Splatoon 3 is taking us to the Splatlands with fresh styles and new weapons

Splatoon 3 is giving Nintendo's much-loved series a fresh coat of ink in the new Splatlands region. The desert wasteland setting will be home to the city of Splatsville, where we'll have the chance to jump into some more 4v4 turf-war action in all-new stages. Full of style, more customization options, a new single-player campaign, and the debut of additional weapons and moves, we really will have plenty of reasons to get stuck right in when Inklings and Octolings return this year.

Splatoon 3 may not be a drastic departure from the Splatoon games that came before it, but this long-awaited sequel is promising to build on already strong foundations to deliver an unmissable experience for Switch owners. If there was ever a time to refill your Splattershot and get your Splatrollers at the ready, it's in 2022.

Remix

Nintendo has already treated us to two trailers since the initial announcement of Splatoon 3. From everything we've seen so far, there's a lot of reasons for fans and newcomers alike to get in on the ink-soaked action this year. The series has always oozed its own distinctive style and that'll be true of the sequel too, with Nintendo offering more opportunities to customize your character with a variety of options to better represent your very own inkling in-game. There's nothing quite like taking on some Turf Wars in style and really owning your look, so it's great to see the upcoming entry appear to be more representative with its base customization options from the out-set.

There's also the introduction of a new customizable companion known as Little Buddy, a sidekick who will join you for the 'Return of the Mammalians' single-player story mode. As Nintendo revealed in a Squid Research Lab post last year, the new campaign will see the return of Mammals thought to be long since extinct from the world of Splatoon. You will take on the role of an Inkling youth in Splitsville who, upon meeting the new Squidbeak Splatoon, you'll become their Agent 3 and help fight against the evil Octarian army.

With plans to invade the squid world, you'll be going up against the army's fuzzy soldiers. Unfortunately, Inklings don't deal with Fuzzy Ink – a new fur-like oozing substance that you will be encountering in the story – all that well. This is where your "Smallfry buddy" will help you along the way – they're immune to its effects and will happily eat up all the Ooze. In Splatoon 2, the story mode delivered a solid, enjoyable experience, and the Octo Expansion that followed took the game to new heights. If the Splatoon 3 story mode follows suit, we could very well be in for a treat.

Outside of the single-player campaign, Splatoon 3 will, of course, once again be a multiplayer experience that carries on the signature Turf War battle mode. In this 4v4 mode, players try to cover the biggest expanse of turf with their particular color of ink. Now that we're in Splatlands, there will be new stages and features to give the mode a new lease of life. One stage that has already been revealed is known as Eeltail Alley; as an old neighborhood at the center of Splatsville, it features a big walkway that cuts across the entire area that will no doubt make for some slick turf war antics.

But it's not just new stages that promise to shake up the playstyles of our inkling fighters. New special weapons will be coming into the fray that really are a sight to behold. One known as the Crab Tank is what you might expect it to be from the name alone – a vehicle with crab-like legs that is outfitted with a rapid-fire gun and a cannon. Oh, and it can turn into a ball to move around for speedy maneuvers. The Big Bubbler is also a new addition that's a bigger, more powerful version of a weapon in Splatoon 2, along with the Trizooka, which is also a larger, modified form of a previous special weapon. And if that wasn't enough, there's also a weapon that will transform your Inkling into a veritable ink ninja. As a shadow warrior known as a Zipcaste, you can make use of your stretch tentacles to stick to walls and whiz your way around the area.

In what will hopefully shape up as another great entry, we're set to see more customization, new weapons and stages, and a fresh single-player story mode. And with the introduction of a new setting in the Splatlands, Splatoon 3 really does look set to give the series a bit of a remix in 2022.

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