Splatoon Raiders Review Calls £41.99 Shooter Pedestrian as Nintendo's First Spinoff Leans on Co-op
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 21
Splatoon Raiders Review Calls £41.99 Shooter Pedestrian as Nintendo's First Spinoff Leans on Co-op
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 21
Summary
Splatoon Raiders lands on 23 July as a £41.99 release, but this review says the series’ first spinoff strips away much of Splatoon’s personality and feels overly conventional.
Up to 4-player co-op is where the game works best: its ship-based upgrades, repeatable bite-sized missions and team-focused level design make solo play feel like a lesser version of the experience.
Weapons and augmentable gadgets eventually deepen the combat, with stronger kit-building and rising challenge helping the game come alive after a slow start.
That payoff is delayed by a thin story about Deep Cut on a mysterious archipelago and by heavy reliance on replaying missions, leaving the game closer to a generic co-op action grinder than a distinctive Splatoon entry.
The verdict clashes with an earlier positive review that praised the PvE loop and customization, underscoring how divisive Nintendo’s attempt to broaden Splatoon beyond its multiplayer roots may be.