The 'Shroom:Issue 129/Spla-tune in for Splatoon
The lifecycles of a system aren't too surprising. It comes out, lots of people really love it, but come some time, it eventually stops being supported. With the shutdown of Miiverse just a few months ago, having not seen the Wii U on shelves for almost 7 months now, and the introduction of the Switch, it's sad to say the Wii U has done the same. Even though lots of the Wii U's legacy has faded, its online play is still here! With that, a few games still will have life in them until that eventually dies, too.
One of those games is Splatoon.
For all my life, I would have never thought Splatoon would have been the kind of game to make it into my life. Shooter-style games, such as Call of Duty or Team Fortress 2, never really grabbed my interest, even after playing them for a bit. However, Splatoon has quite a bit for me personally that helps it stand apart and captivate my interest.
Before I get started, please note that Splatoon 2, which has most of the features listed below and new gameplay mechanics, is out on the Switch!
First, let's take a look at the playable characters themselves, and their customization options. For starters, your playable character is a human-squid hybrid called an Inkling. Your Inkling can have different skin tones and eye colours, but your hair colour changes during a match, whether it's offline or online. You can also wear different shoes, hats, and shirts, all of which change your stats. Your stats can vary from run speed, to how much you can fire, to much more in between.
For now, I will cover a bit of the basics of the game. In every game mode, you can equip a weapon. This weapon can be used to pour ink onto the ground, or "cover turf". Your character can turn into a more squid-like form and swim in their own ink, but not ink of the other team! Ink colours that are not your own will damage you, and you will eventually be killed, or "splatted", this way. Each weapon has a weapon type, which I will cover below:
- Shooter: Your standard gun-type weapon. A good tip for shooters is to jump while using your weapon! This will make your range wider than usual.
- Blaster: Blasters are a special type of shooter. They fire globs of ink that explode in mid-air. They tend to have lower range and don't cover as much ground, but all Blasters can one hit kill someone if it is aimed directly at them.
- Roller: Rollers take the style of a paint roller. They cover lots of ground, and can run over enemies, squishing them. They also have a short range melee attack by flinging ink at foes.
- Brushes: Brushes are a special type of roller, taking the style of a paintbrush. They are thinner so they don't cover as much ground nor squish enemies, but they are faster. Instead of hurling ink globs, they swing their paintbrush side to side, flicking smaller globs.
- Charger: This weapon is a "charge and aim" weapon, like a sniper rifle. You charge up your meter, and wait for an Inkling to come along, Then, you aim just right and a beam of ink falls onto the path of the charger, hopefully killing your opponent. When aimed at an opponent, your cursor will become an X, so be on the look-out. These weapons are extremely poor at covering ground or in combat, they are better on guard or in a high, isolated area.
- Slosher: Sloshers were first introduced in game on August 5, 2015. They take the appearance of a paint bucket. This weapon hurls ink straight ahead at a longer range, and can be used to attack enemies that are higher up or on the other side of an obstacle.
- Splatling: Splatlings were first introduced in game on August 5, 2015. You must charge this weapon before using it to extend its firing time. It will fire small globs of ink very rapidly at opponents.
Each type of weapon has many types of weapons under its umbrella, each with slight advantages and disadvantages over the other. I personally use the Octobrush, which falls under the brushes category. Compared to the other brushes, it has a much slower run and flick speed, but has better range, damage, and ground coverage.
With that explanation out of the way, why do I like Splatoon? I admitted I'm not a big shooter fan, what does Splatoon have going for it? It may have to deal with the fact that you do not have to kill anyone. I'm a very pacifist kind of person, and hate having to kill people unless I have to. The modes in this game don't have killing as their main objective. In Ranked Battles, killing players is more common, but you don't necessarily need it to win.
- Turf War: A Regular Battle mode, which is also the main mode of the game. The winning team of Turf War must occupy as much ground as possible. Kills do not matter, but I recommend using it as a defensive strategy so the other team doesn't get as much ground. It is always good to have a team variety with set goals in this one, because if everyone is focused on kills, there will be barely any ground covered and a victory for the other team.
- Splat Zones: A Ranked Battle mode. This mode has a marked rectangle, sometimes more than one, on the map, and it is your teams goal to occupy that rectangle for the longest. Killing players helps to alleviate stress of keeping the rectangle intact and fighting off other players.
- Tower Control: A Ranked Battle mode. The goal of this mode is to occupy a tower in the centre of the stage, and try to ride it all the way along its predetermined path into your goalpost to win. If no one if on the tower, the tower will try and make its way back to the centre, but you can occupy the tower at any point along its journey.
- Rainmaker: A Ranked Battle mode. It is your, and the other team's, goal to find the Rainmaker, burst the bubble, and carry it to your goal. If the other team bursts the bubble and you are caught in the radius, you instantly get splatted. The person carrying the Rainmaker can't use their weapon, but they can fire tornado-type shots forward with it. If it is dropped, it disappears and spawns elsewhere.
There was one other mode, the Splatfest, but it has since been moved to Splatoon 2. I really miss them, but it's one thing that had to depart with Nintendo's shelving of the Wii U.
Even though the Wii U may be technically discontinued, it will always be sitting on my shelf with Splatoon in its inventory. I always love to boot up my console and pick it out to play. The controls are smooth, the modes are fresh and exciting, and the entire game seems full of life. I hope I helped all of you visualize the game a little bit. Me? Well, I'm probably going to be playing it on my Wii U for as long as I can imagine.
That is, until I can afford a Switch.
| The 'Shroom: Issue 129 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • End-of-the-Year Awards • Director Election |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
| Specials | Spla-tune in for Splatoon • The 'Shroom Holiday Scavenger |
