Today’s Nintendo Direct event unveiled more details on Splatoon the multi-player game with a family friendly painting rather than shooting mechanic. Weapons, outfits, amiibos and game modes were all discussed in detail.
Splatoon combines creative ink-spraying with tactical turf-claiming action. It’s being pitched as the Mario Kart or shooting games and that’s not far from the truth. Like Nintendo’s kart racer, Splatoon can accommodate players of all ages and skill levels.
Each player takes on the role of the Inklings, customizable characters that can transform into squids. After splatting opponents and covering a level with colourful ink, players can transform into squids and swim quickly through their own ink or use it to take cover and hide from enemies.
A Global Testfire demo available to download and try from the Nintendo Wii U eShop from 17:00 CEST today. It will be live for a series of 1-hour slots on Saturday 9th May. This will offer 4-on-4 Turf War battles against other players from across the world, including representatives of Nintendo’s Squid Research Lab. Downloading the demo also grants 10% discount off the price of Splatoon on Nintendo eShop when it launches on 29th May.
More details were announced on play modes. We will have a 4-on-4 online mode when the game launches on 29th May. This offers two stages that are refreshed every four hours with an official announcement in-game to sound the changes, meaning players will have to carefully consider weapons and tactics for the stages that lie in wait. Splatfests extend these one off matches with themed events that teams up large groups of players into series of battles.
The Nintendo Direct also took us through the Shooter, Charger and Roller weapon classes that each work better in particular stages. Additionally you can team these up with Secondary and Special weapons to create varied loadouts like you would in other shooting games.
The Spatoon amiibos were also discussed. They will each bring in 20 special levels when used with the game.
