Nintendo has announced their next Nintendo Direct will broadcast on May 7 at 7 AM Pacific, 10 AM Eastern (sorry for those living on the Pacific). This ND will focus on Splatoon. They’ve also launched a Tumblr coming from the “Squid Research Lab” that will reportedly appear in the Direct.
As we explained earlier, Splatoon centers around Inklings, little behelmeted people who can shift between human and squid form when the situation calls for it. Turf War, the main online mode, will consist of four-on-four battles in areas such as Blackbelly Skatepark, Saltspray Rig and Walleye Warehouse. The main goal of each match is to cover as much of the area as possible in your team’s ink color, while preventing the opposing team from covering too much of it in theirs. While you’re doing this, you can level up your Inkling and earn coins for stat-boosting clothing.
Different clothes and accessories purchasable in the game will give your Inkling special abilities like swimming through ink quicker, or charging your ink canister faster. You can also purchase special weapons that will help you with short bursts of unfair mayhem. As your team rises in skill and piles on victories, you can unlock extra modes in the game, such as Splat Zones, which involves each player attempting domination of corners of the map. You’ll need to reach an online level of 10 to begin unlocking new modes.
Though Splatoon’s main draw will be its multiplayer functions and its online arenas, there will be a single-player mode included in the game….though its main purpose is to train you for the multiplayer mode. In single-player you can infiltrate an enemy base of octopi through running, jumping, shooting and quick reflexes. Some of the items in the game will be exclusive to single-player mode.
Splatoon will make its debut later in the year on May 29.