PixlBit

 Adam didn't let me post this earlier...

Hello everyone, how are you? I've been meaning to post this since last year, but forgot and since Metroid turns 30 today, I thought it was a good enough time to do so. I played through Other M for the first time in 5 years last year, but I'm posting this, this year hence the title. So, how is my thoughts on the game, 5 years later?

The game has been known as the worst game in the series for a number of reasons and I'm going to try and touch upon them hopefully. Anyway let's start off with the story, this will involve the story itself, the cutscenes, and the voice-acting. The story isn't too bad, but it isn't good either. It starts off from the final fight from Super Metroid, all in cgi and then after some cutscene bits you're following a distress signal. Samus traces the signal to this space station of sorts that's apparently a research facility. While on the research facility, she runs into the Galactic Federation, and her former commanding officer, Adam. The game really starts from there. I'll coninue from this bit a little later.

Graphics-wise, the game looks really good actually, it might just be one of the best looking Wii games if we are talking about graphical fidelity. Samus looks so shiny and streamlined, the suit looks really sleek. Not only does Samus looks good (heh) but so does the game itself. The enviroments look really good too. All the facility areas look all sci-fy-y and shiny and the enviroments like the forest/jungle area looks really lush. All the areas look really neat. Enemies look really good too.

Now for the gameplay, I actually like it to be honest. It's really fast-paced and more action orientated, considering this was made by Team Ninja. It, really fits the game well in my opinion. The action never slows down when you're engaging an enemy. Not only can you shoot at the enemies, but you can dodge attacks with the right timing. Samus also has melee moves or finishing moves when finishing off an enemy. Bosses are cool too, though alot of them are from previous games, but still neat to see them rendered in 3D. Aside from combat, the game itself plays like a traditional Metroid game, it has all the exploration and backtracking the games are known for.

However one major issue with the gameplay comes from the controls themself. The arm cannon from the suit auto-targets an enemy, which is okay. However, the game has a first-person mode that has you point the Wiimote on the screen, which doesn't sound too bad. The problem is that you can't move while in this mode. Worse yet, this is the only way you can shoot missiles in the game. I'm not joking, this is how you shoot missiles, even in fights against bad guys. You can't move in first-person mode so it leaves you open to attacks. Another thing is that you need first-person mode to scan important objects or certain things, and yes you can't move.

The game plays in 2D in most segments, but the game will sometimes switch to 3D control, which is awkward with the d-pad. Alot of the major fights shift into a 3D perspective, so you can see how that will play. This is how the auto-targeting comes into play I suppose, otherwise you'll be missing the attacks quite often. I'm surprised they didn't allow you to use the Nunchuck or Classic/Pro Controller for it. They said they wanted to keep the controls simple which is fine, but it just hinders the gameplay in alot of aspects.

Now for the big complaints people have with the game. The story, as I've said, the story isn't the worst thing of all time, but it isn't the best either. Metroid games generally don't try to tell you a story like an rpg, they do have a story, but it's told in it's own way by the parts in the gameplay you discover yourself. It does its own thing with story telling. Here they are telling you the story of the game through cutscenes. Yes Metroid games do have cutscenes, and that's another way they tell you the story in the games, but with more narrative this time around.Samus sounds a bit too monotone, but no offense to the voice-actress.

They wanted to depict Samus as a person with feeling and emotion, which I get because alot of people think of Samus as an emotionless murdering machine. There's a scene in the game that's very controversial that involves Samus and Ridley and Samus is freaking out that he's still alive. You get a scene with a frightened Samus as a child, seeing Ridley for the first time. Then it cuts back to current/adult Samus, frozen at the sight of Ridley. This would be fine, if this was Samus fighting Ridley for the first time, that's when it would of made more sense. However, playing through it again, I saw that the Ridley she is fighting isn't the very same one, if I remember correctly, it is a different one which is why she mentiones that he's still alive. I may be wrong though, so feel free to correct me. But that still doesn't make that scene better, it was just poorly executed.

Then there's this part of the game, in fact many parts of the game. In the game, Samus takes orders from Adam. Here's the bad part, you can't use none of your weapons or upgrades unless he gives you "authorization" to use them. I mean seriously? In the game, Samus starts off with most, if not, all her upgrades and you can't use them, at least the basic and crucial ones. I mean in the other games, the excuse they give you is that Samus is getting an upgrade for the first time, she losses her power-ups, or her suit is damaged.

What's the excuse here? Samus has enough weaponry to blow up a planet, so she can make short work of the facility which is why I think they did this, but Samus could be burning alive for all we know and she can't use the Varia Suit unless Adam says so. Maybe the developers only wanted you to be able to use the upgrades when you absolutely needed them, but it's a poor excuse on the way they designed these parts as it does limit what you can explore. Then again, maybe developers don't want you in those areas yet due to the story so you can backtrack. Again you might argue that the other Metroid games have you backtrack, but only after you have found an upgrade you needed so that gets a pass, here, you have them, so again, bad choice.

So, you might be asking, is the game bad? Well no, if we are talking about the gameplay, graphics, and exploration. Music gets a pass too, as it sounds good. Just decided to throw the music thing here as it wouldn't warrant its own paragraph if it was just 2 sentences. Take out the cutscenes and the voice-acting and you have a really enjoyable game. I really had fun with the gameplay and the exploration, the post-game exploration is really fun and you no longer have restrictions to your upgrades. As I've mentioned, what really turned everyone off was the story, controversial scenes, limiting your upgrades, awkward 3D and first-person controls, and bad design choices.

The game had alot of hype to live up to too as it takes place after Super Metroid and before Fusion. You know you cannot afford to screw up if you are living up to Super Metroid, as it is considered as the best Metroid game in the series. Think for a minute, no 2D Mario has not lived up to the amazing Super Mario World. For Metroid, I'd argue that maybe Metroid Prime (and Zero Mission) is up there with Super Metroid. If you're curious I'd say check out Other M if you can get it for 5-10 bucks, pay more than that and you've paid too much. Plus, people would rather play Other M and consider it a masterpice over Federation Force so take that as you will.

So there you have it on my thoughts on Metroid: Other M, 5/6 years later. Have you ever played Other M? What are your thoughts if you have? Thanks for reading and happy 30th Samus and Metroid. #Metroid30