Metroid: Other M

You'll have to forgive me for not doing my homework ahead of time, but before a couple of days ago, I had never played Metroid Fusion. It's a shame if you haven't either, because Metroid: Other M is going to feel really alien, bizarre, and not at all in line with the Metroid design ethos. In fact, though, Other M bridges the gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion not only narratively, but in a gameplay sense as well. This revelation has made me realize that what I initially took to be a very pretty, very challenging, extremely awesome, but totally un-Metroid-y game, is in fact almost a lynchpin in the series.

I'm also going to state up front that as a huge Metroid fan, there's no doubt in my mind that I gave elements of this game a pass when I wouldn't do so in another game, so be forewarned – my opinions have to be taken with a grain of salt here.

With all of that said, the risks that Nintendo have taken with this franchise are remarkable, and no one could accuse them of being staid. The shift to first-person perspective in the Prime series, the extensive storytelling of Metroid Fusion, hell, even a Metroid Pinball game; this is a series that Nintendo refuses to let stagnate, and I commend them for that. It would be easy to leave the Metroid "formula" alone and play each installment safely, and that would probably result in magnficent games in their own right. But by taking the more difficult path, Nintendo has shown that you can breathe new life into series and make you reconsider what it means to be a part of a series.

There's no denying that Nintendo and Team Ninja's joint venture is the biggest risk they've taken with the series so far. On first glance, this is a game that appears to toss out everything that I love about the series, things that just three years ago were being perfected with Corruption on the Wii: Samus not only speaks, but has extensive internal monologues. Her sex appeal has been notched up quite a bit through ample use of the Zero Suit (although, as we pointed out earlier today, given Team Ninja's past output, could have been much, much worse). Exploration is reserved for those who want to get 100% completion in the game, and isn't an essential element of the gameplay. There's tons of cutscenes. And that sense of loneliness is nearly gone.

But here's the thing: as I said earlier, this was all true of Metroid Fusion. Maybe it's the sheen of the unbelievably gorgeous graphics, or the switch from text-speak to voice-speak, but Metroid: Other M plays out so much like Fusion that I'm surprised that this hasn't been brought up more by the development staff or Nintendo (who seem to be playing up the game's connection to Super Metroid).

Now don't get me wrong – this is in no way a retread of Fusion. There are many more changes than I listed above. Namely, the gameplay of Fusion is very similar to Super Metroid, albeit with new enemies and a more action-oriented focus. Other M's shifting 3D perspectives and the game's reliance on the sideways Wii remote for input changes all of this drastically. First, aiming is done automatically, although you can switch into first-person mode simply by pointing the Wii remote at the screen. This fixes your feet to the ground while you're in first-person mode. While the general consensus seems to be that these controls are clunky, seeing as you use the d-pad to navigate a 3D space, I'm going to go on record as saying that they're glorious. If you're a child of the 80s who grew up with an NES controller in your hand, you'll soon realize that this game is a love letter to those control schemes, and is just as responsive and intuitive as games of old.

When I turn my Wii on and I'm thinking about what games to play, I generally gravitate towards games (like New Super Mario Bros. Wii or WarioLand: Shake It!) that use the sideways Wii remote configuration, because it just naturally feels good. Other M taps into this to the nth degree, making every move feel absolutely finely tuned. I'm glad that Nintendo didn't decide to include a host of other control options – what the Wii experiment has proved is that as a design philosophy, Nintendo believes that play control is intricately and inextricably linked to the overall gaming experience, and Other M is perhaps their most successful proof of that.

In terms of releases, this game is following up Corruption, and there literally couldn't be two more different games. The ambiguity of the Prime series and its (I'd say) superior story-delivery mechanics are gone, and unfortunately, they've been replaced by cutscenes. There are not nearly as many cutscenes as reports led me to believe – this is still a game firmly rooted in gameplay; or perhaps I've been desensitized by recent Square Enix games – but they're there nonetheless. Thankfully, the cutscenes are really well done. They occasionally get overly melodramatic, but as fan service, it's really interesting to see Samus' character fully fleshed out. Having started to play Fusion, for fans of that game, this game must be a godsend. It finally fills in the backstory of Samus that's only hinted at in Fusion, giving information about people who are only briefly mentioned. And it's done really, really well. In terms of straight forward narrative (as opposed to the more circumstantial narrative of Prime, which I still believe is delivered better), this game has perhaps the most interesting story of all the games.

Picking up almost directly after the events of Super Metroid, where Samus is protected by the baby metroid from Mother Brain's attack, Samus is on her way home when she receives a distress call from a Galactic Federation vessel called the Bottle Ship. Once Samus boards, she's greeted by former team members from her time (before the events of the original Metroid) in the Galactic Federation – and Adam Malkovich, her former commanding officer. What the Bottle Ship's purpose is isn't entirely clear from the beginning of the game, but as it progresses, it becomes clear that some… "alien" experiments have been happening on board, and the Galactic Federation isn't too keen to let their secrets out. It's a really effective sci-fi "whodunit," which is quite the change for the Metroid series – once again, outside of Fusion.

Besides the NPCs in Corruption, this is the first time that voice acting is used extensively in the series, and I'd generally say that it's delivered well. Samus' voice worried me initially, but her somewhat cold delivery seemed perfectly suited to the character by the end of the game. It gives the impression that her reminiscing of these events (from some unspecified future) isn't exactly something she's enjoying doing. The other characters are voiced well as well, except for maybe the "remembuh me?" vocal stylings of one Anthony Higgs. Despite that, I generally had no qualms about the voice acting.

Samus has always been a character shrouded in mystery, and while I'd say that they go too far in trying to humanize her on occasion, I didn't find her newfound emotions to be at odds with her character at all. In fact, this is the type of game to recontextualize the rest of the series. No longer is Samus simply a woman in a space suit – her entire history has to be considered in every game now, and that Nintendo and Team Ninja pulled that off in relatively subtle ways (albeit, in melodramatic ways at other times) should be commended. Suffice to say that this element of the game could have turned out worse.

Unlike the "cinematic" games that I've been ragging on as of late, Other M certainly has cinematic cutscenes in abundance, but still puts its focus squarely on gameplay. In that way, perhaps it feels less like a traditional Nintendo game (and with Skyward Sword seemingly promising this type of design, it's only a short while to wait if Other M isn't up your alley), and instead almost feels like an original Playstation game. This brings up a lot of fun "what if" scenarios: what if Metroid had been designed by Sony instead of Nintendo? Chances are it would have looked a lot like this game (and as a fan of original Playstation games, that's a compliment, not a criticism). Would I have dialed down the cutscenes? Sure. I mean, if I was designing this game, it probably would have played like a third-person Prime game. But there's nothing "wrong" per se with the direction that they've decided to take the storytelling. It's not the direction I would have chosen, but it's pretty much the best it could be with the direction they chose.

Ah yes, the gameplay. So, exploration is really downplayed in this game, which is perhaps a bit disappointing. Where the game makes up for this in spades is in delivering one of the absolute best action game experiences in video gaming, period. Team Ninja might not know what makes a good Metroid game, but they sure as fuck know how to make an action game. The Metroid series has never been so visceral: Samus can now jump on enemies and perform "finishing moves;" as well, she now has a flashy new dodge mechanic that feels incredibly satisfying and is completely necessary for surviving the many enemies the game throws your way.

This game really could have crashed and burned if the difficulty was too high or too low, but as is often the case in Nintendo games, they've made the difficulty level just perfect. The cerebral challenge of Metroid games past is gone, which I'm disappointed about, but taken as a straight-up action game, the difficulty level is challenging and incredibly entertaining. This game requires some serious d-pad mastery, and as I said earlier – old school NES fans should eat this shit up. Not the "modern" storytelling conventions necessarily (and they were probably mightily pissed at Fusion if that was the case), but the action. As an NES afficianado, I can say that the kind of action I dreamed of as a kid has been realized here. You will die a lot – it's not an easy game by any stretch of the imagination – but the perfectly realized action keeps you coming back.

And the bosses. Oh my god, the bosses. These are, bar none, the best boss battles that have ever been in a Nintendo game, beating out my previous favourites in Twilight Princess. They're challenging and all require different strategies, and range from the fast, annoying types to the gargantuan leviathans that infest the lava world of the game. On more than a couple of occasions I noticed perhaps a bit of influence from some Western games, specifically GLADoS from Portal and SHODAN from System Shock. Those are two of the most badass artificial intelligences-run-amok in gaming, so that's a high compliment indeed.

I'm pretty sure that no game in the series is ever going to top the environments of Prime 3, and Other M confirms this for me. Don't get me wrong – this is an outrageously pretty game on the system, even getting my girlfriend who couldn't give a shit about graphics to elicit a "wow." The game is extremely colourful, detailed, and has the sheen of Japanese development. I'm not sure what it is, but like Final Fantasy XIII, this is a game that even just in gameplay looks Japanese. This might be a concerted effort to bring in more Japanese gamers to the series (as Metroid has always been more popular in the west), but this is just conjecture.

In any case, though, the Bottle Ship doesn't offer the same opportunities for interesting level architecture as the worlds of Tallon IV or Bryyo or any Prime's worlds, really. A lot of the environments are cold and mechanical, and while they're certainly really well done, they don't match the art design of the Prime series in the slightest. With that being said, there are interesting design choices that even play into the themes of the game. A main feature of the Bottle Ship is that, for reasons that are explained later in the game, certain parts of the ship are "experimental research areas" (very similar to the recreations of SR388 in Metroid Fusion) that mimic certain areas of past Metroid games. That means that there's an "ice world," a "lava world" and a "biological world" all contained on the Bottle Ship.

What the areas lack in architecture, though, they make up in pure prettiness, as this game just looks amazing in motion. The rich, deep colour palette that the Wii seems to succeed in pushing more than the other consoles is on full display here, and one could be mistaken for thinking that the game came out in HD somehow. This is a game that deserves to be seen on the best display possible.

With all of that being said, there are still so many lingering doubts that I have about this game. Namely, a lot of the changes that seem so out of line with the Metroid lineage still kind of bother me, even if they work well in a gameplay context. For instance, I'm firmly against regenerating health, and Other M not only includes this, but even regenerating ammo. See, when Samus's health gets low (like, really low), you can hold the Wii remote vertically and press the A button to "concentrate," which helps you to regain one energy tank worth of health. In theory, this sounds like dogshit, and I kind of hate that it actually works really well. See, it really heightens the tension of difficult battles, because you need to find a secure place to do this in. And it's something that you can't do all of the time – you basically have to be on death's door before you can engage it. So it does add in making certain situations really exciting and tense. I still can't shake the feeling that the game would be better served with a more traditionally Metroidian health system.

Regenerating ammo, though, doesn't make any fucking sense, and I hate that it's in the game. Moving on.

The other element of the game that I at first despised, until I discovered that it fits in with the storyline and with the design ethos of Metroid Fusion, is the fact that Samus doesn't have to find her powerups. She has them all inside of her, but they have to be "authorized" by Malkovich. This kind of takes away a lot of the fun of exploration of previous Metroid games, but considering that there's not really much to explore in the environment anyways, I suppose that there was no other way around it. Naturally, this made me wish that there was more of an emphasis on exploration, because that's what I really, really love about the Metroid and Zelda franchises. (I guess that I can replay the Prime games anytime I want, though.)

So there's really two sets of criteria you could apply to this game. You could apply the traditional Metroid criteria, wherein you would compare this game to the best games in the series and find the game lacking in a number of key areas. The second way to judge it is either as a direct consequence of the design choices of Metroid Fusion, or as a really, really amazing action game. I prefer the latter choice. Much in the same way that one could say that Square Enix took a huge chance with Final Fantasy XIII, and could be judged on similar criteria, that game failed because it failed to deliver either a good FF game or a good game, period. The bottom line is that Metroid: Other M is a great game, and just because it's different from its Metroid brethren doesn't change that fact. I might not consider it to be as faithful to the Metroid legacy as I would have hoped, but there's no denying that it succeeds on its own merits. That's perhaps Nintendo's greatest risk of all – launching a completely great action game at unheard levels and tying it to a series that doesn't have a place for it.