With the full version of Splatoon in hand, I dove right into the single-player campaign. This campaign, named Octo Valley, sees your Inkling battling against the evil forces of the Octarians. This army of octopi snatched all of the Zapfish they could find in the area. Without them, the people of Inkopolis may be forced to live in the dark as the Zapfish bring electricity to the world.

The first few levels are relatively basic. If you played the Global Testfire demo over the weekend, some elements will seem familiar to you. You have to shoot ink in your humanoid form and then switch to your squid form to move quickly through the level. The campaign differs in what you need to accomplish and it does it in a smart manner. Instead of fighting other player characters, you have to outwit various octopi troops. The levels themselves are all made up of small islands that you hop between using launch pads that feel reminscent of Super Mario Galaxy.

Each level looks wonderful as well, and the majority of them have a unique setup, challenging your current skills and introducing new elements exclusive to the mode. The level ''Floating Sponge Garden'' is a perfect example of this. While it has the platforming and enemies to fight similar to the other levels, the highlight are the sponges. Shooting ink at those lets them grow to gigantic proportions, which let you to traverse the stage in brand new ways. Another cool mechanic is the Propeller. When ink is shot at it, the device moves in different directions. You can raise it far above your enemies and inflict an immediate attack from above if your timing is right.

Timing is another strong element in the single-player levels and Octo Valley tries to keep you on your toes. This is directly clear in the first two levels of the third world, which starts to pull devilish tricks. In the level “Inkraill Skyscape,” you hop on various rails in your squid form and perform timed jumps to land on higher platform. “Inkvisible Avenues” raises the antics even further as platforms are almost impossible to see without ink guiding the way . This creates heartpumping scenes, considering you don't know how much room to move around. One fatal mistake and you will be sent back to your last checkpoint.

Your Inkling can only withstand three splats before you get booted to the overworld, which makes hitting the checkpoints oh so important. You are going to need them too, because there are levels that are simply brutal. The Octoling encounters are already harsh, but the true test are the bomb drop levels. An enemy from above will constantly drop ink tornados around you in an attempt to destroy you. Another stage in which destruction was constantly close was “Flooder Junkyard,” where gigantic robots try to spray the field completely in their color. Once they spot you, you better have a space to hide because they are truly merciless to the player.

The boss encounters require you to be merciless, though. The first boss, called Octostomp, is this gigantic cube that tries to squash you as soon as he sees you. By climbing up the sides of his body, you can start an assault on the tentacle that pops out and free the Zapfish inside. Another boss was the Octowhirl, which will fly straight towards you. By trapping him in a huge pile of ink, you can nail him down and once again hit the octopus tentacle three times. The way you work towards that hidden tentacle is always intriguing, even though it does follow the same boss format that Nintendo is known for.

As far as the look of the single-player world is concerned, it is simply brilliant. Every new stage has brand new scenery and each one is more interesting than the last. One level has you scaling skyscrapers while another is in a galaxy-like setting rife with moving platforms. Whatever the setting might be, the game looks beautiful and it is an absolute joy to behold. The soundtrack is all sorts of nuts, but sadly, there are only a limited amount of songs. That is quite a bummer as I kept hearing certain songs just over and over. With a bit more variety, it would have been incredible.

The snippets of the single-player campaign that I played left me wanting for more. The various levels are well represented and offer you something fresh consistently. While there are concerns when it comes to the longevity of it, there wasn't a dull moment in the first three chapters. The action is constant, the resistance can be heavy and the gameplay just runs so smooth. The musical variety might be light, but if that’s all I have to complain about, the single-player campaign must be something special.