Splatoon Raiders Preview: Roguelite Mechanics — Full Breakdo

[00:01] It is a truth universally acknowledged

[00:03] that a multiplayer game in possession of

[00:05] a passionate fan base must be in want of

[00:07] a single player game. So it is and so it

[00:09] was and so I think it ever will be.

[00:12] Enter Splatoon Raiders, a single player,

[00:14] well, mostly, we'll get there. Joint

[00:17] from Nintendo because the ever dedicated

[00:19] Splatoon fans are insatiable. But here's

[00:21] the good news, squid kids. It seems to

[00:23] be shaping up real nice, at least from

[00:24] the couple hours I spent with it.

[00:35] My demo started off with a cutscene to

[00:36] set things up. My character was a

[00:38] helicopter pilot, but my friends call me

[00:40] the mechanic. Flying treasure hunters,

[00:43] Fry, Big Man, and Shiver to the Spire

[00:45] Light Islands when they all saw a big

[00:47] old light coming out of what looked like

[00:48] a hurricane. Things went sideways real

[00:51] fast and our copter went down.

[00:55] One month later, we've built a floating

[00:57] fortress with just about everything you

[00:58] could want except for a way home and

[01:01] we're hunting for treasure. When in

[01:03] Rome, right? [music]

[01:04] Soon enough, I was setting off to hunt

[01:05] for treasure. If you've ever played

[01:07] Splatoon before, you'll feel right at

[01:08] home in Raiders. I started with the gyro

[01:10] controls and while that normally isn't

[01:12] my bag, it's Splatoon and they feel

[01:13] great here. Pretty soon I was doing

[01:15] Splatoon things, inking up the

[01:17] environment, swimming around in it, and

[01:19] collecting mysterious shards. I'm not

[01:21] being cheeky, that's what they're

[01:22] called. Movement in Splatoon is a joy

[01:25] and that's no different in Raiders. Even

[01:27] something as simple as using a wooden

[01:28] plank to surf across the waves is

[01:30] awesome.

[01:32] As I moved forward, I came across my

[01:34] enemy, the Salmonids. They start small,

[01:36] these deranged fishy critters, but the

[01:38] solution, no matter their size, is to

[01:40] ink them up and paint over the ugly goo

[01:42] they leave on the ground. Theirs,

[01:43] hideous, yellow, likely stinky. Mine,

[01:46] beautiful, green, probably smells like

[01:48] lavender. They just can't handle that

[01:50] squid kid firepower, but you're doing

[01:52] the environment a favor, too. When they

[01:53] go down, they drop eggs that'll come in

[01:55] handy later, but I don't fall in love

[01:56] with the goofy goobers until I see one

[01:58] that looks like a fat version of that

[01:59] one hyena from the Lion King with the

[02:02] droopy tongue. He's called Salty Tongue

[02:04] and I love him. He gets the ink, too,

[02:06] and drops a fancy weapon. More on that

[02:08] in a second. After that, I stumble upon

[02:10] a cute little robot that the crew hauls

[02:12] back to the hideout and the mechanic

[02:13] manages to fix up. From there, it's time

[02:15] to take that bad boy out on a new

[02:17] mission and kick the tires. [music]

[02:18] My mission plays out a lot like the

[02:20] first level. Run around, explore the

[02:21] environment, fight salmonids, ink things

[02:23] up. The difference this time is that

[02:25] I've got my handy dandy bot piloted by

[02:27] Big Man.

[02:30] The bot is helpful in combat, but can

[02:31] also boost me up in the air so I can

[02:33] glide to new places and leap to where I

[02:35] tell it, splattering the ground with

[02:36] ink.

[02:38] Lovely. The bot's real trick, however,

[02:40] is that it can drill into big crystals

[02:41] [music] and get us more of those sweet

[02:43] sweet mysterious shards and other

[02:45] goodies. The crystals themselves shoot

[02:46] these big old beams of light into the

[02:48] sky, so you know where they are. The

[02:50] trick is using your tools like the bot

[02:52] jump or flowers that blast you into the

[02:54] air or your ability to swim through ink

[02:56] to get where you're going, [music]

[02:57] merging salmonids along the way. If

[02:59] things get hairy, the bot and your buddy

[03:01] inside of it give you access to

[03:02] showstoppers. If you get enough of them,

[03:04] salmonid eggs. With Big Man, that means

[03:06] he hops out of your mech and you ride

[03:08] that bad boy like he's a horse while

[03:09] he's blasting away John Woo style. It's

[03:12] great. Salmonids don't like it much,

[03:14] THOUGH.

[03:17] AT THE end of the level, I find a huge

[03:18] crystal protected by salmonids who are

[03:20] popping out of a nearby grate to defend

[03:22] it. Between me and my bot, it wasn't a

[03:24] big thing. They got the ink, but it was

[03:26] a lot of fun anyway, just because

[03:27] Raiders always feels good as you play

[03:29] it.

[03:30] My reward for salmonid slaughter? A big

[03:32] treasure chest full of new ink tanks.

[03:34] Speed, power, and tactical.

[03:37] The neat part about these tanks is they

[03:38] each come with different gadgets that

[03:40] provide cool and new abilities in

[03:41] combat. The speed tank, for instance,

[03:43] gives me blast boot, which allows me to

[03:45] eat myself through the air and land with

[03:47] a big splat that damages everything

[03:48] around me. While the tactical tank

[03:50] offers the turret by any other name

[03:52] still shoots just as good shot pot neat.

[03:55] Of course there are cool downs attached

[03:57] to all of these abilities because video

[03:58] games are only allowed to be fun

[03:59] sometimes but still I dig it. After

[04:02] another mission where I grab some more

[04:03] weapons and other goodies and discover

[04:05] the joy of floating I head back to base

[04:07] to sort through my wonderful tools. In

[04:09] addition to my tanks and the gadgets

[04:11] that go with them I've also got gadget

[04:12] parts which do things like juice the

[04:14] explosions on your gadget abilities or

[04:16] make them bigger shorten cool downs add

[04:18] explosions to your ability charges and

[04:20] the like provided you have enough slots

[04:22] to equip that gadget part. You'll also

[04:25] gain levels as you play which can be

[04:27] spent to upgrade your health weapon

[04:29] damage and gadget part slots and even

[04:31] craft new gadgets. I was particularly

[04:33] fond of the power tank splatter lights

[04:36] which orbit you and spray ink everywhere

[04:38] and the bomb loons which are bomb

[04:39] balloons you can connect and do

[04:41] absolutely massive damage when you blow

[04:43] them up. Then of course there are

[04:44] various weapons to collect like the oil

[04:46] blaster and roller all of which can be

[04:48] upgraded at your base. Finally you've

[04:51] got salmonid relics which grant bonuses

[04:53] like a double jump or reduced weapon ink

[04:55] consumption. It's a lot of customization

[04:57] but it means you get to build a

[04:59] character you like and you can get truly

[05:01] overpowered if you play it right. You

[05:03] can also just hang out and vibe at your

[05:05] base and read lore about the salmonids

[05:06] in the world too. No pressure.

[05:09] Then you head out on a mission and do it

[05:11] all again. Turns out Splatoon Raiders is

[05:13] kind of a rogue light with persistent

[05:15] progression. Who knew?

[05:17] But it does give you an opportunity to

[05:18] try out all your wonderful toys and

[05:20] things like shiver showstopper which

[05:22] summons a giant rocket powered shark.

[05:25] Yes really. The blast through anything

[05:28] unlucky enough to get in your way.

[05:31] And based on what I played Raiders seems

[05:33] to be trying to do enough that while

[05:35] your core action blast through salmonids

[05:37] and get stuff rinse and repeat is the

[05:40] same things always feel different enough

[05:43] that it stays interesting.

[05:46] All of Splatoon Raiders craziness comes

[05:48] to a head in raids that take us

[05:50] underground, where I'm trapped in a

[05:51] small space and I have to collect a

[05:53] certain number of salmonid eggs in a

[05:55] limited time to make it to the next

[05:56] level. I won't lie to you, friends. I

[05:58] thought I was kind of nice at Splatoon

[06:00] Raiders until this point. I was

[06:02] cruising. But when I tell you I got

[06:04] smoked multiple times in a row doing

[06:06] this, I'm not kidding. But man, I dug

[06:09] it. It forced me to refine my build,

[06:11] pick my spots, use all my tools, and

[06:14] learn how to play fast. Even when I was

[06:16] getting walloped, I was having a good

[06:18] time.

[06:20] Finally making it to that last level and

[06:22] beating the boss just as our time for

[06:23] that portion of the demo expired, my

[06:25] friends, I exhaled.

[06:29] And then we got to play four-player

[06:31] co-op, and it was rad. Nothing really

[06:34] changes in co-op. It's just more of the

[06:36] same, but with friends. I named my squid

[06:38] kid John Inkling, we got to work. I

[06:41] don't have much to say about the

[06:43] multiplayer. We only got about 10

[06:44] minutes with it, except that you can go

[06:46] real fast if you want to, and that's an

[06:48] absolute blast to play with all those

[06:50] gadgets and guns and showstoppers

[06:52] popping off at once. I had a great time,

[06:54] and this would definitely be my

[06:56] preferred way to play the full game.

[06:58] John Ink shall ride again.

[07:05] >> [music]

[07:06] >> I didn't know what to expect with

[07:08] Splatoon Raiders, but I'd be lying if I

[07:09] said it wasn't a good time. It can be

[07:11] breezy, it can be challenging, it can be

[07:14] everything in between. I'm kind of

[07:15] shocked that it's basically a

[07:17] rogue-lite, but it works real good.

[07:19] Turns out all a squid kid needs for a

[07:21] good time on Spiral Island is a treasure

[07:23] to hunt and a robot to hunt it with.

[07:26] Not bad considering it all starts with a

[07:28] helicopter crash. But bring some friends

[07:30] if you can. It's better when you're all

[07:32] spilling some ink together. Maybe the

[07:34] real treasure is the friends we made

[07:36] along the way.

[07:39] For more previews of the biggest

[07:41] upcoming games, don't miss our recent

[07:43] hands-on previews of Star Wars Galactic

[07:45] Racer and Tomb Raider: Legacy of

[07:47] Atlantis. And for everything else in the

[07:49] world of video games, stick with IGN.