Nintendo’s Splatoon (sort of) comes to PC – Get your squid on in Splat Fortress mod

06:09 cherishe 0 Comments

Nintendo’s Splatoon, a new IP for Wii U, was released in May to wide critical and user acclaim. Apparently the combo of squid and kid is a winner; who’d have thought it?

However, while the title being exclusive to the Wii U has been helping to boost hardware sales for Nintendo, PC gamers who are unwilling or unable to shell out for a new console have been left out of the loop. But for those desperate for some inky multiplayer action, there’s a free option coming to PC soon: Splat Fortress.

No, Nintendo hasn’t suddenly been taken over by PC master race aliens; you still need their Wii U console if you want to play the real Splatoon. However, intrepid modders are working to bring a version of Splatoon to the PC as a mod of Valve’s popular multiplayer FPS Team Fortress 2.

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In Splat Fortress, they aim to recreate the team-based multiplayer, and yes, you can still be a squid and a (sort of) kid now.

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The current gameplay mode recreates Turf War battles where, like in the real Splatoon, the aim is for your team to ink as much of the map as possible.

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Although it can’t quite create the shiny, vibrant, liquid-y characteristics of the ink in the original, it’s still a fantastic and seemingly well-done idea. However, if it receives too much attention it could encounter some issues.

Their disclaimer states:

“Any and all Splatoon assets or that which resemble said assets used in this mod/video are © Nintendo and is used without permission.”

Knowing how tetchy Nintendo can be about their intellectual property, I’m not sure acknowledging that you’re taking their assets without permission is going to make them any more lenient. After all some assets, such as the image of Judd below, have been lifted straight from the original game rather than simply recreated, which is a surefire way to get on the company’s bad side.

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However, in the spirit of modding, it will be freely available, making it far less likely to run into legal troubles. It also means that anyone will be able to play it as the base game, Team Fortress 2, is also free to play.

The devs also have the following message to anyone interested in their mod:

“Of course, this is an early alpha version of the mode. Many things are planned. We’re differentiating it enough from the source material to warrant people wanting to play the gamemode. If you have suggestions, let me know!”

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▼ Check out the gameplay reveal video for Splat Fortress below.

It remains to be seen whether Nintendo will take offense to this PC-based homage, but for the time being it looks set to be a fun addition to the already expansive range of mods available for TF2. I just hope they add that song as a soundtrack…

▼ You’re a kid now, you’re a squid now, you’re a kid, you’re a squid, you’re a…