Splatoon

 Wii U
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1429 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,235 out of 1429
  2. Mixed: 104 out of 1429
  3. Negative: 90 out of 1429
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  1. Josephsa
    May 29, 2015
    3
    Splatoon represents everything wrong with gaming. It is not a terrible game. A terrible game could be simply not played and forgotten about. Instead Splatoon has some fresh and innovative concepts that are buried and ruined by the incompetency of Nintendo and their inability to keep up with modern times.

    Think of a multiplayer game and think of the features you'd commonly find in one.    Splatoon represents everything wrong with gaming. It is not a terrible game. A terrible game could be simply not played and forgotten about. Instead Splatoon has some fresh and innovative concepts that are buried and ruined by the incompetency of Nintendo and their inability to keep up with modern times.

    Think of a multiplayer game and think of the features you'd commonly find in one. Usually about 10-20 maps, 5-10+ game modes, voice chat, a party system, local competitive play etc. would all be common features. Well, Splatoon has none of those. Launching with a meager 5 maps and 2 game modes, no voice chat, no party system, the only local competitive mode is a 1v1 balloon popping mode, and the inability to switch out your loadout in a match (so rather than feeling like you can adapt to a changing match, you're stuck using the same loadout the whole match), and a 4-5 hour singleplayer campaign, Splatoon is as barebones a package you could find in 2015.

    This is simply unacceptable for a game in 2015; the game has been rushed to market, missing in basic content, and spoilt by the complete incompetence of Nintendo and their inability to adapt to modern times. This game was rushed to market to fill a gap in the game releases and to satiate a months long gaming drought.

    After playing the testfires and a few hours of the game after launch, the game does feel fresh and is a unique take on the genre, but frustration quickly overwhelms due to the repetition of maps (two maps every four hours), lack of basic features isolating one from the other players, and overall lack of fresh content. Singleplayer has been somewhat satisfying, but it lacks the usual Nintendo charm and feels rushed, and just simply is not enough justify a $60 purchase (for some reason this game is reduced retail price in Europe, but not NA).

    Overall, Splatoon is a 3 as it stands now. Perhaps, it could be a 7 or an 8 if it had launched with more maps, modes, voice chat, party chat, local play, a longer campaign, etc. but as it stands now, Splatoon is an incomplete package, and if Nintendo rushes and releases an incomplete package, that is what I will review. I am not of the mindset that we should buy a game simply on the word that there will be future content. I will not lay down $60 for a simply incomplete game and play the waiting game, while the community wanes over time and just simply hope that even some of these features are improved upon. I recommend you give it a rent at most, if nothing more than to see what could have been, but there simply isn't enough unique and fresh content in the game to justify even a $30 purchase, let alone $60.    … Expand
  2. ehvc34
    May 29, 2015
    0
    The lack of voice chat killed the experience for me. This is a game that depends a lot in comunication, you need strategy and coordination to win, but nintendo did it again and excluded one of the most useful tools in a game like this. Good job.
  3. Dominator121
    May 29, 2015
    0
    Splatoon is a great and new game by Nintendo. The online in the game is split into two modes, turf war and ranked battles. Ranked battles are not avaible yet but they will be later this year. Turf war is a fun game where teams of two face of too see who can cover the ground with the most ink. Turf war is an addictive mode thats really fun too play. In Splatoon, you can customize yourSplatoon is a great and new game by Nintendo. The online in the game is split into two modes, turf war and ranked battles. Ranked battles are not avaible yet but they will be later this year. Turf war is a fun game where teams of two face of too see who can cover the ground with the most ink. Turf war is an addictive mode thats really fun too play. In Splatoon, you can customize your character and give it different types of clothing. The clothing has special abilities that can increse your stats in Turf War, making Turf War even more fun. There is a single player mode that has a good amount of length and the amiibo compatibility is great. The only problem is that there is not enough online maps. However Nintendo said that they will fix that with FREE dlc this summer. Splatoon is Materpiece by Nintendo and it is certainly a game that every WiiU owner should have.… Expand
  4. syphist
    Oct 10, 2016
    0
    Absolutely terrible online connections. I paid to have a good time, and losing my connection a minute into EVERY match is terrible. I wish I could redeem a refund on this game.
  5. oLTooN
    Jan 5, 2016
    3
    This game is awesome, great, brilliant and funtastic. Its original, adictive, and unique in its kind. It's impossible to define it with words, it's something that you have to try to understand. It offers a completely new way of online gaming, you can make team with your friends or search unknown foes randomly in 2 or 3 online game modes, and you know what? I HATE THIS GAME.
    I hate it    This game is awesome, great, brilliant and funtastic. Its original, adictive, and unique in its kind. It's impossible to define it with words, it's something that you have to try to understand. It offers a completely new way of online gaming, you can make team with your friends or search unknown foes randomly in 2 or 3 online game modes, and you know what? I HATE THIS GAME.
    I hate it because Nintendo needs better servers, I've played not more than 20 hours and all because Sever lose conection before the game is finished. I've completed the offline mode with all scrolls and even finished amiibos quest, it took me around 10 hours gaming. Maybe you think I need better internet conection, but hey! When I play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, I don't lose conection 1 minute after I start playing and I can even use wireless conection, because believe me, I used cable to play Splatoon online but really it doesn't work. The big diference is: when you play MH3U and you lose conection, the game continues, the other players disappear, but you stay playing alone against the Monster, at least it gives you the chance to complete the quest (anyway I don't lose conection very often in MH3U and I played 300 more hours than Splatoon).
    This game needs something to improve the internet conection, it could be a graphic downgrade or even to include more offline modes or a deeper single mode. I think they have to stop giving new stages and work harder to solve the internet problem, because not everyone has good internet conection and it's rubbish when you don't know how the game reacts when you lose conection before buying the game. They can even do that if you lose conection all players pass to be CPU players, the game doesn't stop, you finish the game that already started and also gives chance to level up. But this last it's just fantasy of mine. I

    really hope the find a way to fix that because it's a wonderful game.    … Expand
  6. Saikron
    Oct 5, 2015
    3
    I heard that this game didn't have much meat to it when it released, so I waited 4 months to buy it. It still doesn't have much meat to it. Until you level up to 10, you can only play 2 different maps for the day. The maps are kind of simplistic, so I got bored with both maps within an hour. I had to wait until the following day for two more maps. I guess these are randomly picked becauseI heard that this game didn't have much meat to it when it released, so I waited 4 months to buy it. It still doesn't have much meat to it. Until you level up to 10, you can only play 2 different maps for the day. The maps are kind of simplistic, so I got bored with both maps within an hour. I had to wait until the following day for two more maps. I guess these are randomly picked because I only got to play one new one and the same one from yesterday. As far as I can tell there is only one game mode for online play, and that is to try to paint more of the map with your color than your opponent can paint with theirs.

    Paint rollers are so strong that two sneaky guys can flip 25% of the map in the last few seconds of the game. They're supposed to be short range weapons but you can sling paint from them almost as far as the automatic rifles shoot.

    Once you start to get matched with higher skilled players it seems like every game is either a boring, crushing loss or a boring, complete victory. 3/5 of the time one team is forced into their spawn and can't leave. This is partly based on team skill, but it's also based on what weapons you picked before you joined. It can be nearly impossible for one team to leave their spawn vs another depending on the weapon matchup - WHICH YOU CAN'T CHANGE WITHOUT LEAVING THE GAME!

    I'm not sure I'll ever put the disc back in.    … Expand
  7. sonofashepherd
    Jun 12, 2015
    3
    Any game those main point is online should include certain, basic features. Voice chat, Teams, Modes, Matches, Loadouts, Leveling, a real reason to keep playing the game!

    Sadly This game does very little of those things. The lack of maps and modes alone make this not worth the price. The game is fun for a limited time, very similar to many recent games from Nintendo. They have somehow    Any game those main point is online should include certain, basic features. Voice chat, Teams, Modes, Matches, Loadouts, Leveling, a real reason to keep playing the game!

    Sadly This game does very little of those things. The lack of maps and modes alone make this not worth the price. The game is fun for a limited time, very similar to many recent games from Nintendo. They have somehow forgotten how to make a classic game.

    The graphics are on par with most other Wii U titles, they don't seem to get better or worse and I really believe they have already hit the limit of what the dated hardware can do and that is sad considering this is supposed to be the next Gen system for Nintendo.

    As much as I don't want to believe it I think Nintendo, like this game, is short lived and soon forgotten all together. After 4 months I am willing to bet very few will be talking about this game.    … Expand
  8. Llama-lord
    Aug 22, 2015
    0
    It's to reliant on the internet:(. Every thing you do on it needs the internet and unfortunately not ever one has quick enough wifi to play the game. Like what about the people who live,in the country and don't get good enough reception how are they going to play? The only good thing I can say about the game (because I can't play it) is the colours.
  9. hiphoptherobot
    Jul 4, 2015
    0
    Most of these reviews are glaringly dishonest. This game has just enough creative potential to make you hate it. The concept is top notch, the weapons creative and varied, and the gameplay is really quite clever. These wonderful aspects are buried in issues. For starters, it is a game based on teamwork with no ability to communicate. It's sort of like driving a car with no wheels. TheMost of these reviews are glaringly dishonest. This game has just enough creative potential to make you hate it. The concept is top notch, the weapons creative and varied, and the gameplay is really quite clever. These wonderful aspects are buried in issues. For starters, it is a game based on teamwork with no ability to communicate. It's sort of like driving a car with no wheels. The weapons are great, but really imbalanced. So all of that work, and clearly there was a lot, in making each series of weapon unique and interesting is wasted by having to favor the same handful of weapons over and over. The servers are another major issue. Maybe this is because of the wireless-only feature of the wii u, but at peak hours both for the US and Japan the servers disconnect about 60-75% of the time. I'm buying a USB adapter and hoping this will help, but it is absolutely not an issue with my internet. I've checked it in every way possible and this only occurs in this game, none others. If this game didn't have potential, then I wouldn't give it another thought. It has potential. Once again Nintendo has put out something sloppy and done an amiibo cash grab.… Expand
  10. AGWS
    Aug 29, 2015
    3
    There's a lot of potential for Splatoon to become one of Nintendo's best new properties, but its first offering leaves a lot to be desired and is extremely light on content, usability, and basic features. The motion controls are awful and the kind of thing you would have expected designers to abandon after the early Wii days. The biggest issues with Splatoon's usability seems to stem fromThere's a lot of potential for Splatoon to become one of Nintendo's best new properties, but its first offering leaves a lot to be desired and is extremely light on content, usability, and basic features. The motion controls are awful and the kind of thing you would have expected designers to abandon after the early Wii days. The biggest issues with Splatoon's usability seems to stem from nobody actually trying to approach the game as a normal user would. You can't adjust game settings from in a level or even from within the single-player hub world. You have to quit out of the level and then out of the single player hub world to get back to the main hub world to change something as simple as the camera settings, but that forces you to re-watch an unskippable series of scenes where you're told about the available maps in multiplayer mode. Given the extremely limited number of stages, that's not even helpful. You're not allowed to actually select which stage you play on, so the fact that the stage icons show up on the screen where the game assigns you to a match does everything that scene does without the interruptions.
    The characters themselves are super stylish and cool but their world is just kind of a simple cartoon Japan and doesn't carry the style through. I'd have much rather they created a world that fit these characters and was as unique as they are. I was expecting to build up to beaches or places where the ocean is crashing in or coral reefs encroaching onto dry land, but there's none of that. You never get any different weapons or abilities either, so even though the campaign is extremely short and you can beat in a day or two, it feels stale by the end. Story-wise, there's really no distinction between the good guys and bad guys. The bad guys are evil because they want to enslave some creatures to power their dying city, versus the good guys who want to enslave these creatures to power their thriving city. There's a good way to do the "we're not so different, you and I" plot, but the game doesn't seem to be aware of its hypocrisy or acknowledge it in any way. Plus, the Octolings have way better design than the Inklings so I found myself more attached to the bad guys than my own allies. The character themes don't gel or relate to the core game either. The game makes a point to call out that all the Inklings care about is fighting and fashion, but the final boss is a DJ so there's a weird disconnect there.
    With such a minimalist single player campaign, you soon find yourself in multiplayer but it quickly wears thin. Multiplayer doesn't seem to have the faintest hint of any kind of matchmaking. When I was level 2, I was going up against a team of players ranging from levels 9 to 20 and in the 4v4 match, two of my teammates immediately dropped out. Your level limits what kind of weapons and loadouts you can have and also your stats and abilities. I'm sure none of the higher level players are happy when I show up because my rank means I'm using stock weapons and my stats are lousy. There's no pre-match interaction or set-up, so you can easily load into a battle where everybody is using the same weapon and nobody can play off strengths and weaknesses. You're not even allowed to change weapons between matches.
    It's super grindy to unlock items for multiplayer but at the very end of a match, you can get a communication error and nobody will earn any experience and you get nothing for the match because even though you were transitioning to the results screen, the game counts it as a disconnect. There are only two maps per mode (and you're restricted to one mode until level 10), so the grind itself is incredibly tedious. I bought the game Thursday evening and by Saturday night I felt like I'd seen everything it had to offer minus unlocking new weapons that don't seem all that different and new stats from gear. I can only play three or four matches before turning the game off because it's getting tedious. I was really hoping that given the lessened focus on killing opponents, there would be some kind of cooperative mode where you're working together to fulfill a mission or join forces against a giant boss or something. Instead, it's just two modes with only two possible maps at a time each and lots of grinding. Even after all that grinding, there isn't much variety in the weapons, which is a place the game really could have shown off some style with Ratchet and Clank-levels of weirdness.
    Splatoon feels like it could be the start of a great franchise thanks to the style the characters have, but it also feels like nobody considered how actual users would play the game, interact with menus, try to strategize or communicate with each other, or want different modes to play. If we find out that the game was supposed to be a Christmas release that was yanked up to summer to try to drive some interest in the Wii U and that's why it's so unpolished and bare bones, I would have no problems believing that.    … Expand
  11. DontBuySplatoon
    May 29, 2015
    0
    I bought this game thinking I could play online with my friend but there was no way to send a game invite or join his game. Not that it would matter because the game does not even feature voice chat. Online games are short and shallow, it feels like baby's first fps. I do not recommend this game at all and am returning it to the store tomorrow.
  12. TeneSicarius
    Jul 17, 2015
    1
    It is a really fun game, but the network is so bad. If there is even a second of lag, I'm kicked to the loading screen. This game is fun enough to be 10/10, but this is based on how many games it would let me play. Between being kicked out of a lobby as soon at it was full, to being disconnected as soon as the game began, to the most rage inducing moments when the game is over, but thatIt is a really fun game, but the network is so bad. If there is even a second of lag, I'm kicked to the loading screen. This game is fun enough to be 10/10, but this is based on how many games it would let me play. Between being kicked out of a lobby as soon at it was full, to being disconnected as soon as the game began, to the most rage inducing moments when the game is over, but that isn't when it saves, so I never get any reward for playing. I can't even join the lobbies I'm kicked from, because this system is so stupid.… Expand
  13. destiny6573
    Jul 16, 2015
    4
    All You Do Is Shoot The Ground With Ink And Splat Players With Red Ink to Make It Like Blood A Bloody Copy Just Know one Knows It But It Is DIFFRENT WORLD BLOOD
  14. lucasisback
    Jun 20, 2015
    0
    My favorite game of all time, until splat fest came. I have previously heard about splat fest issues in Japan, but I let it slide, because it's Nintendo. Splatoon is largely an online experience; Therefore, I had expected Nintendo to fix this problem before splat fest arrived to the USA. Sadly, splat fest was canceled due to the same issue. I am officially sick and tired of Nintendo andMy favorite game of all time, until splat fest came. I have previously heard about splat fest issues in Japan, but I let it slide, because it's Nintendo. Splatoon is largely an online experience; Therefore, I had expected Nintendo to fix this problem before splat fest arrived to the USA. Sadly, splat fest was canceled due to the same issue. I am officially sick and tired of Nintendo and Splatoon. By my once lovely Nintendo, because I'm not buying from you anymore!… Expand
  15. Spazer
    May 21, 2016
    0
    This game has clearly the worst online ever ! A real joke, this is unreal ! Lag, lag and lag due to a prehistoric peer to peer system which implies best connections (japanese) hosting ! I just can't play a single match without getting issues, though I have an excellent fiber connection...see -> my ping in Japan is around 329 ms ! (less than 10 ms in France where I live) Ah ah ah ! SoThis game has clearly the worst online ever ! A real joke, this is unreal ! Lag, lag and lag due to a prehistoric peer to peer system which implies best connections (japanese) hosting ! I just can't play a single match without getting issues, though I have an excellent fiber connection...see -> my ping in Japan is around 329 ms ! (less than 10 ms in France where I live) Ah ah ah ! So funny Nintendo to make us play in such pathetic conditions !

    We got many updates for this game but Nintendo still kids with his customers : no build for a local or European room which would be the strict minimum (after one year) so as to correct this aberration.

    Best option would be real servers, but it will never happens, why ? Because Nintendo just doesn't care !!! 10 billions of cash flow and they are incapable of proposing servers. A quite stingy firm, isn't it ?

    So, on my side, next time I won't care about NX...(as a Nintendo fan).

    Anyway, the online of Splatoon is the stupidest and the most frustrating thing I have ever seen.

    Tendo must wake up asap !    … Expand
  16. Ican_pheelit
    May 30, 2015
    0
    This is just a COD wannabe if they really wanted to rip off COD they need to do a better job seriously Nintendo the simimilarity to COD is tremendous try being original for once
  17. pauljcrary
    Jun 23, 2015
    2
    Really Nintendo.... You just HAD to make a shooting game. I know it would boost your popularity, but shooting is NOT RIGHT. It doesn't fit with the company. It got REALLY boring overtime because it is SO repetitive, even campaign! Even Smash could it up like throwing a Pokeball at a 999% Mario. Just, don't buy it.
  18. CzarSquid
    Feb 27, 2022
    0
    If you ever wanted a game that is all load screens and 1 minute of gameplay then this game is for you

Awards & Rankings

10
#10 Best Wii U Game of 2015
1
#1 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2015
6
#6 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 88 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 75 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 88
  3. Negative: 0 out of 88
  1. Time
    Nov 10, 2015
    100
    There’s nothing else quite like it, nor the cathartic dopamine jolt to be had when you squid-skim up a paint-smeared quarter pipe, an Inkzooka at the ready, leap over the edge, take aim with your weapon, and reduce a startled opponent to goo.
    Read full review
  2. SpazioGames
    Oct 23, 2015
    85
    We waited a bit before giving a vote to Splatoon, but after three months, the game is full of new weapons, has some awesome new modes, and it's still really, really fun. It's a WiiU killer app, one of those games that are not only extremely original, but so well made they utterly deserve a big and supporting community. If you have a WiiU and want an atypical shooter, this is the game for you.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Sep 18, 2015
    75
    Please don’t just look at the score and “meh” Splatoon, because this online shooter is the best thing that happened to Wii U in a long time. It just needs some major updates, because on arrival it’s just 75% of The Game of the Year. [09/2015, p.46]
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