Other M is the latest installment of one of video games’ most iconic sci-fi adventure series of all time, Metroid. Since its debut in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System, it has spawned numerous sequels across handheld and home consoles in the forms of side-scrolling adventures, first-person shooters and even a pinball game. Team Ninja’s interpretation of the bounty hunter Samus Aran’s saga is a completely new spin (morphball pun intended) on the immensely beloved franchise. Now a 3rd person action-adventure – with first-person and sidescrolling elements – do Team Ninja’s latest efforts pay off?
The game kicks off with a cutscene depicting the end of Super Metroid, where Samus defeats Mother Brain with the aid of a baby Metroid’s self-sacrificial defense. Soon after she awakens in one of the Galactic Federation’s infirmaries and receives a distress beacon from a GF vessel, so naturally she embarks to investigate. Upon arrival she encounters a squad of Federation soldiers who have also come in response to the beacon. She realises the squad consists of her past military comrades before she left to work solo. One of these soldiers is her ex-commanding officer Adam Malkovich, a man she looks up to with great admiration as a sort of father figure. However Adam shows coldness towards her for having left the military years ago, calling her an “outsider” and refraining from allowing his squad mates to reveal what information they have to her. She soon earns their trust however when a giant purple tentacle monster attacks, by destroying it. From there on Samus works alongside this elite group to find out what sent the distress beacon and why.
For the most part I love the game for being so completely different from past entries, however that is also its biggest downfall. The gameplay is much more fast-paced and action oriented which differs from the ambience and adventure of usual Metroid fare. The game controls by holding the Wiimote sideways to emulate a classic game pad, frequently requiring you to point the IR sensor at the TV to enter first-person mode. It’s understandable why the developers added this element to the game – they wanted to hint towards the previous successful efforts of Retro Studios’ work on the Prime trilogy, however constantly having to switch between two different control methods just completely interrupts a lot of the immersion (especially in boss battles). In game pad mode the D-Pad is used for movement, the 1 button is used for firing arm-cannon blasts and the 2 button is used for jumping. To fire a missile you’re required to enter first-person mode which hinders your movement and to look elsewhere from in front of you requires holding down the B trigger. You can see how this would make frantic battles and boss fights much more strenuous since you’re switching between two different control methods and view modes.
3rd person combat on the other hand works for the most part; since actions are practically mapped to only two buttons, to dodge you have to utilise the ‘Sense Move’ mechanic by pressing in a direction when an enemy makes an attack towards you. It takes a little getting used to, but once mastered it feels comfortable and rewarding. Another interesting automatic mechanic is the Lethal Strike/Overblast where if you charge your beam or jump on top of an enemy you can initiate a special close-range attack to either heavily damage or destroy them. A huge diversion (that a lot of people may not realise is such a big thing) from past Metroid experiences, is the inclusion of a regenerative health and missile system instead of item pick ups. If you’re running low on rockets, just pull the Wiimote into an up-right position and hold the A button to make Samus recharge for ammo. This also works for health when you’re on your last tank of energy; just charge up to switch on your reserve tanks.
The gameplay in Other M for the most part is fun. Having to fire missiles in first-person though sometimes breaks the immersion.
The level design in Other M is brilliantly crafted with the standard backtracking methods we’re used to seeing in this series. Since the game bounces between third-person and first-person it makes looking for hidden power-ups as challenging as ever. Just like Super Paper Mario you will have to combine these different perspectives to find secrets within certain levels, and it’s often a great feeling of accomplishment when you do. Another thing to mention is that usually when I play a Metroid game there are moments that I get stuck and frustrated for not knowing where to go next/what to do – thankfully not once had that occurred this time around, due to quite straight-forward level design. If you sometimes have this problem like I do, rest easy knowing it’s unlikely to happen. As for audio, the soundtrack is amazingly crafted and full of nostalgic tunes along with new ones. It’s obvious Team Ninja took a lot of care with creating a soundtrack that appeals to the core Metroid fans and newcomers.
Speaking of appealing to fans, the production values in the CG and in-engine cutscenes are nothing short of stunning. Only in the Super Mario Galaxy games have I seen a Wii game come this close to blurring the line between Wii and current-gen graphics (see what I did there?). Performance-wise the game runs smoothly a majority of the time, only having hiccups in framerate when things get massively intense (such as destroying multiple enemies with a charged Plasma Beam shot). All cutscenes are voiced acted, meaning even Samus herself has been given a voice, which is a first in this series. The in-game scenes feature a lot of motion capture, which helps bring more humanity into these characters. Speaking of characters, the cast of Other M were a breath of fresh air for this game. Despite some… interesting personalities (coughAdamcough) they all bring drama to the story and help develop Samus as a character, giving her stronger purpose as a heroine. Which brings me to the biggest and most important point of the game…
Samus Aran’s character choice really doesn’t depict her to be the Intergalactic Bounty Hunter that we’ve all come to believe in. This is an incredibly strong and independent woman who performed extinction over one of the most feared parasitic life-forms in the universe, the Metroids. So it comes as a huge surprise that instead of losing her abilities and weapons like in previous experiences, Team Ninja instead decided to have her wait for her ex-commanding officer Adam to give her approval of using specific weapons after certain situations. That’s right, instead of being the independent one-woman-army we’ve all become accustomed and appreciative of who does what’s necessary to save lives, she waits for the okay of a man she hasn’t seen in many years to use her powerful arsenal of weapons because she wants to earn his respect. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t wait for some guy to say “yes” so I can wear my heat-resistant Varia Suit while running around in lava pits. It may seem like such a small thing to pick at since losing gaining your arsenal is a long-running characteristic of the games, but the circumstance it represents is an issue that crops up every time you “earn” a new weapon and it completely changes the vibe of our heroine.
The cutscenes are gorgeous and this rendition of Super Metroid’s fight with Mother Brain proves that.
As for the story, it’s quite well written with an interesting plot twist. Despite the Prime series being more about saving the universe, this one was more focused on the characters and situations regarding only what was happening within this Bottle Ship, as it were. Which doesn’t make it any less engaging or unfulfilling. Ridley makes an explosive, seemingly out-of-nowhere, entrance (and exit) to the story during an adrenaline-inducing cutscene and boss battle. Another character named Anthony is brought into the spotlight as one of Samus’ past platoon buddies, who helps to slightly add more to our heroine’s back story (whether that is good or bad is up to you). Though I really liked the story and cutscenes I should mention that in case you’ve never played a Team Ninja game before – such as the recent Ninja Gaiden series – you should know that it is sports some heavy Anime/Japanese story/character/action themes (which unfortunately is what makes me dislike Aran’s portrayal in this game). Thankfully despite many (if not all) of Ninja Gaiden’s female characters being depicted as scantily clad and overly sexualised, it is not so much the case this time; she’s occasionally shown in her tightly-fitted Zero Suit and this is also the most erm… fully figured she has ever been in a video game.
As I said earlier, for the most part I do love the game and I did have a lot of fun playing it. However there were just some development choices that I can not help but disagree with, being such a huge Metroid fan and having grown up with the games. Though Metroid fans may be turned off by a change in key aspects that make the games so important, it’s still a great, intense and story-driven adventure that will appeal to fans and newcomers alike. Definitely one of the technological spectacles of the Wii.
Score: 8 out of 10
