Metroid Other M: Radical Game Details, Formula-Breaking Changes

[javajolt]

Metroid just took a huge 180 degree turn... the formula is radically changed with much less exploration and lots more narrative, not to mention new gameplay mechanics.

- A traditional Metroid experience offering a completely different take from what we've seen to date

- The opening cinematic details the last moments of Super Metroid

- The game is a noticeably darker take on the metroid universe. Mother brain is a slimy and hulking alien, very different from its Super Metroid incarnation

- Expect a dialogue-heavy game, Samus speaks in a serious and calm tone, adding to the mature theme of the game (I gotta stop here, because matirrity isn't anything new for Metroid). While in previous Metroid games the story required your imagination to make it work, this one will have an ever-present narrative.

- When Samus answers a distress call from a partially destroyed space station, she finds out that the galactic federation crew that is already there is composed of her old crew members.

- In just one cutscene, you'll experience Samus converse more than she did throughout the whole Metroid series. An interesting change to the formula? Hell yes. Nintendo promised to focus on her character, and Samus interacting with others is a very important element in fleshing out her character.

- The game is a very strange hybrid of 2D and First-person gameplay.

- While the game is a 2D action-platformer for the most part, the camera and depth of navigation will change according to your situation, sometimes allowing fully 3D movement.

- You use NOTHING but the Wii remote. You are required to twist it horizontally, use the d-pad to move around and use "1" to shoot. Targeting is completely automatic - point into the direction of the enemies and blast 'em.

- The first-person mode is activated by pointing your wiimote at the screen, much like you do with a TV remote. The mode allows for further environment exploration, and is apparently the only way you can aim (using your reticle) and fire your missiles.

- Samus is given new abilities, such as dodging an attack by tapping the d-pad in any direction prior to getting hit, kicking an enemy (provided that you're close enough), and Samus also can mount enemies and use them for an attack - Destructoid didn't manage to use it in real-time combat situations, though.

- Okay, now, this is a shocker, a gamechanger, a gamebreaker, call it what you will, but it fundamentally changes Metroid. Items are no longer found through exploration, instead, your Commanding Officer will authorize the use of various items - in the section Destructoid played, the commander authorized morph ball bombs.

- No, not done yet. Remember hunting around for energy? How about missiles? Forget about doing so ever again, or at least in Metroid Other M. Tilt the wiimote vertically and hold "A" to replenish your missile supply at any time... doing the same if your health dips into the red will replenish one energy tank at a time.

And... done. If you followed through with the whole summary, then you saw details that are an absolute 180 degree turn as far as Metroid goes. This installment promises to be extremely different from anything you previously saw in Metroid, for better or worse. I'll leave you to discuss which is it!

The game will be out June 27th in North America, and sometime in Q3 2010 in Europe.

[javajolt]

Metroid: Other M has piqued my curiosity more than most upcoming games. I love the franchise, but I’m bewildered at the seemingly odd marriage of Team Ninja and Nintendo. I asked about the origin, and will shamefully toss to the interview that will soon be on X-Play, but it appears it was born "in the depths of Japan," so for now I will focus on my more tangible experience with the game.

The verdict on Other M is still out. I played through the beginning of the game, and the amount of exposition and character for Samus is both fascinating and frightening. For a character whose biggest reveal previously was that she is a woman, it is almost mind-boggling to compare the character that Samus is for me with the character Samus is to Sakamoto, the creator of the series.

She seems detached, but her voice is almost timid and more feminine than I had imagined. Perhaps that assessment is unfair, having recently completed Mass Effect 2 and grown accustomed to my very badass (but very Paragon) Captain Shepard. As much as Samus has become a part of my gaming life, she is not me nor mine to own or describe; she has always been compellingly mysterious. Hopefully we won't see too much sexualization of the character (it has to be mentioned, given Team Ninja's catalog) but again, it incredible to see her fleshed out into something...human.

Gameplay wise, Metroid: Other M finds a home between the classic 2D style and the first-person re-imagining of Metroid Prime. Almost ironically, so does the story. It's feels almost like a game made after its time, falling between Fusion (if your memory and knowledge of the series is on par, you'll recognize one very important character, Adam Malkovich, right away) and Prime. It feels as if it *should* have been made between the two, to bridge players into a very different experience in the first-person milieu.

Post-destruction of the Mother Brain, Samus finds herself back in action and following a distress signal, nicknamed "a baby's cry" (get it? like the baby Metroid that gave its life...maybe?) and discovers that the crew currently investigating the signal is none other than her compatriots and former captain in the Galactic Federation before she became a bounty hunter. It's clear that she and Adam have a history, but well, some things are yet to be revealed.

http://g4tv.com/lv3/38727

While the stripping of Samus' power's seems extremely artificial in this iteration (it appears due to taking orders from Adam), the core of Metroid gameplay is definitely at home here. The other element that bothered me (and may have been due to the set up of the sensor bar) is switching to the first-person view (by pointing the Wii remote at the screen) yet it is necessary for using missiles and scanning objects. It just feels like a halt to the flow of the game and can be frustrating during more chaotic action sequences. There is a clear change to combat with close-quarters action at play here, Samus performs melee combat  moves like leaping on an enemy’s back and putting a beam shot through his/her head, and more. It's very Team Ninja, but I wasn't clear on how much of the melee I was doing rather than the game doing it for me. Felt like the latter.

I associate the Metroid games with a feeling of loneliness, so it was a surprise to interact with people as much as I did in the short demo I played. Clearly, there are secrets about this game (abilities, plot, etc.) but it is nonetheless clearly a brainchild of two different teams, and my curiosity has me itching to know more. Will the exploration factor of Prime come into play more? Will there be new weaponry or abilities? Will I lose the crew I seem to be currently tied to? Where can I find Ridley? I don't know, but I am excited to find out as much as I am innately frightened to see Samus and Other M reveal what has always been a private mythology in my head. I'm fascinated but as I mentioned earlier, I need to see more.