Metroid: Other M

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 won't lie. If you liked Metroid 1 through Fusion, and don't like first-person shooters, you'll enjoy Metroid Other M. Back is the classic exploration and creepy ambient soundtracks that truly made the original Metroid games the best Horror franchise back in the day. If you preferred the Metroid Prime series, which I consider more of a Sci Fi shooter, Other M may not be for you.

Other M is a major deviation from the recent Wii Metroid run in virtually every stripe. For all of those who busted their behinds to get a shot of Samus without her helmet, you'll finally get your wish, as this includes cinematics and screens without even the trademark armor. Full dialogue and interactive NPC's mean that there's an actual plot line apart from collect the same set of equipment. And while side of the internal monologues are a bit cheesy, they still manage to add appeal and depth to a character that's thus far been a virtual mute.

Other M starts with a retconn immediately following Metroid Prime. Strangely lamenting the death of the baby Metroid, Samus answers a distress call from a Federation ship where she runs into several of her old squadmates, including her old CO.

Controls have radically changed. You're back to a 2-d on 3-d platformer, with movement and combat on one hand and stand alone aiming on the other. This present an annoying challenge at times, as you can no longer move while trying to fire precision shots or missiles, though this is easily balanced by useful auto-aiming during your platformer views. The camera gets poorly placed a few times, but otherwise, combat manages to flow fairly well. A few of the weapons are overblown, and fill up half the screen unnecessarily. The Scanner Visor is gone, and this is a major disappointment for me, as I thoroughly enjoyed the AI analysis of background items and enemy units. But otherwise, there's only a handful of nits with combat, but thos're easily overlooked given smart level design that can really make you think.

Voices are JRPG with some of the hookiness removed. They had to make a few bows to bizarre dialogue and pacing, but voices are good and conversations believable, though there are a few scenes that're simply weird. Graphics are a touch off, though mostly from overshadowing, but there is a good almost Resident Evil atmosphere of creepiness present, especially during certain scenes that'll make you hair stand up despite yourself.

Overall, this is classic Metroid, reinvigorated with an actual voiced cast and an introspective Samus, who's been rather devoid of personal input thus far. While I'm annoyed at the a few of the changes, overall the core gameplay is there, backed up by a well put together story that manages to be genuinely creepy at times.

Upon Other M's unveiling at E3 2009 I was torn. On one hand, I thought a cutscene, story oriented direction ala Metroid Fusion was a bad place to take the franchise that contrasted with the series' fundamentals too much. On the other hand, I'm a fan of action games, so I could forgive Other M being a poor Metroid if the game played well. Little did I know it doesn't even do that.

Sure, it plays functionally, and you can get to start to finish without too much trouble. Unfortunately, that's the most that can be said about the game. The gameplay itself lacks any satisfaction due to the ridiculous amount of handholding present. No longer do you need to time or aim your shots. Simply face your target, shoot, and the auto aim system will ensure you hit your target. The dodge mechanic is also ridiculously simplified, again removing any need for timing. Simply mash the control pad, and Samus will fluidly dodge any oncoming attacks to no compromise. Perhaps you're not interested in a fleshed out combat system in Metroid.

What about the adventure, the exploration, the atmosphere? They seem to be glossed by in lieu of telling an 'epic story'. No longer will you get lost in an alien environment. Instead, you will progress a spaceship at the command of Adam Malkovich. The problem is twofold. First, you're constantly being told where to go, and backtracking is made impossible due to doors magically closing behind you so if your idea of Metroid is exploration you can throw that out the window. Secondly, the spaceship is just a bland, unimaginative setting. There are simulated environments (forest land, fire land, ice land, is this Zelda?) to mix things up, but given they feel like nothing more than overused tropes. Perhaps most importantly, the music, frankly, is just bad. There are none of the creepy, atmospheric songs the series has become beloved for. Nothing but ambient noises that could very well be 30 second loops. To the game's credit, I did find some joy deviating from the game's rails in search of some of the power ups. Unfortunately, the satisfaction in obtainingthem was heavily diminished due to the lack of necessity thanks to the Other M's simplified gameplay.

About that 'epic story'. I won't say much, but boy, it is bad. So bad that I can see James Rolfe of AVGN fame reviewing it twenty years from now if he's still doing that gig. Overly long cutscenes, bad dialogue, one dimensional characters, and plot twists that throw off everyone's preconceived notions about a certain iconic character. It's got it all.

I can't recommend this game to any fan of the series. If you're insistent on playing it (as I was), I suggest doing more research and at the very most renting it so Nintendo won't be excused trying to pass off this joke as a "true return to classic Metroid".

This is the Best game i have ever played!

Story: 5
Gameplay: 5
Characters: 5
In-Game-Videos: 5
Mechanics 5!

Thanks a TON Nintendo!!!!!!!!!!!