Splatoon Raiders review summary

Splatoon will go on a new tangent later this week when Splatoon Raiders launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2. A single-player experience in contrast to Splatoon's typical multiplayer madness, but review scores suggest this new entry is almost as good as the trilogy that came before it.

Splatoon Raiders Review score is almost consistent with the main line

The review score for Splatoon Raiders is two days before launch, and right now the next Nintendo game has an 80 on OpenCritic and an ever-so-impressive 81 on Metacritic. Impressive score, and probably what most Splatoon fans and Switch 2 owners expected.

That's because Splatoon has some of the most consistent reviews out there. The first Splatoon got an 81, its sequel an 83, and then another 83 for Splatoon 3. Like I said, consistent and Raiders review scores are right up there in the same ink-covered ballpark.

What reviewers are saying about Splatoon Raiders

Giant Bomb's Mike Minotti awarded Splatoon Raiders a 3.5/5, highlighting the impressive amount of post-game content, but the lack of desire to dive back in and play it. “Splatoon Raiders made it clear that there's still a good amount of post-game content to check out. I just don't feel like playing anymore,” Minotti writes in his review.

Nintendo Life has a significantly higher opinion of the first Splatoon spinoff. “Splatoon Raiders may lack the series' iconic Turf War, but what we have here is possibly the most varied and exciting gameplay the series has ever offered,” writes Alex Olney, giving Raiders a stellar 9/10. IGN agrees, giving Raiders the same score, while The Guardian was completely unimpressed with what the new Nintendo game has to offer, giving it just two stars out of a possible five.

While not everyone who reviewed Raiders seems to agree that a single-player adventure is the right way for the series to go, its score in line with the main series will be the first green flag Nintendo needs to make Raiders a regular series that runs alongside the main Splatoon games. The other, arguably more important, piece of the puzzle that must fall into place is sales. Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 both comfortably passed ten million sold. Since Raiders is a spinoff, it might not be expected to perform at quite that level, but I'm guessing Nintendo will want this game to sell five million, at least, if there's any chance we'll get a Splatoon Raiders 2.