This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

The Otterman Empire - a multiplayer party-shooter from TriHeart Interactive - has an official launch date. The game will be arriving on Switch, as well as Xbox and Steam, on 2 July.

There’s certainly some Splatoon influence in the gameplay, with players equipped with water-based jetpacks they have to refill by diving into bodies of water around the game’s maps. That also replenishes your ammo, much like Splatoon’s Ink.

Unlike Nintendo’s inky-shooter though, Otterman Empire offers a unique twist with each round of a match presenting different objectives for players to complete - whilst dispatching with the competition of course.

Here’s the blurb from the game’s site:

“Choose your otter, customise with a jetpack and add a weapon of spectacular power and let the chaos begin in local multiplayer blast-fests or go in 'all guns blazing' in intense single-player missions. Every two minute battle takes place on a planet of the sprawling Otterman Empire with a diverse cast of characters led by the agile sharpshooting peace-keeping Astrid, and her nemesis, the deranged scientist Tiko.
The Otterman Empire aims to bridge the gap between shooters and party games, including multiple, highly dynamic objectives, fully cutomisable otters and a sprawling galaxy of arenas.”

We got to go hands on with an early build of the game last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so we’re looking forward to diving into this one proper.

Check out the shiny new trailer below and let us know if you’ll be picking it up!

Source: YouTube