Splatoon (for Nintendo Wii U) Review

Turf War is Splatoon's core multiplayer game mode, and it's a unique take on control point-based territory game modes in other shooters. Your objective is to cover as much of the map as possible with your team's paint color.

Kill/death ratios don't mean anything against how much territory is your color, which is measured in points at the end of each round to show how good each player was.

Roles are determined by weapons, which include the melee-only paint roller (which is fantastic for painting territory but leaves you vulnerable to anyone with a ranged weapon) and the sniper rifle-like charger (which can take out enemies in one shot when fully charged, but paints very little).

You can activate powerful special weapons once you charge a meter by painting objects.

Splatoon also offers a surprisingly lengthy single-player campaign. The zapfish that power Inkopolis have been stolen by evil octopuses, and you're sent by Captain Cuttlefish to retrieve them.

Splatoon offers very specific and relatively deep support for Amiibos, Nintendo's NFC-equipped figures. The game only works with official Splatoon Amiibos, of which there are only three (Boy Inkling, Girl Inkling, and Squid).