Wow, I'm not even sure how to rank this game to be honest. On one hand I do not see anything that stands out in this game that I'm glad Team Ninja brought to the Metroid franchise, but on other hand it is still captivating me to play it through. Outside of this and StarCraft 2 I cannot remember the last game that captivated me enough to finish it. For example... I have over 9 DAYS playtime on Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer and I can't remember how much on Bad Company 2, but I still haven't finished the single player campaign for either MW2 or BC2.
And I think that is why there is such a disparity between the reviews on this game. Just like the Prime series bucked the trend of the traditional 2-D Metroid games going into a First Person Action Adventure Shooter, Metroid: Other M bucks the trend into a 3rd Person Action Adventure Shooter. I was looking forward to the mixing of 2D and 3D, but the majority of the game is played in 3rd Person mode in 2.5-D space with minor stints of FPS. For the most part I found the switch into FPS mode pretty painless as I was switching into FPS mode to scan areas for weak points looking for power-ups instinctively. And in this sense the game was almost too easy as the new scan mode automatically gravitates towards Points-of-Interest thus making looking for hidden power-ups much quicker. Though I will have to agree with other reviewers that when the game FORCES you into FPS mode to scan for something it gets annoying quick as the area it is looking for you to put the target on is very small. In some cases it is obvious (like rustling leaves) but in other cases it's just downright a test of patience (a specific bug in a group of bugs) which kind of resulted in a buzzkill for what could of been cool tension building moments. Poor delivery. But where the controls got really frustrating is where I felt I needed it the most ...in boss battles. All of a sudden it was like the game refused to go into FPS mode and I'd lose seconds of time trying to get into FPS mode to fire a missle and many times I'd have to dodge and re-try again. I don't know if the Wii/Game had an issue trying to process thick battle moments with recognizing the switch in Wii-mote direction, but that is by far my biggest complaint with the game. As it made some battles really annoying. I also don't like only being able to fire missles while locked on (in FPS mode), thus also being forced to fire missles when locked on. Sometimes I just wanted to lock on the enemy and fire a charged beam shot ...oh well, lame but at least refilling missles was quick and painless.
On the good side, you CAN dodge while in FPS mode. You have two methods actually - 1) flick the wii-mote, or 2) switch back Third-Person Mode and press a direction on the D-pad. I prefer method 2 as I usually wait for a break in enemy fire and find a better angle to attack from.
Outside of the switching to FPS mode during battles there really isn't much I can complain about when it comes to the combat system. All the previous Metroid games have used a very simple combat system - Run, Jump, Shoot. That's it. But it works! Other M introduces finishing moves, dodge moves and counter-attacks. Yet in the end, it still boils down to a very simple combat system as non of the special moves require any complicated movements and they work very smoothly in combat. The charge beam is your friend ...and thankfully you start off with it.
The G4 review paints this picture that Samus is some helpess little girl relying on THE MAN and can only move when he says so. Right. The truth is Samus has a bond with her previous superior officer (that honestly many people develop) that compels her to fall back under his command for this mission. This bond is so common it is more cliche' than the rest of the story is, yet the G4 review treats it as if the game is treading on un-tapped snow. Not only that but the G4 review never mentioned how the Marines welcome Samus back with open arms and never complain they have to work with her. At any rate... there is nothing wrong with the concept, but the delivery fails. While there is technically nothing wrong with how they chose for Samus to unlock her powers - the delivery fails to make the gamer believe it. The favorite example every review chooses is the timing of Varia Suit unlock. In all the previous Metroids the Varia Suit is almost always one of the hardest upgrades to unlock and you ALWAYS have to go through some Lava room that causes Heat Damage to you simply by being in the room ...thus making you appreciate the Varia Suit when you finally get it. The problem with Other M is you already have it but its not activated until authorized. End result... poor delivery. Honestly it would have been better for Samus to receive this upgrade from defeating the boss, rather than it being authorized just before him. It wouldn't have been the only upgrade Samus received from defeating an encounter, and you wouldn't have that nagging doubt... why wasn't it authorized before this?! So yeah.. like I said, it comes down to... poor delivery. If you can get past 'how' you get the upgrades and just worry about 'when' the poor delivery begins to become a non-issue. Because you actually get some of the upgrades a lot earlier than you would have in some of the previous Metroid titles.
When Metroid decided to go to FPS with the Prime series I knew the days of many wasted hours shooting/bombing every square inch of the walls/ceilings/floors were gone thus reducing the exploratory (masochist) fun of the game. In the first Metroid you litterally could get the Screw Attack (typically the final upgrade) as something like the 3rd or 4th upgrade if you knew all the secret passage ways. You could even bypass Kraid and Ridley if you wanted to. The Metroid Prime series made the game more linear, but I still found the Metroid Prime series (especially the 1st Prime) to not only be some of the best in the series but I'd also put the 1st Metroid Prime in my own personal Top 5 games of all time. The Prime series proved the franchise doesn't have to suffer by making it more linear than series was used to, but it was all about presentation.
Speaking of that presentation, I find the graphics to be extremely beautiful in Other M for many parts ...and in other parts I find it to be lacking (lots of jaggies) or extremely cheezy. (Samus looks AWESOME ...but the Marines look like a Cartoon Network production) Retro Studios did a far better job at being consistent. In Metroid Prime I could go to any random out of the way corner, look behind a bush and see iridescent beetles crawling over fallen luminescent leaves. I mean who else but me thinks to look there?? And who thinks to even spend time putting that stuff there??? Retro did. In many ways Other M did a valiant job and I think (outside of the Marines) many people will be impressed by the graphics in this game. And when I play this game I wonder how good this game would look on my PS3 or 360 because it really does look good. The music (or lack thereof) I have to say disappoints me. In most of the game it was too understated to the point I had to pay special attention to even know if there was music to complain about. And in other parts it would finally ramp up and sound like a Metroid game to make it seem like something was about to happen. As a Metroid fan the iconic music has always been extremely important to me, as it made searching every room for the 200th time looking for power-ups and secret passageways more bearable. To the point I was annoyed Other M didn't include the victory music when you find a power-up laying around. That's my issue and preconcieved notion from previous games so I'm not knocking down the score based on that.
I am knocking down the score of the game for the not quite so seamless transition from 3rd Person to FPS during battles. And even though I personally don't see anything wrong in concept for the storyline or Samus' charactization... I find the presentation to be lacking. While I loved the Prime series, I will also say I think it was time for a change. And for the most part I really like the fast paced, yet simplistic approach, that Team Ninja gave to the series. I really like the 3rd Person 2.5-D mode the best - but it leaves me wanting Nintendo to remake Super Metroid (complete with all the previous secret passageways and maybe even new ones) ...thus leaving me confused on this game. It's great, it's fun, it's almost reminiscent of the old Metroid games but only to point to where I want the old ones re-made with current technology ...even if they stayed 2-D. I will say that if I reviewed this game my first 1-2hrs I had with the game this review would be completely different and probably would have gotten 2 stars, or at best 3. But something about it kept me playing which tells me its a pretty good game since I usually lose interest quickly. This game DOES reward you for scouring the rooms/halls looking for power-ups which I think greatly affected my change in opinion of the game as I played through it. If you're unsure, try renting it or watch some gameplay on YouTube - KrazyBrawl has his whole playthrough recorded. But I can easily see why this is a hit or miss title for many. If they turn this into a series they need to revamp their presentation (both story and powerup unlocks), add the iconic music back in, put in hidden passageways that link from 1 room to another ...or even span multiple rooms like the original Metroid, improve the map system (go back to the Prime map system), bring back bomb climbing, and make more rooms that are bigger, taller with more side rooms/tunnels to give you a better sense of the world you're traversing through.
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Metroid: Other M - Trailer 1
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Metroid: Other M - Gameplay
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Metroid: Other M - :30 Trailer
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Metroid: Other M - Metroid and Me Trailer
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Customer reviews
The game came in faulty and unable to be read
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021
It doesn't read!I love metroid other M. I think the story sucks but the game play is just fine and has plenty of action. I loved this game as a teenager and wanted to play it as an adult.Too bad the game that just came in, not even an hour ago, doesn't read and is lasered to hell. I've been wanting to play this game for weeks and to have it build up to this and not even read... 👎👎👎
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
NeuroSplicer
SAMUS RETURNS TO HER ROOTS - AND IT'S AN OVERBLAST!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 3, 2010
Alex
Dont put yourself through this, go play prime.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 20, 2015
