ArtisticallyChill

When the Metroid franchise was reborn on the GameCube with Prime, I was a bit skeptical with the switch to 1st person. But Retro Studios made it work so well that it easily became one of my favorite GameCube games. When it was re-released with Prime 2 and Corruption in a nice Trilogy set, I knew I would instantly pick it up on day one.

When it was announced that Other M would be developed by “Project M”, a team consisting of staff members from Nintendo, Team Ninja (NINJA GAIDEN), and D-Rockets as the brand new experience for the Wii that blends both 1st and 3rd person perspective I was completely blown away as the video showed off some of the acrobatic moves that were reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden 2. The artful dodging and jumping on larger enemies to perform special moves looked all too cool giving the gameplay a frantic yet action packed feel. After the announcement and video at last year’s e3, I definitely excited for this game.

After being delayed 2 months from it’s original release date, Metroid Other M is here! While I was skeptical for Metroid Prime all those years ago, I was behind Other M. I avoided all articles and videos during its development because I wanted a spoiler free experience when I got my copy for this review. The problem is Metroid Other M doesn’t live up to the hype. Unless that hype was all about the clunky controls, drab storytelling, and PS2-esque jaggy graphics.

It’s understandable that Project M wanted to create a brand new Metroid experience on the Wii, trying to please everyone – those who played the original Metroid through Super Metroid and wanted that feeling of an old-school platformer, those who stayed with the franchise all the way through it’s re-invention with the Prime Trilogy, and those who were introduced to Metroid with the GameCube and have stuck with it through the Prime Trilogy. You’ve technically got 3 generations of fans wanting a Metroid experience that delivers everything they’ve experienced in prior games as well as new gameplay elements that will make it stand out on its own. And this is how the game EPIC FAILS.

Controls – Holding the Wii Remote horizontally like a control pad like back in the days of the original Metroid through Super Metroid is nice. However, the whole flick wiimote vertical to switch to 1st person just for aiming can be a bit frustrating. At times it wouldn’t switch as fluidly as it should forcing me to reset my wiimote to horizontal at which point the game momentarily switches to 1st person and then realizes I should be back in 3rd person and then I get hit by the enemies or the boss. While in 3rd person, your auto-aiming sucks. Your aim won’t adjust until either the enemy is right on in front of you or you move and fire thinking the auto aim will kick in as you let the first blast fly but it’s usually after about 3 shots that the auto aim finally aims at the target.

What I Would Have Done – Incorporate the nunchuck and use a control scheme similar to Twilight Princess. Use the thumbstick on the nunchuck to move around, directional on remote to switch between pre-assigned beams/missles/bombs, C to zoom, Z to morphball, A to jump, B to fire etc. To perform those acrobatics and special moves, use a combination of wiimote and nunchuck controls i.e. flick thumbstick left while tapping a to dodge in that direction or while jumping towards the enemy, shake the wiimote to perform the ‘grab enemy and oneshot kill them in the face’ move.

Graphics – While the full motion videos are nicely done, the in game graphics are trying too hard to give you that edgy sci-fi appearance. The sharp jagged edges on everything make Other M appear like a PS2 game from several years ago, back when all games were on blue-backed discs. Even standing still, the model of Samus bothers my eyes. We all know the Wii isn’t as graphically capable as the Xbox 360 and PS3 so why are developers trying so hard on the stunning 480p presentation?

What I Would Have Done – Three words: Cell shaded graphics. Use it for the whole presentation: full motion videos, cutscenes, and gameplay. See Borderlands.

Story – I love it when games have a story that is both immersive and memorable. However, when that story is marred by a really monotonous narration, I could care less about the videos and cutscenes, wanting to skip them each time before my ears begin to bleed. Seriously, it’s that bad. My 1.5 year old niece could baby-talk through every dialogue sequence and it would be more entertaining than this and Samus would still remain as one of the most empowering female game characters in videogames. In Other M, I felt greatly put-off by Samus’ emo-esque inner dialogue that made her seem rather inconsistent as a strong character compared to her previous games. Sometimes I just want magically reach into the tv, smack her upside her head and say ‘Time to nut up or shut up!’.

What I Would Have Done – Revamp the story altogether and keep Samus’ strength of character consistent with that of the previous games. Forget the ear-bleeding inner monologue. Her past relationships with the unmemorable characters she interacts with could have been done better without inner monologue-ing and through the use of more well-written dialogue in the flashback sequences.

If Project M didn’t try to hard to please everyone and followed the suggestions above, then maybe the game would be worth the Full Pricetag. As it stands, Metroid Other M wants to deliver but EPIC FAILS in doing so making the game not even worth Buying Used. Maybe, just maybe, this game qualifies as a Low Rental, if you’re really that bored… with everything else in your life.

If anything, Other M gets another ‘M’ for mediocre.

~ LoneWolf