"Splatoon Raiders" reviewed: magnificent shooter with yesterday's graphics
21/7/2026
Translation: machine translated
"Splatoon Raiders" proves once again how perfectly motion control and shooters go together. Unfortunately, the addictive shooter gameplay is stuck in a shockingly bleak visual shell.
After three excellent multiplayer spin-offs, Nintendo's family-friendly shooter series "Splatoon" is getting a single-player spin-off. The ingenious core gameplay remains in "Splatoon Raiders." Here, you don't shoot with bullets, but with colorful ink – and you don't aim with analog sticks, but with ultra-precise motion controls.
Unfortunately, the monotonous level design and bland visuals spoil the fun of the chaotic shooter. "Splatoon Raiders" looks like an upscaled Switch 1 game and feels outdated compared to other titles on the Switch 2.
What is "Splatoon Raiders" about?
In "Splatoon Raiders," I crash aboard a helicopter near a mysterious archipelago full of treasures. My mission: to collect as much valuable loot as possible on raids.
Easier said than done, because the treasures are guarded by so-called Salmonids. These are incredibly stupid, fish-like creatures that uncompromisingly attack anything that approaches their treasure chests.
Old "Splatoon" veterans know these creatures from "Salmon Run." In this co-op mode from "Splatoon 2" and "Splatoon 3," I fend off wave after wave of Salmonids with other players.
To destroy the Salmonids, I have various weapon types at my disposal. Instead of conventional guns, in the world of "Splatoon," I use weapons that shoot ink – including paint buckets, brushes, and umbrellas. Yes, you read that right. Umbrellas.
As in the main "Splatoon" games, my character can dive into ink splatters and swim around to regenerate health and ink ammo. A unique gameplay principle that sets "Splatoon" apart from other shooters.
Also unique: motion controls for aiming (gyro-aiming). I only use the right analog stick for rough camera movements left or right. For precise aiming, I align the crosshairs with enemies using small movements of the controller.
What sounds cumbersome in theory feels intuitive and "right" after a short adjustment period. It's absolutely incomprehensible that gyro-aiming, as the best alternative to mouse control on PC, has not yet become an industry-wide standard in the console sector.
Loot and Level Up
On my treasure hunt, I traverse linear areas, open areas, and dungeons with escalating difficulty levels.
In all level types, countless Salmonids are waiting to be shot down. The goal always remains the same: collect resources, weapons, and XP so that I can become stronger and collect even more resources, weapons, and XP on the next run.
Or, to put it in the words of this legendary "Game One" contribution:
"Loot and level up."
"Splatoon Raiders" gives me a lot of freedom in designing my character. I choose one weapon, two gimmicks, up to five active and passive bonuses, and a special attack, gradually assembling my optimal Salmonid-killing machine.
The game motivates me to experiment with different playstyles. For example, there are three ink tanks that dictate which items I can equip. I constantly switch between the tanks and try different approaches. Some levels even reward me for completing them with different tanks, and in "Trial Dungeons," I test items I haven't unlocked yet. Great!
With the "Speed Tank," I'm agile. I attack enemies from a distance with sniper rifles and jump across the battlefield like a young god with gimmicks like the "Explosive Jumpers." My equipped bonuses make me run even faster and swim faster through ink.
The "Power Tank" turns me into a melee machine. I equip brutal weapons with a small radius of effect (brushes, buckets, etc.) and plunge into the fray. The "Splatellite" gimmick makes deadly ink satellites orbit around me, and my bonuses ensure that I inflict even more damage at close range.
Perhaps the most exciting and flexible is the "Trick Tank," with which I equip particularly nasty gimmicks. For example, I set up "Pot Posts" on the battlefield – self-firing turrets that automatically shoot down anything that moves.
My equipment options are rounded off with a robot that autonomously participates in combat. At the push of a button, I strategically position the tin can on the battlefield – as a temporary shield or as a launch ramp to shoot down flying enemies.
I further develop and customize weapons, gimmicks, and bonuses with found resources. It's fun to unlock new options and test what unexpected synergies different equipment combinations create.
I quickly get into an addictive pull created by the "loot and level up" gameplay principle. Just one more raid to collect enough resources so I can modify a gimmick. Just one more raid so I can level up and unlock more slots for bonuses. Just one more raid.
Eventually, enough is enough
Unfortunately, my steadily growing addiction is slowed down in the later game by the monotonous level design and a lot of repetition.
The game areas merely serve as empty stages for increasingly chaotic mass battles. Secrets, puzzles, or other distractions that bring variety to the gameplay? None. In retrospect, I couldn't name a single level and say what exciting things I experienced there. Always the same principle.
From one Salmonid arena to the next, from one treasure to the next. In between: nothing of significance.
The monotony in the level design is reinforced by the increasingly tedious resource and level grind. Especially in the second half of the game, I have to replay already completed levels on a higher difficulty to collect resources for the desired equipment. Not voluntarily – but because I absolutely need better equipment to master particularly difficult levels and end bosses.
The initially so addictive "loot and level up" thus degenerates into tiresome drudgery with never-ending Salmonid hordes in boring game environments. It's a shame that Nintendo didn't add some additional twists to the simple "Salmon Run" gameplay principle. In its current form, "Splatoon Raiders" therefore feels more like an extensive DLC for "Splatoon 3" than a standalone spin-off.
The online multiplayer mode doesn't change much about this fundamental problem either. While it's fun to go treasure hunting with up to three other players, repetition and grind are part of the daily Raider routine, even with four people.
If you can't gather friends for the game, you can also randomly connect with strangers. With one annoying restriction: after a multiplayer session, you have to wait 30 minutes before you can start a new one.
A Switch 2 game shouldn't look like this
Visually, "Splatoon Raiders" is a bitter disappointment. With "Star Fox," Nintendo finally showed what power the Switch 2 holds. "Splatoon Raiders," on the other hand, is reminiscent of the Switch 1 era. Jagged character models, low-detail environments, muddy textures, and aliasing – this is unworthy of a Switch 2.
The bland art design of the game world reinforces the already dreary overall impression. Especially the open areas, with their washed-out colors and elements carelessly placed using the copy-and-paste principle, are reminiscent of the catastrophic open world from "Pokémon Scarlet & Violet." In addition, there are distant enemies whose animations obviously run at half framerate.
At least: as soon as the action starts and I'm overrun by Salmonid hordes, "Splatoon Raiders" looks reasonably decent.
Dozens of enemies attack, I shoot back with weapons and gimmicks. Explosions, particle effects, chaos – always with buttery smooth 60 FPS.
I'd bet my left Joy-Con that "Splatoon Raiders" was originally planned as a Switch 1 project and was only later ported as an exclusive title for Nintendo's next-gen handheld. Everything I experienced in the game would have been possible on the Switch 1 – at a lower resolution and lower framerate.
Come on, Nintendo. The launch of the Switch 2 was over a year ago. Time to definitely say goodbye to the last generation and deliver us more treats on the "Star Fox" level.
"Splatoon Raiders" will be released on July 23 for the Switch 2. The game was provided to me by Nintendo for testing purposes.
In a nutshell
A chaotic shooter with lacklustre graphics and a frustrating progression system
‘Splatoon Raiders’ is a compelling looter-shooter, but it does have a few obvious weaknesses. The core gameplay is brilliant: squirting ink, swimming through it and taking out enemies with gyro aiming is a right lot of fun. The selection of weapons, gimmicks, bonuses and mods encourages experimentation and fuels the addictive ‘looting and levelling’ gameplay.
Unfortunately, the monotonous level design, combined with a progressively tedious and grind-heavy progression system, significantly dampens the game’s addictive potential. Equally frustrating are the dreary visuals, which look anything but up-to-date compared to other Switch 2 titles.
‘Splatoon’ fans can go for it – everyone else would be better off picking up the latest main game, ‘Splatoon 3’, and blasting away at the salmonids there.
Pro
- The core gameplay (shooting ink, swimming, movement controls) is absolutely brilliant
- A great selection of weapons, gimmicks and mods
- ‘Looting and levelling up’ is just as much fun in ‘Splatoon Raiders’
Contra
- Monotonous level design with a progression system that becomes increasingly tedious
- Outdated graphics on a Switch 1 level
Header image: Nintendo
Domagoj Belancic
Senior Editor
Domagoj.Belancic@digitecgalaxus.chMy love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
Review
Which films, shows, books, games or board games are genuinely great? Recommendations from our personal experience.
Show allThese articles might also interest you
7 comments
later