Metroid: Other M (Wii - 1st completion)
Metroid: Other M has been unplayed in my collection for a long time - I've had it since late-January 2011. I ordered it from the US Amazon site among a handful of other games and had it mailed to my ex/late friend, Doug Anderson of Seattle. When I travelled down for the Seattle Knights "Beggar's Feast" event, I picked it up from him. I'm not sure why I didn't get around to prioritizing playing this game years ago. I think because Metroid games tend to be released very sparsely, I may have wanted to wait quite a bit after I played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption back in July of 2011. Unlike the success of the previous Prime trilogy and the series going into first-person gameplay, Other: M takes a third-person perspective with some first-person elements. Team Ninja was tasked to make the game with Nintendo's involvement. Their previous successes are development of the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series for their parent company, Koei Tecmo. It's hard to say if they were successful in this game. It's not bad, but it doesn't rank high in the series. I managed to beat it Sunday night in 11 hours and 37 minutes on Normal difficulty with 100% item collection.
Metroid: Other M takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. After awakening in a Galactic Federation facility, Samus Aran departs for space and picks up a distress signal from a derelict vessel known as the "Bottle Ship". Soon after landing, Samus encounters the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon; among the Platoon are Anthony Higgs, an old friend from her military career, and her commanding officer Adam Malkovich. After Samus saves the platoon from monsters, Adam allows Samus to cooperate in their mission, under the condition that she follow his orders. Samus and the 07th Platoon head to the Exam Center in the Biosphere, and learn that the Bottle Ship was conducting research on bioweapons and the person in charge of the project was Dr. Madeline Bergman. After being attacked by a large lizard-like creature, Samus is ordered to follow the monster to the Pyrosphere, but is quickly directed to the Cryosphere to search for survivors. While there, Samus encounters a young woman, but the two are attacked by a soldier piloting an industrial robot. Samus realizes that there is a traitor among the 07th Platoon and decides to call him the "Deleter" until she learns his true identity.
To see the opening gameplay, go here or below:
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Graphics/Art-9
+ Nice, atmospheric graphics. While it takes place on a large space station, there are some traditional varied environments common to the series.
+ Very good enemy design and character models. Animation and lighting is good too.
+ High quality FMV scenes and some in-game cutscenes.
- Camera is relatively fixed and can be hard to know when enemies are going to hit you outside of frame.
Sound/Music-7
+ Music has that similar atmospheric feel like the Prime trilogy of games.
+ Good sound effects.
- The music isn't as memorable as previous games.
- The "Item Collection" theme is absent!
- Samus' constant monologuing is so long and dry that you want her to shut up! She lacks a lot of personality and I feel this was a disservice to her character who worked better in being silent and reading her thoughts via text.
Control-7
+ The controls for the third-person gameplay aren't too difficult and the game gives you hints to help you out. Pretty impressive in use of fewer buttons compared to previous games.
- Having to switch between the Wii Remote on it's side to point at the screen for first-person mode is VERY frustrating - especially in battles! A really dumb idea.
- Having more controller options would have made for a more better experience to the player.
Gameplay-8
+ Metroid: Other M's main environment of the "Bottle Ship" is the vessel interior, known as the Main Sector, along with the other environments that are contained in "sectors" or gigantic spheres within the ship: the Biosphere, a lush, tropical region; the Cryophere, an arctic environment; and the Pyrosphere, a heated, lava-filled area. The gameplay revolves around solving puzzles to uncover secrets, platform jumping, and shooting enemies. The game unfolds in a linear manner, and the in-game map highlights the next objective.
+ The regular gameplay features a third-person prespective, where you hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Samus can jump, fire the arm cannon, and turn into a morph ball, which can roll into narrow passages and drop energy bombs. While gameplay is similar to early Metroid games, the environments are three-dimensional and movement is not limited to a two-dimensional plane.
+ Metroid: Other M is the first game in the Metroid series to feature melee attacks. With well-timed button presses, you can use special techniques, such as the Sense Move, which allows you to dodge enemy attacks, and the Overblast, where Samus jumps on the enemy and fires a charged shot at point-blank range.
+ The in-game map hints at the location of some items by showing blue dots. In the postgame, all item locations are revealed with blue dots.
- Unlike other Metroid games, enemies do not drop items, with the restoration of health and ammo occurring either by using the Navigation Booths, or employing of the Concentration technique, where Samus rests and replenishes missiles and health. You can also use the Navigation Booths to save your progress. While there are power-ups scattered around the Bottle Ship, a few items are already equipped by Samus, but she agrees to wait to use them until commanding officer Adam Malkovich authorizes her to do so. You can find items that will augment Samus's abilities, such as Energy and Missile Tanks.
- When the Wii Remote is pointed towards the screen, the angle switches into a first-person perspective, where you can lock onto targets and fire missiles; however, you cannot move in this perspective.
- There are several instances where you will have to constantly switch between play modes; for example, fighting off a horde of flying enemies in third person, while switching to first person to destroy their spawn points. Additionally, the first-person mode is also used in exploration, such as locating hidden items.
Fun/Story/Misc-8
+ Some of the combat and exploration can be fun.
+ As a special feature, you can unlock "Theater Mode"-a two-hour film presentation-after completing the game. Divided into chapters, this film contains every cutscene of the game, along with several clips of gameplay footage recorded by the developers.
- The game's story is pretty crappy and cliches abound. While it's good to know more about Samus' personality and thoughts, the writing is not up to snuff to make her interesting. There is no emotional investment in the other characters either.
- The concept of Samus needing permission to use her powers bit by bit is probably one of the most stupid things that can be done in the Metroid series. Unless there is a good reason for Samus to lock her powers, this does not make any sense and kills the concept of item collection. In past games, it was always exciting to find new powers for Samus and explore new areas. This game effectively takes that exploration away from you. While it's understandable that the space station wouldn't have Chozo statues around, they can still have her powers to be found in secure rooms.
Total: 39/50 (Grade Level: C+)
The main Metroid: Other M is here but contains little content. The Gametrailers.com video review is here and the Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3)
Currently playing: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (3DS Virtual Console - GBC)
