Nintendo released Splatoon Raiders earlier this week. If I’m chum for any Nintendo series, it’s probably this one. The methodical frenzy of the previous games made it the go-to for my friend circle over lockdown. All the more so that Salmon Run, the PvE mode introduced in Splatoon 2, is a strong favorite. Thus far I haven’t found as much in Raiders to sink my teeth into as the main series, yet I constantly find myself returning for more sessions. I think I’ve figured out why, relating to one weapon kit and another game that was similarly hard to put down.
Splatoon Raiders is a pocket-sized extraction shooter. Fleeting dungeon raids pock the uncharted islands you find yourself marooned among. Gone are the dense urban streets of the series. Now you make your mess across eerily quiet beaches and garbage reefs. Attacking you from all angles are Salmonids, demonic looking fish mutants that come in all dangerous shapes and sizes. They’re fiercer than ever, and while you can have pals join you on excursions, the game is largely solo-affair.
Strangely, and I had this criticism of Splatoon 3, the weapon types seem largely unchanged from previous games. This is despite the conditions of play being totally revamped. Many classic weapons will leave you feeling like a sitting duck on solo missions. Where the real action are the Tanks, three special backpacks that will determine which “Gadgets” you can affix to your kit. There’s the Speed Tank, with abilities that let you sprint and bounce out of sticky situations. The Power Tank, with name-appropriate bunker busters. And then there’s the Tactical Tank, outfitted with wilier power-ups. It’s the one I couldn’t find myself putting down.
The Tactical kit revolves around various drones and semi-stationary gizmos that can deal increasingly maniacal amounts of chip damage. You begin with a standard sentry gun that’ll spit at anything that moves, but the further unlocks are where the game has begun to sizzle with me. The Tether Wail snaps a bungee cord to your butt that’ll lash at anyone who crosses it. The Hi-Fiver slaps down an array of ricocheting laser beams that can be positioned at any angle. And then there’s the real star: Bombloons, helium filled explosives that latch to each other with strands of damaging, poisonous gunk.
While previous Salmon Runs revolved around spotting the best target for your randomly assigned weapon and staying frosty, Raiders is about mitigating swarms of Salmonids and finding potential kill boxes on hostile terrain. The most gratifying moments therein is making an ornate, biblically accurate balloon animals and letting them float towards unsuspecting enemies. Surrounding yourself with murder blimps, chip damaging auras and varies drones, you can turn yourself into a walking death-trap. It’s the same kind of divine satisfaction as hitting that ten minute mark in Vampire Survivors, watching droves of undead attempt to get anywhere near you as you fart out endless patterns of knives and sacred books.
In its basic form, Splatoon Raiders is an extraction shooter, and maybe not the richest currently on the lot. What’s interesting is how much these unassuming kits drastically change the game, almost into an entirely different micro-genre at times. Raiders has its ways to encourage you to experiment with all three, but I know which one that’s calling my name. These balloons and drones are my friends now. We are in this together.