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(but also some time before Metroid Fusion), Other M showcases famed
bounty hunter Samus Aran after her recent exploits on planet Zebes,
which resulted in the simultaneous destruction of the Space Pirates, the
Mother Brain, her archenemy Ridley, and the baby Metroid that helped her
in her most crucial moment. With barely any time to mourn the loss of
the baby, Samus receives a distress signal from a massive Bottle Ship, a
spacecraft housing top secret experiments. Unlike previous adventures,
Samus isn’t the only human navigating the alien-infested area, as she
soon rendezvous with a group of Federation soldiers consisting of her
old friend Anthony Higgs and her former Commanding Officer, Adam
Malkovich. Despite the silent tension between the two, Adam allows Samus
to assist his squad, provided she follows his orders to the letter. Out
of respect for him, Samus agrees, and takes part in a Federation
conspiracy that may have resulted in the resurrection of her deadliest
enemies, including the titular life-absorbing aliens themselves.
As the above plot synopsis shows, Other M features the biggest emphasis
in story yet seen for the series, drawing continuity from games both
past and future (the character of Adam was mentioned extensively in
Fusion, and Samus’ days as a Federation soldier have been covered in
several manga and artbooks in Japan). It also relies on several
cutscenes that feature full voice acting, including the first speaking
role for Samus herself. It’s a chance for series co-writer Yoshio
Sakamoto to flesh out his beloved character, offering fans a softer side
of the bounty hunter while detailing her personal issues, including the
longing for acceptance from her former mentor.
It’s a bold experiment in offering life to a previously silent
character, but it’s also a decision that has quickly caused many fans to
flood the message boards with their outrage over the “disservice” given
to one of gaming’s most popular heroines. Much of this ire stems from
the alleged “sexist” tone the game offers; in one specific example, this
is the first Metroid title where Samus does not lose all her abilities
and armor upgrades at the start of the game, but instead chooses to lock
away each of her weapons until Adam approves them. This mechanic was
meant to display Samus’ respect for her former Commander, but also
creates several questionable situations (during one portion, Samus must
trek through a lava-filled area, which veteran players recall causes
continuous damage without a Varia suit upgrade. Even though she already
has this upgrade installed, Samus will not activate the suit until the
plot finds it “necessary”). The most infamous example, however, involves
Samus’ uncharacteristic reaction when faced with a familiar face….
But the real problem with Metroid’s talkie re-imagining lies in….the
talking. Much of Samus’ dialog consists of self-narration, of which she
rarely states anything noteworthy or even interesting. Instead, her
lengthy monologues merely describe or repeat every event that occurs
before her, as if to hammer in the details to the player, even though
any fully functional player could easily follow the story without any
assistance. In fact, try imagining any of Other M’s cutscenes without
Samus uttering a single word: not only would you not miss any plot
details, the story would actually be better for it.
Fortunately, the gameplay revisions are much more acceptable, although
it is bound to be met with the same kind of controversy; despite the
expert job that Retro Studios did in bringing Metroid to the first
person, Other M has chosen to chosen to bring the camera back to a third
person view. This was often requested by hardcore fans, but rather than
follow the current trends of the perspective, such as over-the-shoulder
firing and cover-based mechanics, the game strives for a pseudo-retro
feel that features 2D platforming in the onset, but also tosses in
several camera angles that open up more dimensions; for example, one
portion of the map could feature Samus running and jumping in a fixed
angle just like in her sprite-based games, while the camera seamlessly
swings around to allow moving toward the foreground and background, or
even zooming back far enough to lay out a large stretch of land for the
armor-plated heroine to jump around (or roll around, when the situation
calls for it) in every direction. The first-person view also makes a
return appearance, this time in the form of a free aiming mechanic,
where moving the Wiimote from its default sideways position to its more
natural vertical pointer will instantly switch to first person, allowing
players to look and aim at targets freely, or to lock onto them by
holding down the B button.
While the first person viewpoint is mostly optional, there are several
key moments that require the use of this perspective, not to mention
that in order to use missiles, targets must be locked on. While
switching between the two perspectives is an instant process, it isn’t
exactly a seamless one; no matter how quickly one may try to interchange
the position of their Wiimotes, there is almost always a delay when
doing so, sometimes occurring in succession if you don’t steady the IR
pointer properly. Had the game simply used the standard controller plus
nunchaku setup, with the interchanging of the two perspectives relegated
to a button press, the transition would have been handled much more
smoothly. The reticule during first person mode can be rather finicky as
well, especially during cutscenes that require you to aim at a certain
target in order to advance the story.
Aiming hiccups aside, Other M does manage to outdo previous Metroid
incarnations in regards to action; the enemies are faster and more
furious than ever before, practically swarming over Samus like insects
(which isn’t a stretch, given how many of them do resemble bugs). Gone
are the basic patterns of classic Metroid foes, who now tend to make a
beeline toward the bounty hunter with little time to prepare. Anyone who
has experienced Team Ninja’s Ninja Gaiden series will no doubt feel a
sense of déjà vu, particularly the way Samus leaves an image trail after
dodging attacks, as well as the heavily animated executions that are
unique to each foe. It’s an intense experience that is unlike anything
ever seen on a Nintendo game, but one that certainly brings back that
classic “Nintendo Hard” feeling.
Fortunately, to help players keep up with the extra tenacious enemies,
some streamlining has been done to the combat controls; rather than
positioning Samus to fire directly at an enemy, she will now
automatically target foes while in the third person, allowing players to
easily mop up swarms of weaker enemies while also keeping a close eye at
the larger, more dangerous opponents. A dodge roll mechanic has also
been implemented, where players can effortlessly roll away from danger
with a push of the D-pad just before an attack connects, allowing Samus
to roll in any four directions. Mastering the art of dodging is the most
important step to survival, as several bosses (both mini and large) can
deal tremendous damage to slower-witted players.
In order to streamline the combat even further, enemies will no longer
drop health and ammo after defeat. Instead, when Samus is at a critical
state in their health, or have completely run out of missiles, players
can instantly replenish both by assuming a “Concentration” stance, which
is done by holding the Wiimote straight up and holding down the A
button. It’s a mechanic that works as intended, helping to increase the
tension during battle as enemies can interrupt Concentration to lay out
the finishing blow, but there is some frustration in the fact that you
can only enable this when you’re at your weakest; players could have
their health close to a dangerous point, but will be unable to heal
themselves as they aren’t “weak” enough to allow Concentration,
resulting in a few closer-than-intended calls.
The ability to explore every nook and cranny in order to turn up hidden
caches of ammo and health is still present in this game, continuing the
most recognizable tradition of the Metroid series. The game also manages
to bring back some of the fear and dread found in the earliest games,
thanks to its aesthetic style, including dark corridors and ominous
music. Like many Wii titles, the visuals are obstructed by the aging
technology, including blurred out textures and jaggy walls, but the
framerate is solid and the FMV footage is some of the prettiest ever
seen in a Nintendo game. Unfortunately for some hardcore fans, the game
adopts the linear structure introduced in Fusion, with an on-screen map
telling you where your next destination is at all times; since most of
the items can’t be retrieved without a specific ability, anyway, there
is little reason to deviate from the outlined path.
Ultimately, Metroid Other M will go down as one of Nintendo’s most
divisive titles, especially among fans of Retro’s Prime trilogy. While
the drawn-out dialog does hamper the storytelling, patient viewers may
be pleasantly surprised at the intriguing twists the plot takes
regarding Metroid canon, though there are still a few obvious holes in
the plot as well (including the sub-plot of a rogue Federation agent
that literally goes nowhere). But as is the usual case for Nintendo, the
gameplay is a solid and action-packed, to the point that the game almost
feels like a mod of an existing Sony or Microsoft action game. To that
end, Other M is an experiment that fails to be Marvelous, but certainly
well above Mediocre.
- Jorge Fernandez
(December 28, 2010) |
