Splatoon Raiders Switch 2 preview – ink-redibly familiar

GameCentral goes hands-on with Splatoon’s first spin-off, Splatoon Raiders, but is it really the Switch 2 debut the franchise needs?

It has been four years since the launch of Splatoon 3, so we would’ve put good money on Splatoon 4 being one of the first games announced for the Switch 2, especially since content updates for Splatoon 3 wrapped up in 2024.

Alongside Animal Crossing, Splatoon is one of the closest things Nintendo has to a live service game and when combined with its popularity (particularly in Japan), having Splatoon 4 launch early into the Switch 2’s lifecycle, and then supporting it for years afterwards, seems an obvious way to go.

In keeping with Nintendo’s odd handling of the Switch 2, the company has instead opted to make Splatoon’s Switch 2 debut a single-player spin-off dubbed Splatoon Raiders.

During a recent preview session with the game, Nintendo reps explained to us the logic behind Splatoon Raiders’ conception; namely to appeal to people who enjoy Splatoon’s world, characters, and/or general vibes but, for whatever reason, don’t gel with the multiplayer aspects.

Every Splatoon game has had single-player campaigns, but they were never particularly good, since Splatoon is primarily about the competitive multiplayer.

Trying to change that makes plenty of sense but it feels like the sort of thing that you’d see during the tail end of a console’s lifecycle, not in its second year. Considering its graphics don’t appear to be any sort of improvement over Splatoon 3, it wouldn’t be surprising if, like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, Splatoon Raiders began life as a Switch 1 title.

If we were feeling especially conspiratorial, we’d say Splatoon Raiders may have started life as another DLC expansion for Splatoon 3, especially since that game’s idol trio Deep Cut are the focus, alongside your own customisable character.

The premise sees you and Deep Cut stranded on the Spirhalite Islands, while in search of treasure. Structurally, Splatoon Raiders is very similar to the series’ usual single-player modes, as you trawl through levels to reach an end goal while fending off enemies. In this case, it’s the salmonids from the excellent co-op Salmon Run mode.

Mechanically, Raiders controls identically to past games, so it’s still a lot of fun to ink the environments, swim through said ink to circumvent enemies, and then leap out as you shoot at them.

That all works great in multiplayer but despite only experiencing a slice of what Raiders has to offer, we’re concerned we’ve already seen the extent of it.

Levels offer some slight deviations to find hidden treasure, but they’re still very linear. The game does mix things up with enemy gauntlets – where you need to kill a certain amount of salmonids before time runs out – and challenge rooms where you’re given a specific loadout, which is a neat way of forcing you to experiment with different equipment.

We didn’t spot any wholly new weapons to play with, although sub-weapons have been replaced by gadgets not seen in the series before, such as a boomerang that can leave a trail of ink along the ground and a turret that automatically shoots nearby targets.

With some exceptions, you’re always accompanied by a member of Deep Cut, who pilots a small mech. There’s sadly no option for a friend to play as them, but they assist in combat, with each member having a unique special attack, and, as far as we can tell, they are functionally immortal and can only be knocked about.

You can also use them as a glorified springboard to reach high platforms or airborne enemies, and they can be summoned to your location, dealing damage as they satisfyingly crash into any unfortunate salmonids nearby.

Although Nintendo never described it as such, Raiders does give off extraction shooter vibes (it even shares half its name with Arc Raiders) since you’re constantly gathering resources to take back to base alongside the treasures you hoard, but it has some roguelike DNA as well, since you always fill up an experience bar and keep some resources even if you fail a level.

It’s a welcome way of not punishing the player too harshly for entering a level with suboptimal kit, which you will need to constantly adjust since you’ll regularly acquire new, stronger weapons that, in turn, can be modified with different buffs. We stubbornly spent most of our time with a sniper rifle and it became very apparent that it was not well suited to certain levels.

To Raiders’ credit, it looks like there’ll be a lot of customisation options in terms of weapon variety and gadgets, plus a surplus of optional costumes to wear. You can also upgrade your base to add features like training dummies to safely practice weapons and gadgets, and Nintendo has promised there’ll be new lore to uncover for long-time fans.

The game can be pretty tough too, even on the standard difficulty. The normal levels we had little problem with, but we didn’t clear a single enemy gauntlet, even when playing in co-op with three other players. Although so far it seems Raiders’ idea of making things challenging is to just overwhelm you with swarms of enemies.

Splatoon Raiders looks to be perfectly fine, and we take no issue with its concept as a single-player focused entry in the series. We’re just not sure now is the right time for it.

Splatoon 3 was already woefully lacking in new ideas and unless Nintendo’s hiding anything (there is a Splatoon Raiders showcase airing as this preview goes live), Raiders looks to be just as safe and conservative.

Spin-offs can often be a good place to experiment with riskier ideas or break away from an established formula. Raiders seems uninterested in either, which on one hand makes sense (don’t fix what isn’t broken) but it’s still disappointing to see Splatoon, which was so new and exciting when it debuted in 2015, become so rigid and unambitious.

Ideally, Raiders is but a stopgap while Nintendo works on a more ambitious Splatoon 4, although the last Nintendo Direct made no mention of one for 2027, so who knows how much further off that’ll be.

Formats: Nintendo Switch 2
Price: £41.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Release Date: 23rd July 2026
Age Rating: 7

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Comments


Add as preferred source