‘Splatoon 2’ Global Testfire First Impressions

Splatoon 2

(Splatoon 2)

The first of six Splatoon 2 Global Testfire events has wrapped up and there’s much to like about Nintendo’s latest squid based shooter. It’s more of the same of what you loved about the original with a few added additions. A noticeable change comes with the graphics as the game looks sharper and less pixelated as a whole compared to the original.

Splatoon 2

(The Reef)

Action took place on a map called The Reef and we got to play with familiar weapons like the Splat Roller, Splat Charger and Splattershot along with a new weapon called Splat Dualies. The Splat Dualies are dual paintguns that have a rapid fire rate. However, I found myself drawn to the Splat Roller again like I was with Splatoon. Players also no longer have the luxury of holding the map in their hands but instead have to hit X to bring the map over their screen. Motion controls return if you were a fan of them but I quickly found myself switching to traditional controls. The game controls well with the Joy-Cons separated or on the Joy-Grip. I did not try the game in handheld mode so I can’t speak on the performance there.

The servers experienced no issues which came as a little bit of a surprise with them only being up an hour and likely thousands of people trying to access them. I had no problem getting into a match and everything was stable while playing. It was a good experience and it looks like Splatoon 2 will build on the success of the first and be a must buy for Nintendo Switch owners.