Splatoon 3 review: you’ll buy it for the multiplayer – but its single-player story mode is an absolute blast

A couple of weeks ago, I described Splatoon 3 as a ‘difficult game to preview’, largely because of its iterative nature. It’s like reviewing a Call of Duty game, I suppose – bits and pieces change from one game to another, but the development machine for such an established franchise has gotten so sophisticated and so well-defined that any review inevitably isn’t going to be talking about big-ticket changes. It’s a little nip here, a little tuck there, and a modest extension to an under-developed feature. To put it another way, jumping from Splatoon 2 to this latest sequel is more like renovating a beloved old house rather than outright moving. That leads to a natural early conclusion of this review, and it’s a time-honored cliche: if you liked old Splatoon, you’ll love this! It’s like that, but better! Well, duh. Obviously. This also means that the sentiment expressed in the preview carries over here; it’s a difficult game to review. I could get into the minutiae of things like new weapons, new fashion looks, a barnstorming new mode in the form of the three-way turf war, or the improved Salmon Run mode, for instance. But then I’m waxing lyrical for thousands of words getting into tight specifics that, honestly, the hardcore probably already know, having voraciously consumed pre-release content, and the casual probably don’t particularly care to know. Read more