Metroid Other M

Metroid: Other M

Rating: T

Score: 8.0/10

                There once was a humble game, which was the first of its kind to make backtracking your steps mandatory.  This added a whole new level of exploration where any point on the map was fair game to have the next objective located. Does this mean it was hard? Not terribly, since gamers can note while passing by a scene that there's one ledge they want to get to but lack some ability (if they don't already possess that skill, they got it very quickly). Upon completion of the game, they see a bold move done by Nintendo, the game  developers: The main character in the space suit was actually...a woman? For 1980's, that was mind-blowing, but a female hero is common nowadays (Thanks to this humble game, called Metroid). Decades later, Nintendo makes another bold move in the series: a combination of 2-D and 3-D, but not done in typical fashion. Is it enough to have the game hold its own against other amazing games with bold changes? This game is a Nintendo Wii exclusive title.

                The main character, Samus Aran, has always been a silent protagonist for two main reasons:  She never really had anyone to talk to and it seems like they wanted a "bounty hunter with a mysterious past" kind of a vibe with Samus.  One way to make her mysterious is to make her silent. Another courageous move would be to get an actual voice actor in to play her voice. She's well played, but the problem isn't the voice acting. I'll get to that later.

                The story continues right at the end of Super Metroid (literally, you're in the middle of fighting Mother Brain at the beginning, the final boss of Super Metroid). You even see the then-surprise twist to the ending, which seems odd they'd ruin for any that haven't played the classic that is Super Metroid. After "configuring your suit" (i.e. Tutorials), you get a distress call from a mysterious ship. Investigating, you find a patrol of men who you used to work for, get attached to your superior who you always saw as a father figure after your parent's death in the war against the Space Pi- do you even care? Mind you this was the mysterious silent protagonist that in all other games was completely independent and unbelievably courageous. In this game (hold on to your hats, because this might blow your mind), your superior needs to authorize your equipment before it can be used. This leads to times where Samus runs into a suicide mission improperly equipped because she didn't get the "okay" from her fatherly figure to use her best armor and weapons. Does that not seem weird? A bounty hunter being a slave to an organization she left years ago just because she still sees her superior as a father figure?

                That's not even the worst of it; the dialogue takes the trophy for that. The farther you get in the game, the worse it gets. It ranges from serious to completely silly to way over-the-top to  ridiculously unnecessary. To say Samus states the obvious too much would be, dare I say it, stating the obvious. Ohoho, sorry.

                Once you get to the actual game aspect, it's very well done. It plays like a three-dimensional platformer  with a third-person perspective, but aiming the Wii Remote at the screen results in the game switching from that to a stationary first person shooter. It's unbelievable unintuitive, and a huge pain for quick maneuvering purposes, but  makes the game play rapidly due to the rapid switching and moving needed to play the game. Even with its flaws, it plays like no other game, and it's clear to see even if you're not the one playing but just observing.

                 A perfect analogy for this game can be a little bit of the game on display: Near the beginning of the game you run into a door that's locked and a second door that doesn't lead in the direction you want to go, but since it's the only way, you might be able to open the door blocking you by adventuring. You run around for a while, defeat a bunch of large enemies and explore a great deal, only to find you are right back to the same spot, with the locked door. Your superior then calls you and tells you he opened to the door for you, meaning all the exploring and fighting was for naught. Supposedly, he can see through Samus' visor, meaning there's no excuse for not opening the door early and saving all the trouble. That's this game, a great flow of fun until the story hits you in the face with silly nonsense like that.

                While it's not as addictive and easy to play as some of its predecessors, it's still very fun. The story trips its’ own pace too much, but when it starts up it's hard to put down. Unless you find poor dialogue insulting (which is understandable), this game is worth checking out.