{"id":12971,"date":"2022-08-24T14:37:45","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/24\/splatoon-3-puts-online-play-fashion-and-hair-front-and-center\/"},"modified":"2022-08-24T14:37:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T14:37:46","slug":"splatoon-3-puts-online-play-fashion-and-hair-front-and-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/24\/splatoon-3-puts-online-play-fashion-and-hair-front-and-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Splatoon 3 puts online play, fashion, and hair front and center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/24\/23309837\/splatoon-3-hands-on-campaign-turf-war-salmon-run-online<\/a>
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Despite feeling uncannily similar to play as past<\/a> installments<\/a>, Splatoon 3<\/em> is packed with smart changes and updates that will likely lead to people \u2014 or at least, me \u2014 keeping the game in rotation for much longer than before. I got to play over an hour of the game\u2019s various modes ahead of its September 9th launch, including just a few levels of the main story, a few rounds of Salmon Run (the game\u2019s surprisingly difficult but rewarding horde mode), and Turf War (Splatoon\u2019s<\/em> take on a four-versus-four deathmatch).<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice a welcome quality-of-life change right when you boot it up. Instead of being forced to sit through an intro presentation of the latest announcements for in-game activities each time you restart the game, as past Splatoon<\/em> games have done, you\u2019ll be able to simply click the left stick to listen to the dispatch as you do other activities.<\/p>\n

Multiplayer is where most of the game\u2019s biggest changes are easy to spot, though they might not seem that big of a deal if you\u2019ve played other modern multiplayer shooters. For instance, the Salmon Run mode, which supports four online players to survive as long as possible against waves of enemies and bosses, can now be initiated at any time. In Splatoon 2<\/em>, the mode was available only at select times. You\u2019d be forgiven for never having tried it before since it\u2019s inconvenient to schedule your life around when a feature is available. There seems to be a lot of added variety here in terms of enemy types and new random events to keep it exciting.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n\"Splatoon<\/p>\n

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Before launching into an online game with your crew, you can paint the town red (or, in this case, yellow) in the shooting range.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Nintendo<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Right before loading into either a game of Salmon Run or Turf War, you\u2019ll land in a shooting range \u2014 one of Splatoon 3<\/em>\u2019s features that I\u2019m most excited about. As the game works out the connectivity, and as everyone gets their weapon and gear loadouts prepped, you can test weapons out in the shooting range. It\u2019s reminiscent of the way that Fortnite<\/em> dumps all of the players into a free-for-all lobby before sending them to the island in the Battle Bus. On paper, it\u2019s a minor change, but it keeps my brain and fingers busy while the game loads. <\/p>\n

Loading into my first Turf War match, I was struck by all of the familiar trappings of modern multiplayer shooters. Splatoon 3<\/em> has \u201cSplashtags,\u201d small cards that let you customize the background, title, and badge with in-game unlocks for bragging rights. There are also unlockable emotes to equip that can add more personality to your character. Fashion has always been a big part of Splatoon<\/em><\/a>, and Nintendo says it will roll out free seasonal catalogs full of new clothes, accessories, and more.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n\"Splatoon<\/p>\n

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There seems to be plenty of Splashtag components to unlock through gameplay.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Nintendo<\/cite><\/p>\n

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The moment-to-moment action in Turf War felt as frenetic as before, and I was able to employ the game\u2019s new moves with relative ease. There\u2019s the \u201cSquid Roll,\u201d where you can reverse on a dime when in squid mode (jump while reversing the left analog stick\u2019s direction), granting you a brief moment of invincibility. I also liked the \u201cSquid Surge,\u201d which lets you super-charge a jump while in squid mode on a wall to surprise an opponent.<\/p>\n