Splatoon 3

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 30

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Splatoon 3 improves upon nearly every element of the franchise and exudes polish, despite doing almost nothing approaching a new idea.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 30

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 30

Splatoon 3 improves upon nearly every element of the franchise and exudes polish, despite doing almost nothing approaching a new idea.

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Awards & Recognition

Critic Reviews for Splatoon 3

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

30

Reviews

Average Score - 83/100

83%

Ranges

8/10

Brendan Graeber (IGN)

Splatoon 3’s campaign features a fresh take on an open hub world design, mixing in short but satisfying missions to let you experiment with different weapons and abilities.

September 7, 2022 |

Full Review

Splatoon 3 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it need to. Instead, it improves nearly every franchise element in sometimes small but meaningful ways. With an already-robust set of content available at launch and at least two years of free and premium content on the horizon, Splatoon 3 is simultaneously the series’ best entry to date and its most promising.

September 7, 2022 |

Full Review

8.5/10

Brian Shea (Game Informer)

7/10

Steve Watts (GameSpot)

Splatoon 3 isn’t quite as novel the third time around, but a great campaign and tons of multiplayer options make it the most robust Splatoon yet.

September 7, 2022 |

Full Review

Brendan Graeber (IGN)

8/10 - (Read Review)

Splatoon 3’s campaign features a fresh take on an open hub world design, mixing in short but satisfying missions to let you experiment with different weapons and abilities.

Brian Shea (Game Informer)

8.5/10 - (Read Review)

Steve Watts (GameSpot)

7/10 - (Read Review)

Splatoon 3 isn’t quite as novel the third time around, but a great campaign and tons of multiplayer options make it the most robust Splatoon yet.

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Read the Reviews (30 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Ars Technica	Sam Machkovech	Not Recommended	09-07-2022	Similarly, boss battles feel woefully undertested and suffer from agonizing spikes of challenge and confusion. There’s also an overworld aspect of spending in-game money to unlock new paths, though many of the unlocks don’t actually lead to new levels; instead, they only dole out cosmetics used to decorate a “locker” interface that is tucked into the very back corner of a single multiplayer lobby. (Decorating your tiny Splatoon 3 locker is perhaps the utter opposite of trimming a bonsai tree; the act of putting objects into your virtual locker is a nightmare of physics collisions and red Xs indicating that, no, you can’t decorate your locker the way you want.)	Read review
COGconnected	James Paley	70 / 100	09-07-2022	The Alterna campaign is only a slice of the Splatoon 3 pie. As such, my final score comes with some caveats. Though the mechanical elements are rock solid, the look and feel of the game is still off. At least for me, this campaign content feels subdued and a little lonely. Taken as part of the complete experience, the single-player content is something of a safe house. A quiet space where you can sharpen your skills and experiment with new weapons. Even so, the solo campaign for Splatoon 3 had me longing for the chaos of the online arena.	Read review
Daily Mirror	Eugene Sowah	4 / 5 stars	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is another great entry in the series that takes the best elements from its predecessors and greatly enhances them.	Read review
Destructoid	Chris Carter	9 / 10	09-07-2022	Given that Splatoon 3 shores up nearly everything already present in the series and adds a few extras like Tableturf Battle, it’s safe to say that the magic of the series is still alive.	Read review
Digital Trends	Giovanni Colantonio	4 / 5 stars	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 delivers a breed of content-rich multiplayer fun that’s refreshing to see in the age of shaky free-to-play promises.	Read review
Eurogamer	Martin Robinson	Recommended	09-07-2022	There are few surprises to be found in Splatoon 3’s multiplayer or campaign, but it is the best Nintendo’s spectacular series has been to date.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Alessandro Bruni	8.2 / 10	09-07-2022	In short, if you loved the first two Splatoons, this sequel will not struggle to win you over, and in case you have never splatted in the franchise … well, maybe it’s time to think about it.	Read review
Game Informer	Brian Shea	8.5 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, nor does it need to. Instead, it improves nearly every franchise element in sometimes small but meaningful ways. With an already-robust set of content available at launch and at least two years of free and premium content on the horizon, Splatoon 3 is simultaneously the series’ best entry to date and its most promising.	Read review
GameSpot	Steve Watts	7 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 isn’t quite as novel the third time around, but a great campaign and tons of multiplayer options make it the most robust Splatoon yet.	Read review
GamesRadar+	Hirun Cryer	4 / 5 stars	09-07-2022	There’s excellence in Splatoon 3 – it just doesn’t quite hold for the campaign.	Read review
God is a Geek	Adam Cook	9 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 isn’t the most exciting release on the calendar, but it is the best the game has been. As a standalone game it’s a rip-roaring success, and perhaps the game that fans wanted all along.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	Javier Gomez	83 / 100	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is better than Splatoon 2: the new lobbies and catalogs make for a more rewarding experiencie… but essentially, is exactly the same, as there are no new modes within the competitive or co-op play. It’s very fun but also very conservative, although it is elevated by a great single player mode, longer and similar to the Octo Expansion.	Read review
IGN	Brendan Graeber	9 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 has done a great job anticipating the needs of returning players.	Read review
Metro GameCentral	David Jenkins	8 / 10	09-07-2022	Technically this is the best Splatoon ever, but the complete lack of anything approaching a new idea is profoundly disappointing.	Read review
Nintendo Life	Alex Olney	9 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is more of the same, but refined to borderline mechanical perfection. It’s the most fun we’ve had with an online shooter in years, and for series veterans it makes Splatoon 2 feel entirely redundant for all but its unique single-player content. It feels like the development team has solved every problem the Splatoon community was bleating on about, and then fixed some more that we didn’t even realise were problems until they were fixed. There’s nothing revolutionary about it compared to its predecessors, and it’s perhaps missing a Big New Idea™ that you might expect after five years, but Splatoon 3 is the pinnacle of the series, and the pinnacle of shooters on Switch.	Read review
Polygon	Ana Diaz	Not Recommended	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 exudes polish, but lacks ambition	Read review
Post Arcade (National Post)	Chad Sapieha	8.5 / 10	09-07-2022	The latest edition of Nintendo’s popular paint shooter plays it safe, but that’s more than enough to satisfy Post Arcade Jr. Read more.	Read review
Press Start	Harry Kalogirou	8.5 / 10	09-07-2022	While more iterative than it is innovative, Splatoon 3 is without a doubt the best entry in the series yet. Despite lacking new multiplayer modes at launch, there’s a clear commitment to content and quality, with each aspect of the package being pushed to its logical extreme through smart and meaningful additions. This is the most feature-complete and tightly designed Splatoon to date, and you’d be missing out if you choose to pass it up.	Read review
Screen Rant	Cody Gravelle	4.5 / 5 stars	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is consistently flashy and fun, and absent major innovation, it still feels fresh.	Read review
SECTOR.sk	Matúš Štrba	8 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon is back with its colorful and fun action gameplay. In addition, it is now richer in content than ever before. The problem with the game is that it doesn’t bring any real new mechanics or features.	Read review
Shacknews	Ozzie Mejia	9 / 10	09-07-2022	While I wouldn’t call Splatoon 2 old and busted by any means, there’s no denying that Splatoon 3 does feel like the new hotness.	Read review
SpazioGames	Valentino Cinefra	8.5 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 confirms that this is one of the freshest and funniest franchises in Nintendo’s portfolio.	Read review
Stevivor	Jay Ball	Recommended	09-07-2022	Of what I’ve experienced so far, Splatoon 3 is really just Splatoon 2 with a fresh coat of paint. It’s fun, it’s silly and accessible, and still a great way to introduce younger gamers to online multiplayer in a relatively wholesome package. I just wish there could have been more meaningful content in this latest entry.	Read review
The Games Machine	Daniele Cucchiarelli	9.1 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is a rock solid and greatly entertaining “more of the same” that lives up to expectations and spice up the multiplayer formula with an original and engaging single-player slice.	Read review
Twinfinite	Rebecca Stone	4 / 5 stars	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is the same reliable fun the franchise has always been, and it has the much-needed improvements that fans clamored for, but players should just be aware of how much new content there actually is before committing to purchasing.	Read review
VG247	Alex Donaldson	Recommended	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 feels quite samey, but a high level of polish and the series’ best single-player offering to date elevate this sequel.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	8.9 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 is a fitting sequel to an awesome series that’ll have you happily spray your ink all over the place. It may not do anything particularly revolutionary but does it really have to? No… but it would be cool if it did, right?	Read review
Washington Post	Jonathan Elker	Recommended	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 doesn’t drastically change the formula because it really doesn’t need to. Its modes are varied and offer truly different experiences that would shine on their own. If you’re a newcomer looking to break into the series, you may be a little lost at first, but stick with it. It’s an inky mess well worth your time.	Read review
Wccftech	Nathan Birch	7.5 / 10	09-07-2022	Splatoon 3 may be the series’ best entry yet, featuring some nice gameplay tweaks and new weaponry, an expanded and polished story mode, and more launch content than its predecessors. That said, it’s very much an evolutionary sequel, every bit as iterative as many of the shooter franchises it’s meant to be an alternative to. After a five-year absence, that may not be enough for some. Splatoon 3 is still fun and funky, but Nintendo’s squid shooter series can’t get by on freshness alone forever.	Read review
WellPlayed	Kieron Verbrugge	Recommended	09-07-2022	If you’re in it purely for the single player content, you’ll find a lot to love in Splatoon 3.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

Enter the Splatlands, a sun-scorched desert inhabited by battle-hardened Inklings and Octolings. Splatsville, the city of chaos, is the adrenaline-fueled heart of this dusty wasteland. Even in this desolate environment, Turf War reigns supreme and battles rage in new stages located in the surrounding wilds. Dynamic new moves help these fighters dodge attacks and cover more ground, along with a new bow-shaped weapon to sling ink.

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Splatoon 3

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Where to Play

Rate and Review

Awards & Recognition

Critic Reviews for Splatoon 3

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

30

Silver

Ranges

Full Review

Full Review

Full Review

Game Info

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