For one of Nintendo’s modern and successful franchises, look no further than Splatoon. Splatoon 3 is now available on Nintendo Switch.

In the Splatoon series, squidlings armed with paintball weapons square off in teams. The goal is to cover more of the arena in your team’s colors with a variety of weapons and devices, while preventing the opposing team from doing the same.

Splatoon 3 builds upon the series with new weapons and new game modes. New weapons include the Splatana sword, and the triple-shot Tri-Stringer.

Classic 4v4 Turf Wars return with new stages such as Scorch Gorge, Mincemeat Metalworks, and Undertow Spillway, as well as returning favorites, for a total of 12 stages at launch.

Splatfest Events now include three sides with the new Tricolor Turf War, where the winning team of four must face-off against two teams of two.

Then there’s Anarchy Battle. Replacing Ranked Battles, Anarchy Battle is the highly competitive mode that features league matches, ranking, and best of five matches. No co-op friends allowed!

Splatoon 3 isn’t all about competitive multiplayer, however. Salmon Run returns from Splatoon 2 as an entirely cooperative mode. A team of four Squidlings face off against waves of Salmonids, culminating in a big boss fight.

Finally there’s a new single player campaign, titled Return of the Mammalians, as solo players team up with Agent 3 to fight the Octarians.

Splatoon 3 will feature rotating seasons with outfits, emotes, and other in-game goodies to grab. Season 1 begins at launch.

Splatoon 3 is available now in physical and digital formats. Players who purchase before Sept. 30 from an official Nintendo store will receive double the Gold Points.

Splatoon 3 is rated E10+.


This article was written by

Eric has been writing for over nine years with bylines at Dicebreaker, Pixelkin, Polygon, PC Gamer, Tabletop Gaming magazine, and more covering movies, TV shows, video games, tabletop games, and tech. He reviews and live streams D&D adventures every week on his YouTube channel. He also makes a mean tuna quesadilla.