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

Splatoon Raiders Review Scores Almost Measure Up To The Mainline Entries

The review scores for Splatoon Raiders are in two days ahead of its release, and right now the next Nintendo game has an 80 on OpenCritic, and an ever so slightly more impressive 81 on Metacritic. Impressive scores, and probably what most Splatoon fans and Switch 2 owners were expecting.

That’s because Splatoon has some of the most consistent review scores out there. The first Splatoon scored an 81, its sequel an 83, and then another 83 for Splatoon 3. Like I said, consistent, and Raiders' review scores are right there in that very 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 a lack of desire to dive back in and play it. “Splatoon Raiders made it clear that there is still a good amount of post-game content to check out. I just don’t feel much of a drive to play more,” Minotti writes in their review.

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

Even though not everyone who reviewed Raiders seems to agree that a single-player adventure is the right way for the series to go, its scores aligning 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 will need to fall into place is its sales. Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 both comfortably cleared ten million sold. Since Raiders is a spinoff, it might not be expected to perform to quite that level, but I imagine Nintendo will want this game to sell five million, at least, if there’s any chance of us getting a Splatoon Raiders 2.

Splatoon Raiders Like Follow Followed Action Adventure Systems OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Avg: 81/100 Critics Rec: 74% Released July 23, 2026 ESRB Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence Developer(s) Nintendo EPD Publisher(s) Nintendo 5 Images Close
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