Splatoon Nintendo Wii U Three stars
Online gaming is dominated by shooters such as Call of Duty and Halo, but they're not exactly family-friendly.
Splatoon is Nintendo's noble attempt at creating a multiplayer shooter everyone can enjoy. Gone are the graphic headshots and flying body parts.
The main attraction is its four-versus-four paintball matches. Each player is armed with a paint gun or some other paint-spraying device. The objective isn’t to kill your opponents. Instead you and your team are trying to cover most of the arena with your colour.
Your character is a lanky human Inkling, and Nintendo lets you adjust gender, skin colour and eye colour. Each Inkling can transform into a squid that can swim under any painted surface, as long as the squid and the paint are the same colour. Switching to squid mode lets you move much more quickly, climb walls and hide from enemies.
It’s also easy to join an online battle. The matchmaking is a little rough, however. Even on launch day I found myself facing off against players who had already advanced a dozen levels ahead of my Inkling.
There is a single two-player mode but it's a mundane balloon-popping challenge. Splatoon does include a surprisingly meaty single-player adventure. Its lighthearted approach is refreshing.
artslife@thenational.ae
