Review: ‘Splatoon 3’ finally puts it all together in Nintendo’s best take on shooters

Nintendo spoon feeds the lore to players as they explore six sites. With the trusty friend Smallfry, players will have to clear the furry ooze that’s infesting Alterna by infusing the critter’s tiny body with fish egg power. (Don’t worry this is all kind of explained.) — Nintendo/TNS

Splatoon has been Nintendo’s most successful original franchise of the past 10 years. It’s a series that came out of necessity as the rise of competitive shooters left the company with a hole in its gaming portfolio. Nintendo needed to fill it, but the big question was: How would the developers create a family-friendly shooter and make it feel unique to its brand?

The answer lay in sea life and paintball. More specifically, Nintendo focused on cephalopods, which happen to create their own ink, and the team sport that uses balls of paint for ammo. The big difference in Splatoon is that instead of winning a match by fragging opponents, the players’ goal is to cover the most territory with their team’s colours.