It seems like the gamble that Nintendo has taken with Splatoon has paid off, as the game has largely been receiving solid reviews for its unique take on the third-person shooter genre. While our own review of Splatoon pointed out the fact that (while loads of fun) the game lacked content, the Big N has already begun to flush out the wholly original multiplayer title with additional DLC.
Following a brief Nintendo Direct where the content was announced, the first batch of add-ons is set to arrive in the form of a brand new multiplayer mode, map, and a weapon. Best of all, they're all free.
The aforementioned Direct presentation was hosted by Bill Trinen, the Senior Product Marketing Manager of Nintendo of America, and it marked several announcements for the company prior to its big E3 2015 showcase. Touching on the likes of the new Chibi Robo title and its corresponding amiibo, Trinen quickly jumped into the new additions to Splatoon that are arriving today – depending on which time zone you find yourself in.
The first bit of news was that enough players had reached the minimum to open up access to Ranked Battles. This will allow users to take each other on on a different pair of maps, and turn up the level of competition in the process – as players must reach level 10 to even attempt to jump in on this playlist.
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Furthermore, a brand new map will be made available to access in the form of the newly revealed Port Mackerel. This map takes place amongst a bevy of shipping containers, which should make for a nice change of pace from the existing battlegrounds. That said, it'll be cool to see how the jagged and vertical qualities of the area impact play.
Finally, the Big N revealed a weapon being added to the game, and it'll strike a nostalgic chord for longtime fans of the company. Modelled after the infamous NES Zapper gun, the appropriately named N-Zap '85 will soon be available for use within Splatoon. It's not overly powerful, but the rapid-fire technique of the old school weapon allows it to charge up the Inkling's Sonar ability in no time at all.
The content is set to go live at 7pm Pacific / 10pm Eastern time, so players still have some time to level their characters up before the new mode arrives. Of course, there will be even more content diving into Splatoon in the forthcoming months, so stay tuned to Game Rant for more updates on the game's future DLC.
What do you think of Splatoon so far? Are you excited for this new content? Get at us in the comments.