Metroid: Other M Review

Yes. YES. Ever since I played Metroid Prime for the Nintendo Gamecube, I have held dear this strange and unique series. The universe of Metroid centers around a female bounty hunter named Samus Aran who is in possession of a unique combat suit designed by the now extinct alien species who took her in when she was orphaned by Space Pirates as a child. Throughout the series, Samus has frequently clashed with the Space Pirates and a lifeform named Metroid. Metroids are essentially tough sacks of nerve bundles and fangs which have the unexplainable ability to directly drain the life essence from any creature it encounters. As a result of their natural resilience and their ability to kill anything organic, Metroids are a choice bioweapon used by the Space Pirates. In the most chronologically recent installment, Super Metroid for the SNES, Samus has just annihilated the Space Pirate hideout while the last of the Metroids, a baby that had grown attached to her after seeing her as its mother, had died. Some time after the death of the baby Metroid, Samus is traveling through a portion of space recalling memories from the past when she picks up a distress beacon originating from a nearby spacecraft. To nobody’s surprise, the station is seemingly abandoned, left only to the care of monsters and an evil presence that now lurks its halls.

"Danger, Will Robinson!"

After running into a Galactic Federation team trying to blast their way into the ship, Samus agrees to coordinate with them to aid a past superior, Adam Malkovich, in a classified mission. At first, Samus is restricted from using any of the powerful upgrades she’s picked up in past Metroid titles for fear of extensive or unnecessary damage to the space station, but as time passes and the danger of the station becomes apparent, Adam authorizes various weapons for use, allowing Samus to proceed further through the game.

While the upgrading system, room exploration, item hunting, and bosses remain as characteristic as they were in past Metroid games, gamers control Samus Aran in a 3-D environment in Other M, switching between first person shooting and third person exploration/combat. Players hold the Wiimote sideways, shooting with the 1 button and jumping with the 2 button. As an enemy approaches Samus, or as she is running past one, she will automatically lock onto the nearest threat. If heavy firepower is needed, Samus can stay stationary and enter first person mode by pointing the Wiimote at the television screen. This allows Samus to lock onto enemies manually and fire missiles, or to scan certain objects for their susceptibility to missile blasts, power bombs, the speed booster, etc.

"Don't worry, it's weak to missiles!"

In addition to the basic combat system of the game, there are three things that Team Ninja has incorporated into the Metroid formula to make it more high-paced. The first is Sensemove, which is Samus’ ability to dodge enemy attacks by pressing a direction away from the path of the attack. In addition to dodging the attack, if the 1 button is held down while Sensemoving, Samus’ arm cannon will be instantly charged, allowing for a devastating counterattack. In Other M, Samus is able to mount certain enemies and either cripple them or unload a massive charge shot into the back of their head. This can deftly defeat powerful monsters and open pathways to injure some bosses. In addition to the critical hits Samus can score by jumping on some enemies, if an enemy is exhausted or critically wounded in some manner, Samus can blitz it, pin it to the ground and perform a finishing move.

"This hand of mine glows with an awesome power! Its burning grip tells me to defeat you! Take this, my love, my anger, and all of my sorrow! SHINING FINGER!"

The combination of third person action in Other M gives it the quick-paced feel from older 2-D games while successfully and smoothly transitioning the series to a non-FPS 3-D perspective.

Though the gameplay was great, long-time fans of the Metroid series may be potentially disappointed with the way in which Samus is portrayed. It is true that Samus’ character was detailed more thoroughly in this game than in any other Metroid game, but there was somewhat of a disparity between the Samus Aran fighting the battles and the Samus Aran shown in cutscenes. During gameplay sequences, Samus is a seasoned and talented survivalist who knows what it takes to quickly get the job done; wasting little time in overcoming the horrific creatures in the vastness of outer space, there is no challenge too great for the Hunter. During cutscenes where Samus’ face is clearly seen though, the pace of the game slows, and Samus frequently reminisces about days past or goes on for long periods about her simple signs of teenage rebellion and what they mean to her; she appears compassionate and fragile compared to the diehard hero she’s been built up to be. At other times, Samus is seemingly emotionally dependent upon others or overly anxious when her actions in the past would indicate that she should be easily able to put aside the memories of past tragedies and feelings toward others. However, I personally believe that the character exposed through Other M is a deep narrative about Samus’ growth as an individual and an intriguing look into the mind of a hero I’ve known for years. The story in Other M delves into her life, and shows her as she is, not as a faceless warrior in the field.

If you would like to read more about the psychology of Samus based off of Other M: (WARNING: A couple of spoilers listed) http://kokugamer.com/2010/09/15/the-psychology-of-samus-and-the-roles-of-adam-and-ridley/

In terms of overall experience, I enjoyed Metroid: Other M despite how short it was. The narration and music are good, but unfortunately not the most original in the Metroid series. Despite where Nintendo goes with Samus, the game’s plot isn’t too new content-wise, which brings down the impact that the narration might have otherwise had. Therefore, music and narration are both a 3.5. The gameplay would be a 4. The action is smoothly fine-tuned and relatively easy, though entertaining and fresh. On the other hand, the extent of gameplay presented is somewhat limited for a coveted franchise title especially when many games offer dozens of gameplay hours now. In addition, there is little replay value aside from Hard Mode. The graphics of Other M were great for the Wii, which is considered to have the worst graphic capabilities of the three mainstream gaming consoles. Monster designs and environments screamed of the quality you’d expect from a current-gen Metroid game; and AI, water ripples, reflections, Samus’ flowing moves, enemy dodges, anything identifiable in the game was beautifully natural and polished, so I give graphics a 4.5. The atmosphere of the game was quite good as well, because aside from the usual manipulation of dim lights and music, Team Ninja decided to make use of Metroid’s natural tension potential at certain parts of the game. When Samus is ordered to investigate an abandoned facility, for example, the camera shifts to her side as she slowly walks down halls scarred with claw marks and discarded defense droids. Every dripping valve, every flicker of light is accentuated as a growing sense of danger oozes from the ajar door at the end of the corner. For times like this and the work that was put into every room of the game, I give atmosphere a 4.5. Overall, I believe that Metroid: Other M deserves a 4.0. While not the most intense game out in the market and not Nintendo-hard as one might hope from the scion of Team Ninja, the game is a fun rental and definitely a game Metroid fans will want to explore.

Pros:

--New, smooth gameplay system reminiscient of old 2-D platformers while taking an effective first person mode from the Prime series.

--Game is quick-paced and somewhat challenging without being frustrating or jarry.

--Some item locations are revealed on the mini-map once the room is cleared, so item-hunting isn’t strenuous or irritating to log.

--Very little backtracking means no confusion in where to go, unlike in Metroid Prime.

--The story fleshes out characters better than any other Metroid game thus far, giving personality to the armored heroine.

--If 100% of the items are gathered before fully completing the game, instead of getting a picture of a half-exposed Samus, gamers are rewarded with a Hard Mode where no collectable upgrades in the game are available.

Cons:

--There is an occasional forced scanning where Samus is alerted to something and in order to proceed further in the game, the player must locate the object in question and lock onto it, which only registers a second or two after hovering the cursor on the object.

--The transitioning between first person and third person for missile shooting can be a little awkward for players until they pick up on when they have enough time to transition.

--Very short game, only a few hours long.

--One last thing that would annoy players is that some gameplay hints are not given when they would be quite welcome. For example, the major downside of the first person mode is that Samus is immobile, but if the Wiimote is wiggled, Samus can Sensemove away.