After a decade of tweaking its familiar multiplayer formula, Nintendo’s Splatoon series just got its biggest shake-up yet. Splatoon Raiders takes the fundamentals of the PvP shooter and applies it to a single-player spin-off that’s more indebted to Borderlands. The action RPG twist works surprisingly well in a more chaotic version of Splatoon that cranks the chaos up to 11.
The reinvention is so successful, in fact, that I’m already pining for some of Splatoon Raiders’ best ideas to rub off on the inevitable Splatoon 4. Considering how little the multiplayer series has changed over three games, Raiders serves as a great proving ground for new ideas that could freshen up a familiar format. Even if Splatoon 4 doesn’t go full-on hero shooter, these systems could be a welcome change for the series.
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The tank system
The biggest difference between Splatoon 3 and Splatoon Raiders is the latter’s tank system. Your character can equip one of three ink tanks, each of which has its own set of gadgets and unlockable passive perks. That’s very different from the multiplayer series, which ties subweapon and special attacks to your primary weapon. These fixed kits mean that you won’t always be able to use your preferred tools on one go-to weapon, pushing you to experiment with custom-made combos.
While that approach makes for a more controlled multiplayer environment with balanced loadouts, it will be hard to go back to that system after tinkering with tanks. There’s much more freedom in building your own loadout and trying to find gadget combos that complement one another. For example, I love pairing auto-firing Shot Pots with the Hi-Fiver to create a build that can peck away at enemies’ health from a distance. That loadout system feels like a natural fit for Splatoon, so long as Nintendo can figure out the right equation to avoid making overpowered gadget combos.
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