14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo surprised a lot of people during this edition of the E3 annual gaming trade show, and one of the main reasons for that was the reveal of Splatoon, a colorful and vivid online shooter of sorts.
Splatoon is just what the company needed, a brand-new IP that looks like buckets of fun, blending a colorful playground aesthetic with competitive shooter mechanics, and introducing a nice twist in order to make the formula more appealing.
Instead of shooting bullets and competing for frags, players blast a stream of neon-colored paint, and the goal of the game isn't to rake in kill after kill, but rather to paint as much as the territory as you can in your color.
In addition to the colorful visuals, the game also features a bunch of other new mechanics, such as being able to morph from a lovable youngster into a squid that can swim in the paint of its color – incidentally also being the way that you restock on paint – and having the ability to jump across the map to where your friends are at and instantly join the action.
Having the focus on territory control rather than on kills makes the game a lot more action-oriented, and a lot more family-friendly. In fact, there is no killing per se, as players who get shot simply disappear and then respawn.
Game producer Hisashi Nogami likened the concept to the simple joy of making a giant mess. Simple or not, the reveal of Splatoon made a considerable impact at E3, with many people expressing their excitement about Nintendo's game.
"Just talking about shooting paint, it's sort of like vandalism. If we were all in this room and someone came in and said OK guys make this room as messy as you want, you'd probably get really happy and like, destroy things," he said during an interview with Polygon.
"I think people still have that child-like feeling of wanting to make a mess, wanting to get dirty. I think they would be able to enjoy this game. And I think people have that no matter how old they get," Nogami concluded.
Everyone who got their hands on the game at E3 concurred that making a mess is indeed tons of fun. It looks like the Wii U is about to get some much-needed multiplayer action, but it won't be until next year that owners of the console are able to spray everything with paint.
Splatoon is currently scheduled to come out sometime during 2015, exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U console.
