Splatoon Raiders ditches Turf War entirely and turns the series into a looter shooter, and reviewers love it

[TeaSpiller]

Splatoon Raiders, Nintendo's first ever single-player spinoff of the series, has landed to genuinely strong reviews, with critics converging on the same basic verdict, missing the franchise's iconic competitive Turf War mode entirely and replacing it with something closer to a co-op looter shooter turns out to work brilliantly

Mechanically it keeps the series' core identity intact, you're still a squid-like character covering ground in ink and taking down enemies by splatting them, refilling ammo by swimming through your own ink rather than picking up pickups, the same playful, non-violent water gun battle energy the series has always had. What's new is the structure, instead of short, fast competitive matches, Raiders sends you running through levels mowing down hordes of enemies, culminating in boss fights that reward you with loot, essentially Nintendo's own spin on the genre popularized by games like Destiny and Warframe, but wrapped in Splatoon's colorful, family friendly presentation

Critics describe it as combining the best parts of Salmon Run, the series' existing horde mode, and Side Order, its prior single-player DLC campaign, into something that feels both familiar and genuinely fresh for the franchise. Reviewers note the game is playable almost entirely with friends if you want, caters to a wide range of skill levels and play styles, looks and runs great, and comes at what multiple outlets called a bargain price. The consensus criticism is less about the game itself and more about a few small, arbitrary restrictions carried over from Nintendo's usual online play conventions, like a puzzling time limit on the feature that lets you call a friend in to help when struggling

The most consistent knock across reviews is that Raiders doesn't meaningfully push the series forward in a technical sense, running on the same fundamental gameplay loop as its three predecessors without doing much to showcase what the Switch 2 hardware specifically can do, and missing features like mouse controls. But nearly every outlet lands on the same bottom line anyway, regardless of your skill level or prior familiarity with the series, this is one of the standout games in the Switch 2's library so far and a genuine must-play

Review: Splatoon Raiders (Switch 2) - The Best Single-Player Splatoon Has Fantastic Multiplayerwww.nintendolife.com

[Cyclops46]

Dropping the competitive Turf War identity entirely and going full looter shooter is such a bold structural pivot for a series this established, glad it actually paid off rather than alienating the existing fanbase

[Sequence]

The point about not really taking advantage of Switch 2 specific hardware capabilities is a fair critique, feels like a missed opportunity given this is billed as an exclusive rather than a cross-gen release