Recently, Nintendo has shown a lot of Splatoon 3 on Twitter, and IDK if you’ve been paying attention, but everything in the next color shooter looks sick. There are new customization options for your character, more weapons to experiment with, an additional map to play with, a look at the Octolings and more. Suffice it to say I’m excited and I’ll probably play well when I get to the Switch on September 9th. So, in case you missed it, let’s take a look at some of the new features of Splatoon 3.
You don’t have to go very far to see the source of all this new information. You can scroll through Nintendo’s official social media accounts, but you’ll find more luck by going directly to Splatoon North America or Splatoon Japan, verified accounts that post the latest Squid Research Lab findings. These are sources for your ink correction that have been sharing new details of Splatoon 3 lately.
For example, the Squid Research Lab unveiled two new Splatoon 3 weapons in April. The first was the Ink Vac, a Ghost Busters-looking backpack vacuum that sucks ink and shoots it back with extra power. The other was the Triple Inkstrike, a mortar-like weapon that fires three missiles into the air that can then be aimed at launchable beacons. This is just the new equipment. Squid Research Lab went a little wild on Twitter shortly after discovering these weapons, displaying rapid-fire “shooter” pistols, slow-moving “magazine” rifles, silly roller brushes, and so many other categories of instruments. “go splat”.
There is also the new Undertow Spillway map. Formerly flooded, now transformed into a skirmish zone, the abandoned facility offers all kinds of high and low areas. And since these lower levels look pretty open while the upper platforms look like ramps, I see this as one of the favorites among the community. Or at least she’s the one I’ll vote for as many times as I can.
Nor can I forget the additional customization elements. Do you have more shoes like Timberlands — Timberinks? —And slides, as well as extra covers and bottoms for your character. There is also a new set of hairstyles for both Inklings and Octolings, which look very similar to Inklings but with “better hair”. I like to think we all have good hair, but maybe it’s just me.
But I have to be honest with all of you. While all this news is great, nothing convinces me that Splatoon 3 will rule almost as much as the new single from Squid Front Roe’s fictional band, “Sea Me Now”. The band is a melodic pop-punk quartet and this song is a bop. A banger. A whole atmosphere. Bladders, loud. I mean, just listen to the syncopation of guitar noodles in the verse, the rhythm of the drums, the good flowery synthesizer before the chorus arrives … and then the chorus starts and, uh, it’s tight! As a guitarist who played in metal and pop-punk bands as I grew up, this is definitely a song I will learn to play with.
If you don’t know, I’m totally ready for this game to come out. Splatoon 2 was my favorite shooter, a game that stays perpetually on my Switch in case I ever want to immerse myself in a game and get angry with my fellow Squidmates for refusing to pursue the goal. With Splatoon 3 looking like an expanded Splatoon 2, it looks absolutely like my chosen multiplayer shooter this September.