June 16, 2014 by Paul Curtin
It’s not every day that Nintendo announces a brand new IP… and it’s even more uncommon for them to be revealing a brand new shooter; but at this year’s E3, Nintendo revealed Splatoon, a family-friendly third person shooter that uses the iconic squid from the Mario franchise and their ink in some very creative ways.
Games consist of eight players who are split into two competing teams that are able to control ink-shooting humans. Not only can the humans shoot squirt guns full of ink, but they also have the ability to transform into “squid kids” and swim through the large pools of ink on the ground and walls. Splatoon’s hook is that while it’s a messy shooter, it’s not about the traditional kill/death counts, and the team with the most amount of ground area covered in their color wins.
There’s still no word on other modes, but Splatoon sure is interesting and a lot of fun to play from what we saw after diving in and getting our hands dirty with the demo. It’s good to see Nintendo has been able to create such a unique shooter for a younger audience that takes the violence out and replaces it with a fun new concept that people of all ages can enjoy. Splatoon is set for release in 2015 exclusively on the Nintendo Wii U.
