6:50] gadgets and guns and showstoppers
[6:52] popping off at once. I had a great time,
[6:54] and this would definitely be my
[6:56] preferred way to play the full game.
[6:58] John Ink shall ride again.
[7:05] >> [music]
[7:06] >> I didn't know what to expect with
[7:08] Splatoon Raiders, but I'd be lying if I
[7:09] said it wasn't a good time. It can be
[7:11] breezy, it can be challenging, it can be
[7:14] everything in between. I'm kind of
[7:15] shocked that it's basically a
[7:17] rogue-lite, but it works real good.
[7:19] Turns out all a squid kid needs for a
[7:21] good time on Spiral Island is a treasure
[7:23] to hunt and a robot to hunt it with.
[7:26] Not bad considering it all starts with a
[7:28] helicopter crash. But bring some friends
[7:30] if you can. It's better when you're all
[7:32] spilling some ink together. Maybe the
[7:34] real treasure is the friends we made
[7:36] along the way.
[7:39] For more previews of the biggest
[7:41] upcoming games, don't miss our recent
[7:43] hands-on previews of Star Wars Galactic
[7:45] Racer and Tomb Raider: Legacy of
[7:47] Atlantis. And for everything else in the
[7:49] world of video games, stick with IGN.