Customer Reviews

Metroid: Other M

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(68)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

*Introduction*
The Metroid series is one of Nintendo's finest, and the new entry, Metroid: Other M, is finally here. After the excellent first person Metroid Prime series by Retro was concluded, it was announced that Metroid was returning to both third person view and Japanese development. Many fans were made uneasy when it was announced that Team Ninja would be heavily involved in the project, but the fact that it was being headed by Yoshio Sakamoto, who has been heavily involved with Metroid from the beginning, gave hope that the game would live up to its classic name. Sakamoto promised that this game would flesh out Samus's character as the most story heavy Metroid yet, but has this decision ultimately backfired?

*Story*
The story is the most controversial aspect of this game. Rather than opt for the minimalist approach of the other titles in the series, Metroid: Other M inserts a full blown Final Fantasy XIII style cinematic experience. The story begins with a recap of the events that took place in Super Metroid's final moments and leads into Samus receiving a distress signal from a space station called "the bottle ship." She arrives to find out that the Galactic Federation has already sent a squad of soldiers, led by her old commanding officer Adam Malkovich. She ultimately joins up with them and politely agrees to follow Adam's orders.

The most jarring aspect of the story is the way it fleshes out the character of Samus. While Samus has had spoken lines before in Metroid: Fusion, but they were never overly intrusive and didn't reveal a whole lot about her. However, in Other M, she not only talks, she talks a lot. For a series that has largely lived on letting the player form their own ideas about the character of Samus, this is a bit disconcerting. The personality she reveals as she narrates the storyline is bound to infuriate many fans who have long seen Samus as a stoic and strong individual who is in control of her emotions.

Throughout the game, Samus has many flashbacks to her time in the Galactic Federation with Adam which portray her as an insecure little girl who has trouble handling the fact that she's a woman in a man's world. From giving a thumbs down as a salute, to her monologues about how father figure Adam is the only one who understands her, this becomes cheesy and embarrassing to watch. Back on the bottle ship Samus continues to act submissive to Adam as she instantly agrees to disable all of her abilities at his request with zero hesitation. Later on in the game, there's a scene where Samus is so frozen in fear that she is unable to do anything. Samus comes across as insecure, uncertain, and even submissive at times.

Watching the story play out, it is incredibly difficult to believe that this could be the same bounty hunter who has courageously saved the galaxy on numerous occasions. In an attempt to make Samus more human and relatable, Other M goes overboard. It's one thing to have emotions. It's another thing to be crippled by them to the point of endangering lives. For a game series that has never had a lot of story and never really needed one, I have to question why the game creators felt the need to insert this melodramatic poorly plotted mess. The story is a major part of the game, and since you can't skip cut scenes, it is impossible to ignore.

Once you complete the game, a cinema mode unlocks where you can re-watch all of the cut-scenes strung together like a movie. Whether you'd want to is another story.

*Gameplay*
The gameplay in M:oM is also a controversial element. Other M opts to use only the Wii pointer and nothing else for control. You hold it sideways like a NES controller leaving only the d-pad and two buttons for input. If you want to fire a missile, you have to rotate the Wii remote so it is pointing at the screen, which changes the perspective to first person. This shift is rather awkward, and you can't move while you are in this view aside from an awkward dodge maneuver accomplished by quickly shifting the pointer off the side of the screen. The controls aren't broken, but they are not particularly good, either. They work, but only just.

The game itself plays more like an action game than a Metroid game. Almost all of the exploration you would expect from the series is gone, and for the vast majority of the game you are restricted to a linear path where doors will often lock behind you to prevent revisiting previous areas. There are some hidden missile expansions and energy tanks along the way, but the game pretty much tells you their exact position once you clear a room of enemies. The game only opens up to allow free exploration at the very end. This exploration makes it very clear why they decided to restrict the main story line so much, because when you have a few options of where to go, every other area is "now loading" for ten seconds, especially when you use the speed booster.

The combat in this game is very easy. Due to the limitations of using a digital control pad in 3d space, Other M includes a dodge move that occurs automatically when you are pressing a direction on the d-pad. This means you will almost never get hit by anything as long as you are moving around. Samus's gun also auto-aims, so most of the time you can just shoot blindly down a corridor and not worry about whether or not you hit anything. The only challenge comes from shifting to first person to fire a missile, which is only required for boss fights the majority of the time. This is more annoying and awkward than difficult, since it merely involves waiting until you have a large enough window of time to get a missile off without getting hit.

Throughout the game, Adam restricts the use of Samus's abilities until he deems them necessary, which means no more finding your abilities along the way, and also leads to illogical moments such as Adam not deciding it was appropriate to authorize the Varia suit to protect Samus from heat damage until she is already most of the way through the lava sector taking heavy heat damage along the way. This approach also means that there are no substantial new powerups for Samus to acquire. All of the significant abilities Samus has in this game are repeats from Super Metroid.

Also worth noting are frustrating sequences that involve freezing you in the first person perspective until you find some tiny hard to find object. Often you will pass the Wii cursor directly over the object you are supposed to examine without the game registering it, leading to a lot of time wasted passing over everything over and over in an attempt to find what you are meant to scan. These moments completely kill the pacing of the game.

*Replay Value*
After you complete the game, every door unlocks, and you are finally completely free to finish your collecting spree of leftover expansions. At this point, there is also an extra boss and epilogue sequence to find. However, this can all be done in less than twelve hours the first time through, and once you do, the only reason to replay the game is the hard mode that unlocks upon 100% completion. There is also a cinema mode and art gallery that unlocks. If you don't care about getting everything, a regular main story play-through only lasts around eight hours.

*Graphics*
The graphics look pretty good for a Wii game, but the actual art design is lacking. The game is filled with generic looking hallways and rooms that don't really stand out visually, and the themes never go beyond the typical generic fire, ice, and jungle areas. The only thing that stands out about them is the holographic effect that appears sometimes to remind you that these are only simulations on a space station. One high point of the visuals is that the animations are some of the most fluid I've seen on the Wii.

*Sound*
One of the most disappointing aspects of Metroid: Other M is that the game has almost no music during actual game play. The background noise consists mostly ambient sounds and, very rarely, one or two recycled tunes from past Metroid games. Expansions are also missing the familiar tune that used to play when you picked them up in other Metroid games. This is a very disappointing aspect of the game. The voice acting is alright, but it's not spectacular. Samus sounds monotone throughout the game and you'll be hearing her a lot. The sound effects for weapons and enemies are adequate.

*Overall*
In more ways than one, this game is a massive disappointment. The game is playable, but in a series as outstanding as Metroid, it sticks out like a sore thumb, and even taken on its own terms it fails to impress.

Objective Part of review:

A. Controls

This game is controlled by holding the Wii mote sideways, which is the same as New Super Mario Bros. Using the D-Pad you control Samus' movement in a 3D space. Although ideally a control stick would have worked more smoothly, surprisingly movement is not rough or game breaking. The game uses an auto lock on feature: If Samus is facing an enemy, then she will automatically target that enemy when firing. However, if the enemy is behind you, and Smaus is looking the other way, the only thing you will be shooting is the wall. 3rd person combat is roughly worked around a dodge/shoot mechanic. A player taps the control pad before an enemy attacks, Samus dodges, which leaves the player in a prime opportunity to follow up with a beam attack (dodging is very forgiving). Samus' also has the ability to use melee attacks. With a charge beam, Samus can finish off enemies by either jumping on them, or quickly approaching them when they are down: this mechanic does not work as smoothly as it should.

To execute some of Samus' abilities it is required to point the Wii remote at the screen. When you point at the screen you will be in the perspective of Samus' visor: first person mode. Whichever direction Samus is pointing is where you will be looking upon entering the mode. The transition can be seamless, but sometimes their will be a jump in cursor movements depending on how vigorously you are playing. In first person mode you are able to target enemies with a missile or beam shot, which is usually required to take down bosses or solve puzzles. However, in first person mode you are not able to move around. Don't expect to gun down all enemies in first person mode, you would only be making the game harder than it needs to be. A play style of combining 3rd person combat, and first person mode would be ideal, and beneficial for the player.

Note: The controls won't come naturally, but the more you play the more fluid they can become. There is also a tutorial in the beginning of the game to help players understand the play mechanics.

*Dodging also can be done in first person mode, just flick the cursor off the screen before an enemy attack hits you, which is hinted by green bars.

B. Gameplay

The classic Metroid formula is still intact. Work your way through various environments by using Samus' abilities: Morph Ball, and Grapple Beam to name a few. Defeat bosses and solve often times simple, but sometimes difficult, platform puzzles.

Note: It is important to listen when abilities are granted to Samus. This will help you understand new abilities effects, and make solving puzzles and defeating enemies easier. Some players have noted that this Metroid game is very linear compared to previous installments. You are often forced to travel a certain path for story purposes, and sometimes are barred from going to an area just visited. Once you complete the main story all paths are open.

Subjective Part of Review:

A. Graphics

Very beautiful and moody atmosphere. The color palette is saturated, which harkens back to side-scrolling Metroid games. Sometimes textures can be plain, but everything else looks high production. Enemy design varies wonderfully, and fans will get a kick out of seeing old baddies again. Samus' and enemy movements are fluid during battle. Sometimes character movements during cutscenes look a little awkward, but supposedly real actors were used for motion capture.

Note: This is of course a Wii game. Compared to games on other systems, Other M appears lack luster.

B. Sound

Music is vacant for the less climatic parts of the game, but the scores pick up when tensions rise. This helps with the mood of the game, and can be compared to a movie. Fans will enjoy an infused classic-Metroid soundtrack.

The voice acting is not half bad. This might not be a pixar movie filled with experienced voice actors, but the cast does a good job with conveying emotion and character. Fans may complain about Samus' actor, but she is fit for voicing the often times stoic Samus.

Beam explosions, enemies roaring, and metal echoing. Not ground breaking, but it helps with the atmosphere.

C. Story

Nintendo's first go at modern cinematic story telling, and a good game for someone who hasn't played a Metroid game. The story can occasionally get confusing, even for some Metroid fans, but the basic plot is fun and engaging. Is it recommended that you are familiar with the series? No, but for those who are, you have a nice treat awaiting.

Some fans may complain about the direction of Other M, especially how Samus' is portrayed. Western audiences in particular might be put off by typical Japanese story/character elements. Some of the lines can be a little cheesy, like most video game scripts.

Metroid Fan:

I'm a full on Metroid fan. I've played all the games, I've read the Metroid manga (fan translated, if interested, then google it), and I complete speed runs just for fun. If you are like me, then this game will not disappoint. Once you complete a 100% run of the game, a hard mode is unlocked. One where expansions of all sorts are vacant. Good LUCK!

Q. How do they compare to the prime games?

In terms of quality I'd say the Prime games are are better, but Other M is still great. Same name different beast.

If you've ever had the pleasure of playing Super Metroid on the SNES, The Metroid Prime series on Gamecube and Wii, Metroid: Zero Mission and Fusion on the GBA or any of the other great games in the Metroid series, you are no doubt familiar with the concept of "fun". Well, I'm here to tell you that "Metroid Other M" is the exact opposite of that. Words can't describe just how much I truly hate this game.

Let me just start by saying that this is the most disappointing entry in the Metroid series by a long shot. That is a given. Even the nut-busting difficulty of Metroid Prime 2 is no match for the abomination that is "Metroid Other M". I pre-ordered this game assuming how incredible it would be as has been the case with every Metroid game that has preceded it. Shame on me. This is the first game in the series I considered abandoning and selling promptly while it still had a high resale value because I was having ZERO fun with it.

The biggest offender of "Metroid Other M" is the controls. They are "clunky" to put it mildly. Why you are forced to use the Wii remote only-with it's hobbit sized control pad, is beyond me. Why no nunchuck control? We've been using this crazy little thing called an "analog stick" for well over a decade now with good reason. My left thumb would often protest after even the shortest bouts of slogging through this game. it's pretty much like using your entire hand to operate a door bell. Also, the forced switch between 2d and 3d by moving the remote is awkward at best and completely jarring at worst. It doesn't work. Fail on Team Ninja, fail on Nintendo. This is the sloppiest control scheme I've seen on a Wii game for some time now. And considering the sheer amount of garbage games available on Wii-that's really saying something. Also, certain segments of the game were just plain clumsy. Climbing up elevator shafts for instance was an unnecessary chore. Not because it was difficult mind you, but because 90% of the time you can't make a jump without falling down a few rungs. No matter how many times you try, you can't connect the jump-then all of the sudden it works, even though you didn't do a thing differently.

The next "Other M" offense is the graphics. I know some reviewers have commented on Other M's "great graphics". Surely they must be referring to the cinematic scenes (which really are great) or the graphics of Samus and the Federation officers themselves, because everything else in this game looks like puke. The environments in "Other M" are uninspired, flat and "ugly" looking atrocities that probably wouldn't have looked good even in the N64 days. The bosses (besides Ridley) are also very uninspired and weak. The Metroid queen for instance looks like something out of "Ocarina of Time" circa 1998. Even the original Metroid Prime for gamecube which has eight years on "Other M" runs circles around it in the graphics department. Even for a Wii game, this game is truly ugly.

Offense number 3 is game play. First off, the enemies just aren't fun to kill. They don't leave bits of health behind for you to collect either. I was amazed at just how much I missed this small detail-but just like most of Metroid's other hallowed trademarks, this too has been unceremoniously dumped from the experience. The game play is also linear to a fault. No more serious exploring folks. Exploration is discouraged in Other M which pretty much goes against the grain of the entire Metroid series. No more unlocking weapons. No more colored doors. It's all scripted and you are shoved from room to room with your ability to explore and find secrets all but taken from you. Activating your weapons because "Adam" finally allows you is a ridiculous gaming device. This just smacks of lazy game development. Was progression through the discovery of new weapons too much to ask of team ninja? I guess just like everything else associated with Nintendo this generation though (outside of maybe the Mario Galaxy series), cutting corners is the name of the game.

You may want to skip this next offense, as it has no bearing on the experience-it is just a personal quip. It concerns the art direction. What happened to Metroid? This game bears very little visual resemblance what-so-ever to the Metroid series outside of Samus herself. That in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing in gaming as the same can be said for "The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker" when compared to the rest of the Zelda series. However, unlike that game-this game doesn't even feel like it's part of the same universe. It's such a complete variation of the Metroid cannon-and the creatures here just don't seem to fit visually at all with what we know of the Metroid series. It would be like putting Jar Jar Binks into The Lord of the Rings. The universes just don't jive for me. But like I said, that is more of a personal gripe-it's nothing that affects the gaming experience.

Overall, I found the whole "Other M" experience a completely un-fun drag. I slogged through this game and even played the epilogue only to justify my investment in pre-ordering it. Trust me though, the minute I finished, I literally went to my computer and listed it on amazon in the used games section. This will be the last time I pre-order a Nintendo game without playing it first. I've never been burned by Nintendo before given their track record, but this game was pathetic on just about every level. Boo and hiss to the biggest dud in Metroid history. Fail.

Move over, "Super Mario Sunshine." There's a new king of mediocrity in the world of almost-always-amazing-but-occasionally-not Nintendo. Okay, so maybe mediocre is a little too harsh for the description of "Super Mario Sunshine," but it's likely a tad generous for "Metroid: Other M"--Nintendo and Team Ninja's ambitious joint project. In the months leading up to its release, fans were promised that this entry would be both "the ultimate Metroid experience" and that it would be a "return to the series' roots." Unfortunately for fans, neither promise was fulfilled, as I found out for myself two nights ago when I finished it. In this comprehensive review, I will try to cover all of the game's major aspects, both the good and the bad.

First, I'll go over the story, since Nintendo has made it evident that this is one of the most important parts of the game (don't worry, I'm not going to spoil any of the surprises). The game starts off with an amazing CGI cutscene, depicting the end of the climactic showdown between Samus Aran and Mother Brain at the end of the SNES classic, "Super Metroid." After Mother Brain's destruction, the game fast-forwards a little bit to Samus recovering from her battle and setting off once again to search for any, new bounties. Suddenly, she receives a distress beacon, which she immediately follows to a giant space station, called "The Bottleship." After landing, Samus meets up with her old squad, of which she was a part in her earlier, military days. The squad is led by her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Deciding to join forces, Samus assists the group in finding out what has happened on the station. That is when her adventure begins. Throughout the game, Samus continuously has flashbacks that are meant to flesh out her history for the gamer. These are done through the use of CGI cutscenes, like the one in the introduction. These cutscenese all look fantastic; it's obvious that Nintendo made this a priority in helping tell Samus' story. Nintendo has never been known for story-intensive games, which is why this change-up is a little bit refreshing. However, in every cutscene I saw, I never found myself actually liking Samus any more. Mostly, this is because she is depicted as a rebellious punk in her youth. Also, as each flashback unfolds, Samus gives the narration, which is overly melodramatic and only carries a tone of depression. Yes, as a kid, Samus was rebellious and bitter, and now, she just mopes around all the time, speaking poetically to everyone, who will listen to her. How is that likable? How is the player supposed to connect with such melancholy? It's as if her true mission is to make every gamer as depressed as she is.... I think we may be onto something here. Additionally, the present story aboard the Bottleship takes far too long to develop. It does start to pick up toward the end, but in all honesty, it's a bit silly. Although Nintendo went to great lengths to make story a much more important factor than in past games, this one mostly fails to have any resonation with the player.

Next, I will discuss graphics and sound. In all fairness, for a Wii game, "Other M" looks okay, but when you compare it to other first-party games on the console, it doesn't meet the bar (it's amazing what developers can do with the Wii's graphical power, when they actually try hard). Also, the character designs look atrocious. I understand that the team probably wanted a simpler look, since "simplicity" was the main theme Nintendo wanted to incorporate for this game, but why change the look of characters just for the sake of making changes? Regardless of the team's intentions, the characters and creatures look terrible, with absolutely no detail or life to them. Unlike the excellent Prime trilogy and Super Metroid, "Other M" has absolutely no memorable music or atmosphere. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the Prime games, but it's very hard to accept downgrades of this number and magnitude. If you played the original Prime, you may remember what it was like exiting the claustrophobic, fiery Magmoor Caverns and stepping out into the wide-open, chilly Phendrana Drifts; there is no such moment or any of the Primes' other great moments in "Other M". Also, you will not find any of the near-perfect level and creature designs found in "Super Metroid." As for the voice-acting, Nintendo has not made many strides in catching up to the rest of the industry. I normally would not ridicule Nintendo for this, because they did try, but because they insisted on making this such a story-intensive game and because there is so much dialogue, I have to place it in the equation. In both the areas of graphics and sound, the Metroid series has taken a major step backwards.

Lastly, I will discuss the game play. For most Nintendo games, this section would take up the majority of a review, but in the case of "Other M", it gets an equal share. I won't say whether that was a slam or a compliment. After finishing the game, I still can't quite figure out who this game was meant for. On the one hand, it seems like Nintendo wanted a "simple" feel, forcing players to hold the Wii remote horizontally, without the use of the Nun chuck. On the other hand, the movement and combat that's required all feels more complicated and extremely awkward, especially at first, when the player is trying to adjust to the controls. If this was a true return-to-roots sidescroller, this control setup would work, but because players are often running through 3D environments, it becomes nearly unmanageable. The nun chuck attachment would have certainly remedied this offset. Regardless, combat can be real pain. Without a doubt, the most frustrating part of combat is firing missiles. In order to fire them, players are forced to turn the Wii remote and point it at the screen, switching the view to first-person. And because the Wii remote is the only controller allowed, the player cannot move while in this view. Also, the player cannot fire missiles at will. Instead, he or she has to hold the "B" button to lock onto a creature or destructible structure and then fire. Obviously, this can cause problems in intense firefights, in which missiles are required. You can literally lose one or two seconds in the process of switching to first person, actually locating the enemy, locking onto it, and firing the missile (or in some cases, charging up a shot to fire a super missile). Another complaint about the combat is auto-firing. Because of the strange 2D-meets-3D setup, players are forced to fire at enemies automatically, using the "A" button, without any precise aiming required. Yes, this is simple, but because enemies aren't always visible on the screen, auto-firing won't always detect them. Aside from combat, another sore spot for the game play is the process of regenerating health and missiles. In past Metroid games, players could destroy enemies, which would then drop items that Samus could use to recharge herself. In "Other M", however, enemies do not drop anything when they are destroyed. Instead, if the player wants to recharge Samus' missiles, he or she has to hold the Wii remote up and hold the "A" button. After between three and five seconds, Samus' missiles will be completely replenished. In the same manner, Samus can replenish her health, but there's a catch--in order to recharge Samus' health, the player has to come within an inch of dying (about 30 HP), and after three to five seconds of holding down the "A" button, Samus' health will only partially replenish itself. In the case of most battles, this becomes problematic, since most enemies aren't going to stand around to let the player replenish his or her health. It's obvious that the developers had the mindset that if the player's energy gets too low, then he or she deserves to die. However, you can replenish both Samus' health and missiles at navigation stations, which are also used to save your progress. Just hope that you can always make it to the next station before your health gets too low. Lastly, exploration has been largely scaled back. For some people, this may be more of a preference than a complaint, but because this is a Metroid title, I felt it was worth taking into account, especially since players were promised that this would retain all of Metroid's core elements. As for what does work, there are new moves made especially for this game: sense (a quick, evasive action), lethal strike, counter-attack, and overblast). All of these work well and become almost automatic for the player, thanks to Team Ninja's expertise with Ninja Gaiden's combat system.

"Metroid: Other M" is an ambitious change to the familiar Metroid formula. It seems like there were opposing viewpoints for what should be done with the series, instead of a united, cohesive effort. "Other M" could have been an amazing game; I'm almost sure of it. I think that if Nintendo and Team Ninja were intent on working together on this project, they would have been better served choosing one control layout--either simple, 2D side-scrolling or full 3D exploration, with the nun chuck. Instead, what we have is a mish-mash of good and bad ideas, mixed with underdeveloped visual design and audio, and wrapped up in a mostly bland story. To me, it is shameful that Nintendo would allow this series to take such a fall, especially since the Nintendo development team behind this is the same team responsible for all of the early 2D Metroid classics, as well as Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance. I sincerely hope that Nintendo learns from this mistake. If the company can retain its focus on solid game play and take gentle, productive steps on injecting more presentation value, I think it can keep its key franchises fresh, while making sure that gamers always see what makes each one so special.

For the last 10 years, Nintendo has been constantly changed what Metroid is supposed to be. Metroid Fusion attempted to follow in the footsteps of the original trilogy that creater Gunpei had made, although he had intended it to never be more than a trilogy, and Nintendo did at least wait until his untimely death to continue the series. Metroid Prime, however, at Miyamoto's request, was changed from the original idea of a Third Person Shooter (which would have been closer to the Metroid style) to a First Person Shooter. The term First Person Adventure was made up to fool people who weren't into shooters but were curious about Metroid or had been fans. Despite hesitation by the fans that a change might ruin the series, they were surprised at how well it was done. Meanwhile, Fusion was chided because it was too linear, although there's nothing inherently wrong with linearity and a great many games followed such gameplay and it led them to greatness.

Following that, Retro was left to their own devices to persue the Prime trilogy, and Classic 2-D Metroid was handed to Sakamoto, who decided he was going to rewrite the series as he saw fit. This much was proven with the complete retcon of the original game in Metroid: Zero Mission. Sakamoto has stayed true to his vision of taking the once beloved series and turning it on its ear. He changed Samus from a mysterious Bounty Hunter who always got the job done, into a ditsy blonde who makes seemingly ridiculous mistakes like taking her suit off before checking she was in the clear. Well, Metroid: Other M follows that new tradition nicely. One of the problems with Metroid Prime 3 was that Samus felt left out in all the scenes because she never spoke (although she has had written dialogue in previous games). Perhaps in an attempt to change this, Samus now never shuts up. At every opportunity she will release a deluge of backstory showing flashbacks, fears, and enough emotional issues to make Freud giddy with delight.

Along with her lengthy emotional baggage, Samus is teamed up with the oh-so-common politically correct group of Federation Soldiers, who've traded in their now familiar white armour for a strange blue one. Anthony Higgs, the token black (no offense) with a BFG and a penchant for wit that will remove all severity from most any scene he's in. Then you have the asian with his glasses, the good ol' boy with his beard and mustache, the paranoid hacker, and a traitor in their midst. On top of all that, you have the suddenly father-figure of Adam returning from Metroid Fusion where so many had presumed he was a former love interest. Sakamoto pulled a curve ball there, but the idea is still there and neatly tucked away into yet another of the many flash backs, though I shall not spoil it for those inclined to play it. Oh, and do be on the look out for Samus' new magical mole/beauty spot which comes and goes from scene to scene. And marvel at how predictable the plot gets, and cringe at how broken Samus has become, constantly seeking acceptance and no longer independant (or even raised by the Chozo, who've vanished from the game). And do, oh yes do enjoy watching Samus switch off all her upgrades and powers 5 minutes into the game until she is "authorized" to use them, even if that means going into situations she is technically capable of dealing with yet can not.

And by all means, I do suggest people give it a try, but nothing more than a rental, unless you just HAVE to have the game. There's little replay value, although once you beat it you can go back in and find a secret boss and an extended ending sequence. But be forewarned that it won't be available on Hard Mode, not that I mind cause I think the Hard Mode was rendered pointless (and I've never cared for them at any rate). But let me explain.

If you want to play this, do it for the gameplay itself and try very hard to ignore the backstory which contradicts so much that came before or the fact that Metroid suddenly feels very Japanese, though Samus was never meant to be. The gameplay is mostly solid. The third person action is smooth and responsive and very, very enjoyable. The gameplay graphics are vivid, crisp, and very well done on the Wii, though I can't say it's the best looking game I've ever seen on it. The enemies are so perfectly rendered, looking exactly like they did in Super Metroid or Metroid Fusion or whatever game many of the enemies originated in. Which isn't to say the new/original enemies look bad, cause they certainly don't! The Power Suit and Varia Suit look well made, the silly "butt" the Prime suit had is now gone.. pity the useless Zero Suit returns, and looking tackier than ever. Samus comes across as a big blue Barbie Doll, and about as well endowned...

Sorry, getting carried away again. The "auto-lock on" during normal gameplay is not as bad as some had feared and in fact mades the gameplay that much more frantic when you've got too many targets to lock on accurately. The items are fairly well hidden even though you will be told something is in the room on occasion (Super Metroid and Fusion both had that though, so no saying it's a new feature); you still have to figure out how to find them and some are decidedly cunning. The first person gameplay is a little.. out of place, but I suppose that can't be helped. Also, gone are the once myriad power-ups dropped by baddies to restore health and ammo, instead Samus has Concentration (which is kind of silly and absolute rubbish if you need the health in a boss fight). The music, what there is, is well done and very fitting with its ambient feel.

No, by all means, the gameplay is not that bad, and I mostly enjoyed that. It's just that the very heavy hand of Sakamoto in the direction he's taken the series is hard to ignore and it feels like it is weighing the game down. That's the big hurdle a fan has to get over to enjoy this title, and I have to say I think it's a bit too big for me to manage. And though he was attempting to Japanify the game, as it has never been all that popular in Japan, has failed miserably. I guess he didn't realize that if 7+ games over 20 years hasn't swayed the general populace, than no amount of eye candy (which Samus has decidedly become) is going to change the fact that they just don't care all that much. In fact, I do believe the game has had terrible sales in Japan, though I don't know all the figures.

I am glad I did not have to pay $50 USD for this, because it certainly wasn't worth it. But if you can find it cheap, it's not too bad, in the end. If nothing else, at least we have Anthony Higgs, and the hidden boss fight is probably the most satisfying piece of fan service the series has ever seen, and certainly the only kind I like seeing.. none of this "oh no, my suit came off" rubbish of later games.

I'll start this review with a caveat: I am an enormous Metroid fan. I've played and beaten literally every Metroid game with the exception of the first two for the NES. I love the style, the atmospheric storytelling, Samus as a strong female character - it's a very beloved series to me.

Team Ninja ruined the name of Metroid with Other M.

I'll break this down.

Graphics:
I have to hand it to them, graphically, this is an amazing looking game. It's smooth and polished, from the pre-rendered CG cutscenes to the in-game graphics.

Unfortunately, that's about all there is that's good about this game.

Level Design:
I loved exploring the worlds of Metroid: deep jungles, dark caverns, flying cities... And I hated Team Ninja's Bottle Ship (the spaceship upon which the entirety of Other M takes place). For the first half hour, I was quite nervous about the level design, as I was running down long hallway after long hallway. What kind of spaceship consists entirely of long, empty, metallic hallways? Then I got to a jungle area, and my fears were eased - but only briefly. I quickly became enraged as I discovered that literally 90% of the rooms have one entrance, and one exit. If you are not LITERALLY running down a hallway, then you are almost always still FUNCTIONALLY doing so - your goal is to move from one end of the room to another, in the exact means that Team Ninja wants you to. Time after time again I had to look up walkthroughs online because I could NOT figure out how I was to progress - all too often, it was because of a morph ball opening was tucked away in some corner of the room, almost impossible to see unless you already knew where to look.

Which brings me to my next point..

Gameplay mechanics:
Okay, the running around vs. first-person switching actually wasn't too horrible.
What WAS horrible was every time you encounter a story-specific mini-game that I'll call "Find the pixel." I call this "find the pixel" because at various points in the story, you'll be forced into first-person mode and your goal will be to find in the environment a story-related clue... except that these clues are hidden deep in the environment and you literally have to focus your cursor DIRECTLY over the pixel that Team Ninja has decreed to be the target.

Example (mild spoilers, but really I'm just saving you some frustration): One of these moments happens in a grassy clearing. Your ultimate target is alien blood. Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong. The alien blood is GREEN. GREEN BLOOD IN A GRASSY CLEARING. Thanks, Team Ninja, for wasting 10 minutes of my life on that asinine moment, as I rotated around and around, scouring the environment for the clue.

Oh, also, in previous Metroids I loved finding upgrades and becoming more and more powerful. That's nonexistent here, as Samus starts off with all of her powers, but decides that she needs authorization from her superiors to use them. That sounds ok... except when you're burning to death in lava and your superior refuses to give you authorization to unlock your Varia Suit.

This method of unlocking occurs for every single power... except one. They do NOT tell you that that power is unlocked, and Team Ninja expects you that in the throes of Samus dying, you are to suddenly feel inspired to attempt to use a power that has never been authorized - and to remember how to use it from the tutorial, which you probably played through more than 10 hours ago.

Oh, also, there are less than a dozen primary enemy types. You'll spend almost the entire game fighting slight variations of the exact same enemies. Fun!

Music:

The music for this game is practically nonexistent. The majority of the game will play 30-second loops of ambient noise. The cutscenes will employ sweeping orchestrated music that swells at the cheesiest moments, making it impossible to take what's occurring on-screen seriously. But then again, that's probably not even possible, because:

Story/Character Development:
The story in Metroid: Other M is the single worst story I've ever experienced tied to a mainline Nintendo franchise. It has glaring plotholes, horrible prose, and poor voice acting. Remember the baby Metroid from Super Metroid? In an effort to jam down our throats that Samus has maternal instincts, Team Ninja has her refer to that Metroid as "the baby" almost 20 times within the first 5 minutes of the game. It's nauseating. If I get attached to a puppy, I don't constantly refer to it as "a baby." It's a puppy. I'm going to call it a puppy. Ergo, IT'S A METROID. CALL IT THAT.

The translation was of the text was good, in that the vocabulary is sophisticated and that there are no grammatical errors. Other than that, it was horrific. The dialogue sounded as if it were written by a highly intelligent 14-year-old who writes vampire fanfiction in his spare time - overly dramatic, gauche, maudlin, and inappropriate.

A key line, delivered by a Galactic Federation official: "Samus, you're forbidden from using Power Bombs. They're dangerous against living things. That's a nice way of saying they can vaporize humans!"

..... Excuse me? Whoever wrote that needs to be struck in the face with a copy of Ender's Game. Or Neuromancer. Or any piece of science fiction worth reading.


In sum:
The gameplay mechanics are acceptable. However, the level design is excruciatingly boring, the joy of upgrading Samus' abilities are completely forgone for the sake of a laughable Authorization mechanic, and the story - the very reason you are playing the game - is wretched.

To those who say, "You just don't like a story-heavy Metroid!" No, all Metroid games have story, especially the Prime series. They simply employ atmospheric storytelling devices - skillfully - instead of forcing you to watch laughable cutscene after cutscene unfold.

To those who say, "I loved the development of the human side of Samus, seeing her vulnerabilities!" - If you mean to say you liked seeing a strong, independent, highly intelligent female character reduced to a maudlin, overly emotional cliche that has absolutely no resemblance to her actions as established by the Metroid franchise... then that's your own prerogative.

I will never buy another Team Ninja game again.

I must confess I am fan of the series and was disappointed by this game. It completely parts way from the previous entries that I loved and for me the turn they took was for the worst. I know there are a lot of bad reviews out there and if I was writing a review for the fans of the game I would completely agree with them. However, I understand that there are people that have never played a Metroid game before and they might like this game.

The good:
1.- The learning curve for this game is almost non existent, you can pick it up and play it out of the box without a need to read the instructions (I never do anyway).
2.- Fairly easy degree of difficulty. Not a single boss battle seemed to be extremely hard, or that I needed to attempt them over and over. Usually during the first or second try I was able to beat them no problem at all.
3.- If you like linear games, this one is for you. There is no way you can get lost in this game unlike in previous Metroid titles

The bad:
1.- The controls, I really hated them. For me it was really hard to use the d-pad to control a character in a 3D world, not to mentioned you had to switch views to use the rockets.
2.- The story line. Again I am a Metroid fan, so I found the story lame
3.- Cut scenes. Too many and too long
4.- Loading times. Sometimes when moving from one room to the other I was slapped with the "loading" message. It didn't took long to load, but it was infuriating to see them come up so often
5.- Short story. You can easily beat the game in 10 hours or less

In a nutshell:
This is not a game most Metroid fans would enjoy, but if you are a casual gamer you probably will enjoy this game. It might be good to start getting familiar with the franchise

The gameplay is by far the most aggressive out of the entire Metroid series. You don't get a chance to do the dodges or grab an enemy to shoot a fully charged beam into its mouth or tear off the wings of a fly. It does remind you of playing Super Metroid with the items that you have. My biggest gripe is that you have all the items, but you have to get your butt whooped a couple of times before you are authorized to use it. The way you shoot the missile is a pain in the butt. The story line leaves too much open. I'll try not to ruin anything. You'll notice that when she goes into her past that she is the only one in the Chozo power suit and not in the trooper power suit. What does Other M stand for? Then when you fully beat the game with everything collected, you'll probably go "Is that it?!" The game did draw my attention with the graphics and the amount of detail placed in the game. If they were trying to close the gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, that's fine. Although they need to put a little focus on a story after Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime since those that have played it are probably like me, "What's going to happen next?" Hope Nintendo will fix their mess and give the players what they really want.

Super Metroid is one of my favorite games of all time. And since I have over 1500 games and spent 8 years as a professional game critic, that's saying something. Other M is supposedly a direct sequel. I couldn't ask for much more. Until I played through it.

Metroid: Other M disappointed me. I was excited to see a return to third-person, 2D gameplay, and intrigued by the potential of adding more story elements. The former worked okay, but lacked smoothness. Controlling Samus in 3D space with a controller as simple as the Wii's is not optimal. I found the auto-targeting wrong often and movement wonky. But once you get your weapons powered-up -- including some old favorites -- it really starts to shine. By then, though, the game is almost done.

The story wasn't what I hoped. As a bounty hunter, Samus shines when it's her alone against the world. In Other M, it's her and a platoon of marines and their bossy commanding officer against the world. It just doesn't work as well -- especially since Samus is forced to do whatever the boss says.

"Look, I'm being destroyed by fire monsters, but I can't use my ice beam because Adam didn't tell me it's okay. Oh, fiddlesticks!" Give me a break! One of the main story elements doesn't even reach an actual resolution -- as if the writer just forgot about it.

On the positive tip, the boss fights are pretty slick, holding their own against other recent action games. Also, this is a very pretty Wii game. The map is huge, with lots of ground to cover.

It'll take about 10 hours to beat if you're not rushing, and there's an epilogue which adds more longevity. There isn't as much tedious back-tracking like in Prime, thankfully. Getting 100% will be no easy task, though the game as a whole is easier than I thought it would be.

It's novel to point the Wii remote at your TV to scan objects and fire missiles, but it can be clunky. I really wish there were more things to scan and read about -- like in the Prime series. I want to learn more about Bottle Ship and the creatures I'm fighting!

If you temper your expectations, you'll find a lot to like in Metroid: Other M. I played the game to the end, so it couldn't have been too bad. Just don't expect something that lives up to the pedigree of this franchise. This will be on no one's game-of-the-year list.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate this game. It's just this game gets on my nerves, such as Samus acting like a school girl, and the movement overall feels weird. And I hate how they gave you the first person view, but yet, you can't move, thats some stupid crap there. I love the Metroid franchise, I love Super Metroid, and the Metroid Prime Trilogy, but this game, just isn't a Metroid game. If if was some other game, I would've liked it more.The story very Anime conceived, and I like Anime, but I think they made Samus into a, not so strong Bounty Hunter, I mean Samus cowering over Ridely, come on. The scenery is fine, but not up to the standards set by the Prime trilogy. For an asking price of 17 bucks, thats what its worth.