Splatoon Raiders Review – A More Narrowly-Targeted Spinoff that Hits the Looter-Shooter Spot

Nintendo has typically taken a grab-bag approach with the Splatoon franchise, mixing different modes of gameplay together into a single package -- single-player, PvP multiplayer, co-op base defense, and more -- but with the upcoming Splatoon Raiders, they're taking more of a focused approach. This spinoff is primarily a single-player adventure (although there is the option to play co-op) that zeroes in on combat and a looter-shooter-style progression system.

Is Splatoon Raiders a successful expansion of this fishy series? Or has Nintendo gone and painted themselves into a corner? Swim on to find out...

Splatoon Raiders casts players as the Mechanic, a (mildly) customizable avatar who happens to be piloting the helicopter for the idol group Deep Cut when the whole crew is drawn into a massive storm and crash land on the mysterious Spirhalite Islands. After setting up a home base, the members of Deep Cut turn their attention toward harvesting the various treasures that dot the islands. Getting home is also somewhere on the to-do list, but really, treasure is the top priority. You're recruited to go on treasure raids, which allow you to upgrade your gear and island hideout and perhaps even uncover the secrets of the Spirhalite Islands, which seem to have a connection to those nasty Salmonids that keep invading the Splatlands.

Don't expect a super complex or gripping plot from Splatoon Raiders, although the game comes to a suitably epic conclusion and fleshes out the personalities of Deep Cut as the story progresses and you increase your bond with specific members of the crew. As has always been the case with Splatoon games, there's also a fair amount of weird lore to be uncovered here, for those who are interested in such things.

The core activity in Splatoon Raiders is, as you might have guessed, raids, which come in a variety of different flavors. Your standard raid drops you onto a usually-linear map (although there is another basic raid variant where objectives are more spread out) alongside your chosen Deep Cut member who rides around in a handy-dandy Exploration Bot. Your goal is to track down and dig up a series of Spirhalite Shard caches, but your Deep Cut partner can only crack them open with their bot’s drill once you've cleared all the Salmonids in the immediate vicinity, and, of course, tons of them spawn as soon as you come upon a stash. Splat the Salmonids, dig up the shards, rinse and repeat a couple more times and the raid is done. Along the way you'll also find new weapons, which have levels and star rarities attached (higher rarity weapons come with bonus status buffs), and plenty of crafting materials.

The actual process of splatting baddies is about what you'd expect if you've played Splatoon’s Salmon Rush mode before. Splatter enemies with a variety of familiar weapon types, from the basic Splattershot to more creative options like Rollers and paint-dealing Katanas, and turn into squid form to swim through your own ink for greater maneuverability and to refill your ink supply. This time around, players can also equip gadgets (up to three of them eventually) that are on a cooldown timer and allow you to do things like summon a protective ring of ink-spreading satellites or unleash an inky boomerang on enemies. Additionally, collecting Power Eggs from fallen foes charges up your Deep Cut bot partner, eventually allowing you to unleash a powerful battlefield-clearing Showstopper attack.

Your Salmonid opponents, which include basic cannon fodder fishies and more dangerous Boss Salmonids, are largely lifted from pash Salmon Rush modes, although a few new ones have been added. Enemy AI is pretty much the same as it's always been, with the typical Salmonid strategy being to spawn in large numbers and charge mindlessly at you. Battles can be intense, but there's a limit to how strategic they get.

In addition to the standard raids, there are a few other mission types, which usually involve drilling underground and more closely resemble the base-defense gameplay of past Salmon Run modes. Salmonid Dens challenge you to earn a certain amount of Power Eggs within a time limit, while Buried Ruins are similar, but three levels deep, culminating in a battle against a Seasoned Salmonid (a salt-crusted extra-tough Boss Salmonid). Meanwhile, hidden Sampler Dungeons task you with making your way through a stage using a specific weapon and/or gadget and typically focus a bit more on platforming and simple puzzle solving.

Standard raids are generally fairly easy, with the level design between enemy encounters being very straightforward. Battles aren't that daunting either, as you're given plenty of space to back off and catch your breath if you're temporarily overwhelmed. The underground Salmonid Dens and Buried Ruins are significantly more challenging, sometimes frustratingly so, although even if you fail a mission you get to keep all your experience, weapons, and items, so no run is ever truly wasted. The Sampler Dungeons are actually some of the more interesting stages in the game as their level design feels a bit more creative, but they're usually fairly quickly bested. Oh, and without giving too much away, there are also some bigger, badder boss battles in this game, which are a definite highlight. All of this can be played with up to three other players online or via local wireless, and there's even a Dark-Souls-esque feature where you can call in another player to help you on a particularly tricky bit.

While Splatoon Raiders does a solid job of mixing things up in terms of mission variants, there's no denying the game feels a bit more one-note than past entries in the franchise. The large majority of your time is spent doing one thing – repeatedly splattering large hordes of Salmonids. Early on, the game rolls out new Salmonid varieties at a fairly steady pace, but at a certain point, Nintendo runs out of new enemy types and just starts throwing more of them at the player to increase the difficulty level. Eventually, the game does start to feel a bit repetitive.

This isn't helped by visuals that don't quite have the gonzo pop you expect from this franchise. Aside from the ink you spread on them, most stages have a somewhat muted look and could do with a bit more variety. The game's soundtrack is typical Splatoon fare, which is to say, it complements the action well enough, but probably won't leave you humming.

If Splatoon Raiders can sometimes feel repetitive, the overall experience remains engaging due to the snackable bite-sized length of missions and the game's rather' involved looter-shooter progression system. In addition to collecting a wide assortment of weapons, players can tinker with their gadgets by applying parts to them that you either find during Raids or craft using harvested materials and shards. Your ink tank can be upgraded in various ways as you level up (HP up, damage up, more gadget part slots etc.) and levels up separately based on the total number of Power Eggs you've collected. Your rank will also increase as you earn more money from treasure, conferring further bonuses. Point is, there's an almost constant stream of dopamine-generating goodies and upgrades coming your way, which keeps you pushing through even when you're up against a mission you may not be in love with.

And while Splatoon Raiders may be a spinoff that's selling for only $50 digitally, there's still quite a hearty amount of content on offer here. The diversity of said content may be a bit lacking compared to most major Nintendo releases, with only three main biomes and not a ton of new Salmonid types, but still, it took me a solid 12 hours to roll credits on the game. Add potential replay in the form of harder "Spicy" versions of raids and some endgame content I won't spoil and this is a game you could get over 20 hours out of without trying too hard. And who knows how long getting the elite loadout of your dreams might take? If you enjoy splatting Salmonids, this fish fry doesn't have to end anytime soon.

This review was based on a copy of Splatoon Raiders provided by publisher Nintendo.

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