Since Nintendo is usually a kid-friendly company, the studio wanted to make a shooting game, but one that wasn’t too violent. What Nintendo ended up coming up with was Splatoon, which came out for the ill-fated Wii U console back in 2015.
The one thing that separated Splatoon from every other shooting game is the fact that the characters used paintball guns instead of traditional guns with lethal bullets. The paintball aspect of the game meant Splatoon was a perfect vessel to advertise to both young and old kids.
While Nintendo released three previous Splatoon games for Wii U and Switch, the company decided to do something different for the series’ debut on the Nintendo Switch 2 console. What Nintendo came up with is a unique looter-shooter called Splatoon Raiders.
Splatoon Raiders starts off in an interesting fashion because you assume the role of a young Inkling or Octling nicknamed the ‘Mechanic’. As the ‘Mechanic’, your player character is flying a helicopter with the group known as Deep Cut. Deep Cut consists of the characters of Shiver, Frye, and Big Man.
The reason Deep Cut is travelling on a helicopter is that the group is in search of valuable treasure in the Spirhalite Islands. However, things don’t go according to plan for Deep Cut because the helicopter flies straight into a tropical storm and they crash-land. Thankfully, everyone survives the crash, including the player character.
Luckily, the group is resourceful and manages to make a hideout in the sea called the Hideout Ship. Instead of immediately finding a way back home, Deep Cut decides to stay near the Spirhalte Islands in a hunt for more treasure.
That being said, Deep Cut isn’t alone because dangers await the group while they are hunting for treasure. This is because the islands are inhabited by hostile beings called the Salmonoids. Raiding treasures and acquiring new guns to destroy the aforementioned Salmonoids is the whole point of Splatoon Raiders.
Graphically, Splatoon Raiders looks pretty cool on Switch 2 thanks to all of the colourful paint you can shoot out in all directions. The coolest part is the fact that the game targets 60fps at all times, and I didn’t even notice much slowdown even with lots of characters on the screen.
The only minor downside to the graphics is that it doesn’t hit native 4K. If your console is docked, the maximum resolution of the game is 1440p. Playing the game handheld maxes out to 1080p, and this is better than the 720p screen output of the original Switch console.
In terms of controls, Splatoon Raiders can be played in two different ways. You can play like a normal shooting game and simply aim your gun using the right analogue stick. If you feel like doing something different, you can use the motion controls to aim the gun, too.
Sadly, Splatoon Raiders does not allow you to use the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls as an option to aim your gun. I think this is a missed opportunity because the mouse controls worked really well in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
The gameplay loop is pretty cool because you go out on the islands in search of valuable treasure and also get more powerful weapons. To aid you in your journey, the AI character who joins you can pilot a cool-looking mech called Exploration Bot.
I have never played a Splatoon game before, but the shooting and game mechanics are fun and very satisfying. Aside from shooting guns using the ZR button, your character can turn into a squid or octopus when they are swimming inside paint. Not only does this allow you to traverse faster in hostile terrain, but it also replenishes your paint ammo and health bar, too.
Speaking of shooting guns, there are tons of different weapons that you can acquire in your journey. Some of the weapons you can attain include pistols, machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, and even an umbrella. Each weapon has a level, so the higher the level, the more powerful it is.
You can also craft and acquire gadgets that further aid your fight against the annoying hordes of Salmonoids. This can include paint bombs, blast boots, an automated turret, and much more. The cool part is that you can usually equip two different gadgets at the same time!
As fun as Splatoon Raiders can be, there are a few annoying parts that prevent it from being a flawless experience. As a solo player, I feel levelling up feels quite long and grindy. For example, I beat a boss that was level 12, but the next stages were recommended as level 15 and 16. I had to replay previous levels multiple times to level up that high.
I also think that the game is designed on purpose for you to play with other players. Sure, you can play the game solo as I did, but I feel the experience would have been much easier and more satisfying if you teamed up with higher-level players.
However, you need to buy an online subscription first to play with online players. Not to mention, the game does not have split-screen co-op, which is annoying. Instead, offline co-op is only available if each player has their own Switch 2 console and a copy of the game!
While the game can be grindy as a solo player and the lack of split-screen co-op is annoying, Splatoon Raiders can still be a fun experience if you can bypass these flaws. The game is really addictive, especially if you want to acquire new weapons to kill the Salmonoids.
