One of the biggest breakout stars of new Nintendo IPS, Splatoon, has made a name for itself in a sea of modern first person shooters. Since the release of the first game on the Wii U, Splatoon’s unique combat and game modes have made it one of Nintendo’s biggest sellers. With it being the third game in the series in 10 years, can Splatoon 3 stand out, or will it follow its contemporaries with little difference between games?

Splatoon 3 has three main modes. Online multiplayer is a four versus four shooter where players play a variety of different modes such as Turf War, Rainmaker, Splat Zones, Clam Blitz and Tower Control. Each of these five game modes are a blast to play through and all play very differently from each other. With the maps and modes being in an hourly rotation, it makes that game feel fresh and excited for the next rotation.

While all of these modes are fun, Splatoon 3 could have used a new mode to spice things up even further. Single Player is what you would expect from a campaign. The levels are short and fun and the game spices it up with different weapons and objectives. The challenge was certainly there as I even struggled on some levels. I was personally shocked by how many levels there were in this mode which makes it worth its $60 price tag. The third and final main mode, Salmon Run, is your run of the mill zombies mode with a twist. Splatoon 3 made this mode available all of the time unlike how it was in Splatoon 2, being in a rotation. That alone is a good change, but Salmon Run is a mode not for the faint of heart.

On the later difficulties, Salmon Run becomes a horror game as you are swarmed with salmon and the various bosses that try to stop you from making your curfew. All three of these modes were great in Splatoon 2 and they are great here.

As for the new additions, Splatoon 3 offers two new weapon classes that spice up the game play with their unique attributes. Striggers and Splatanas are both a blast to play in all of the modes. Splatoon 3 features a pretty in depth card game. Even though I have not gone into this mode too in-depth, from my short experience, it seemed to be a fun and simple card game where you take away spaces from your opponent’s board. Unfortunately, these are the major new additions to Splatoon 3. While the core game is fun, Splatoon 3 does not really introduce that much new content to its gameplay and modes. Usually this would be a major problem, but Splatoon 3’s base game is so well put together it makes you forget the lack of new content.

This is also only week 2 of the game and there are surely more modes, weapons, and maps to come. I absolutely recommend Splatoon 3 and I look forward to what it brings in the future.