Chaos makes the muse
During yesterday’sabsolutely stacked Nintendo Direct, the developer offered up only a little news on one of this year’s biggest Switch sequels,Splatoon 3. While squid kids might have been expecting a closer look at the multiplayer shooter, all we received was a rough release window and a brief preview of the revamped co-op mode, Salmon Run.
Titled “Salmon Run: Next Wave“,the clipemphasizes Inkopolis’ weirdly dystopian new look — the result ofSplatoon 2‘sfinal Splatfest eventfalling in favor of “Chaos” over “Order”. It’s admittedly a little strange to see the typically joyful world ofSplatoonlooking a tad grimmer, but at least the new title still maintains the wild color palette and neon glow that is the shooter series’ visual trademark.
The trailer sees a posse of squid kids battling against waves of mutated fish, all sporting amusinglyMad Max-esque punk style. As they fend off the undersea army, our posse of heroes finds themselves under attack from a brand new Salmonoid — The Fish Stick — a bizarre totem that peppers the land in grim goo and makes traversal trickier for our band of brothers. All of the action is backed by a weird, industrial score, further reflectingSplatoon 3‘s bordering steampunk aesthetic.
It’s a wild departure from the slick street stylings ofSplatoon 2, but then, this is all on the fans after all. When you choose chaos, you gotta roll with the punches. Frankly,Splatoonneeds a good shakeup, and if it takes an apocalypse to do so, then so be it. I don’t think Off the Hook will be holding any concerts for a while, but I do hope to see Pearl & Marina doing their best Furiosa impersonations at some point.
