Metroid: Other M
is the brain child of Nintendo’s creation and Team Ninja’s sense of gameplay.
Unlike past Metroid games, Other M’s main focus is on a strong
close range combat and cinematic narration. Though these traits seem far and
away from what a typical Metroid game
would bring, the core elements we’ve come to expect from the franchise are
still quite relevant.
The first big difference that you’ll notice with Other M is the inclusion of cut scenes
showing off some of the protagonist’s, Samus Aran, time in the Galactic
Federation. Unlike all other Metroid
games, this is the first time we get to see Samus outside of battle and communicating
with someone on a planet not riddled with traps and dangerous creatures. The
cinematics are a welcomed addition to the franchise and really bring some story
and life into the series. One downside however is the game’s voice acting. For
the most part it’s passible at best, but when listening to Samus’s dialogue –
it’s terrible. Having the main character talk in such a monotonous and dry
dialect really skewed some of the impact these great looking scenes should have
had.
As far as the key elements of a Metroid game goes, Other M
has them. There is still plenty of exploration, new powers being unlocked
throughout the game and a ton of back tracking in order to find secrets and
access new areas. The main difference I found myself struggling with throughout
the game was its new control scheme. You hold the Wii remote sideways in your
hands like a classic NES controller and use the D-pad in order to move around. This
set up works well enough but made for some not-so-fluid looking traversal at
times.
However, Other M
counters this with enough smart camera pans and movements to make it passable.
What this means is that when Samus has to run up a circular ramp, instead of
having to constantly use different D-pad inputs to make her run diagonally, the
camera will move along at your pace and allow you to traverse the area while
only needing to hold down one direction. This doesn’t happen all the time and
that’s when you’ll be reminded that overall, it would have still worked better
with the nunchuck’s analog stick.
With the smart camera movements and heavy cinematic
influence, Metroid Other M looks
great. It is by no means the next benchmark for graphics on the Wii, but it
still holds up with some of the best of them.
Another addition to the series that really drives home the
Team Ninja influence is Other M’s
strong influence on close combat. In order to attack, you press the 1 Button
and Samus will auto aim at any enemy in front of her. Holding down the button
lends itself to power up for stronger and bigger attacks. Along with this,
hitting any direction on the D pad when an enemy attacks will cause Samus to
dodge out of the way. Doing this manoeuvre correctly along with powering up an
attack will reward the player with an immediate full charge that you can launch
in the direction the enemy was. Keeping those tactics in mind, I quickly found
myself constantly dodging and firing huge attacks almost on repeat. This helped
the battles move fast and without any difficulty from the controls.
One aspect of the combat though comes into play when you
turn the Wii Remote and point it at the TV screen. This calls for a different
control scheme than the majority of the game and that doesn’t bode well for
that already hit-and-miss feel to them. Doing so will cause the game to go into
a first person view and allow Samus to use different attacks. Some of these
include missiles while others are grapple ropes for swinging across large
distances. For the most part, you won’t be using this in standard combat since
the enemies will move too quickly and hit you before you can lock on to them.
The changing of hand positions take far too long. The only times this will
really come into play is when you are facing a boss that previously required
you to halt it’s movement by freezing it, trapping it or whatever else. Though
you will get used to having to move back and forth, it still would have been a
much easier dimension to handle if we were allowed to use a Wii Remote and
Nunchuck control set up.
If you’re a die-hard Metroid
fan, you’ll appreciate this game. With all the secret rooms and power-ups to
find, there is quite a bit of replay ability. Each time you unlock a new weapon
or tool, more and more sections of the world become available to explore. You
can always backtrack to past stages to find more health upgrades, missile packs
and etc. Even with the inclusion of an additional (and difficult) ending, you
can spend a lot of time with the game. Overall, your time with Other M will be good, as long as you can
look past the awkward and slow controls.
Verdict: Rent It
Last Updated: May 16, 2012 - 6:56 Join the discussion:
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