Rate Metroid: Other M

[KickHopper]

7. Every other Metroid game counts as 9+ to me.
I just have one thing to say

WHY GOD? WHY?????????

[HylianChozo]

10, absolute 10. I freakin' loved this game. It's in my top 3! The cutscene where Adam left pretty much deserved an oscar IMO.


10 for the acrobatics. After the ridley fight when he fires a flaming bolt t the wall, creates a hole in the wall in then flies through the hole was amazing.

4 for the speed of the game. You're in an adrenaline- pumping fight and when you're finished you go to a depressing cutscene where samus describes her feelings in every way. Though on the bright side of that I got a 100 on my Adjectives test because of that.

[ghaleon]

Hey everyone,

I'm a long-time visitor of the Metroid Database (ever since the mid '90s), but this is my first post on the forums.

I AM MINDBLOWN, 9.5/10. (I rounded up.)

I got Metroid: The Other M for the holiday season, and it exceeded all of my expectations (which weren't even low). In my opinion, this is definitely the best Metroid game since Super Metroid, making it at least as good as fusion, which was one of my favourites. I'll try to be tactful about not writing spoilers here.

My lasting impression of this game is that I felt that it really respected the intelligence of the player, much more than many new games I've played. I was killed in the elevator, for good reason. Although I fully expected that what I was doing should kill me in a sensible universe, I did not believe that a video game would let me act so stupidly. They did, and I died, and it was wonderful.

Similarly with the plot. In my opinion, it was set up like a good detective novel. There's enough information introduced early on for you to make theories and deductions, and you can actually figure most of it out before they tell you, but only if you're sharp. I played through the first time with my family (all metroid fans), and as we gradually put things together someone would shout out their newest hypothesis. Most of us were usually wrong, but one of us was often right - definitely a sign of a good mystery.

On a sentimental level, the personality of Samus really shone through on this one, and I appreciated it. I've played enough games as silent protagonists. It was good to have a game where you can start to understand her. The relationship between Samus and Adam was also something that resonated with me, and it definitely made the game strike on an emotional level rather than just being fun.

Things people have said about the gameplay, yes. I never would have believed that Metroid could play so well in 3D, and still be 'Metroid'. But they did a beautiful job, and this is probably one of the most fun Metroid games I've played. I've often been annoyed that, compared to Super Metroid, Samus in other games just doesn't seem dangerous enough. But that's definitely not the case in Other M.

They made some bold changes. Concentration was a neat twist which probably made the game harder rather than easier, compared with powerup drops. I actually liked the Adam authorization scheme. Much better than the typical mysteriously-starts-weak Samus. Sometimes it felt forced, but I can't think of a better rationale. First-person-view was a really cool addition for treasure-hunting and immersiveness, although in combat it sometimes felt like handcuffs. The occasional detective pixel hunt was fine with me too, because I'm patient enough for it, although it could have been frustrating for some other people.

Overall, there's only one major downside, which was the music - being for the most part unnoteworthy. The ominous atmospheric music was a good fit for most of the game, but a lot of the rooms - especially the natural environments - could have benefitted a lot from something upbeat and catchy. I kept thinking how perfect the Super Metroid Brinstar beat would have been for such places.

Anyway, to conclude, Other M is the best Metroid game I've played in years. I'm glad I waited until after final exams to open the package, or I wouldn't have gotten any studying done at all. I can't wait to keep playing until I've figured out all the secrets.

[MaiAriSquee]

Just finished the post game, and I'm at the point where I can (finally) freely explore the ship and COLLECT DEM POWER-UPS.

And I have this to say.

All of you. You lied to me!

I also take back everything I said about the graphics. Although the environments sometimes appeared to need some fixin', it's obvious that everything that wasn't FMV was put into boss and enemy data. That final, FINAL boss.... it was... GLORIOUS and terrifying to behold, and set loose a slew of questions.

Although it wasn't typical fare for the series, I thought the music was GRAND and incredibly atmospheric. The "final" mission's music sounded exactly like something from Alien, which just tickled me to no end.

I also don't understand how anyone could have problems with these controls. They worked perfectly for me; only once in a while would the first person transition hiccup for me, and I learned quickly that I needed to turn in the direction that I needed to face. It became part of the battle dance, and once all the steps were mastered, I unleashed holy hell on the inhabitants of the Bottle Ship.

Speaking of which, although I DID do my share of dying, some of the bosses were a bit too easy. Oh, sense-move- you giveth power and taketh away threats!

I do have gripes; linearity, invisible walls where they aren't needed, general level design was a bit boring, Adam getting in you bizness, blah blah, but some of the later rooms have some excellent polish to them. There's just not a lot to DO in them... I haven't encountered any interestingly hidden items, yet. And they're all visible on the map- gee whiz...

The story was B movie sci-fi fare, and although imperfect I found myself liking it, especially Madeline and Melissa.

I'm considering writing a rebuttal to Mental and Sylux's speculatory blog post...

So, to repeat what I said in an different post, it's close. Let's try it again, Project M.

[kronoridley]

I would give it an overall rating of 9/10. While that is an excellent score on its own, it is rather low compared to some other Metroid games. (ZM, Super, M2, Prime, and Prime 3 are all 10/10)

[1upD]

I'm giving it a solid 8/10. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope more Metroid games on a similar engine are started soon, but Other M is a very flawed game and came out as less than what is to be expected of the Metroid franchise. The music was often very forgettable, (with a few exceptions) the game was too linear and at times there were laughable plot holes. (The "authorized" meme, specifically) I still loved it, it's just my second least favorite entry of my second or third favorite franchise ever. I've never played a Metroid game I didn't enjoy in one way or another, and this is no exception.

[CapCom]

Ah, I can't express how happy that post makes me feel, Mai!

You see, you can't believe everything you hear, especially when reviews are polarized. And all the MDb reviews have been positive, including TJ's.

I think most of the people who really hate this game hate it because of the story, writing, and particularly how Samus was presented. Maybe that colors their perceptions of other things too - things that would have been ignored now become downright irritating. And when you start hearing people say 'I hate this game' they will be less-likely to buy it, even if they would enjoy it immensely!

[Animerican_Redeemed]

I think most of the people who really hate this game hate it because of the story, writing, and particularly how Samus was presented. Maybe that colors their perceptions of other things too - things that would have been ignored now become downright irritating. And when you start hearing people say 'I hate this game' they will be less-likely to buy it, even if they would enjoy it immensely!

Very much agreed here... I'm afraid that had I not pre-ordered the game, I never would've picked up due to the fanboy rage in the cynical corners of the internet that I sadly browse through.

I think that too much of gaming culture has seen games as virtually equivalent to literature and movies, and therefore story must have just as much importance within the medium, and therefore be judged on the same equal ground as, if not greater than, the actual gameplay. Now granted, everyone wants good or great storytelling in their games, me included! And Sakamoto had hoped to achieve that, as more literal effort was probably put into OM's story than any other metroid game before, and it was a case of game development where the story was created before all the central gameplay elements (if I remember correctly). While I didn't have any great significant problems with the story, others did.

However, the cutscenes aren't the length of any Metal Gear Solid title I've played. They are mainly concentrated towards the beginning and end of a game that took me about 15-16 hours to complete 100% (though I did need a faq for some of the items). As for the gameplay (which always takes more manpower than story), it is very solid, where the controls are tight and responsive, and camerawork is fine (if not great). And it's not like Samus ever controls like RE4's Ashley Graham or has to run away/hide from space pirates for a prolonged timeframe, as she has to do in the stealth section of Zero Mission (where's the naysaying of that portrayal from armchair-feminists...). To me, it seems the criticism for the gameplay largely comes down to individuals' preference for or adaptability to game style. And seeing many metroid fans' reaction, though it may be more linear, it seemed that it still adhered to much of the original "metroid style," a style which has been praised almost universally.

But no, story is The Only Thing That Really Matters in M:OM, and therefore on "Yahtzee" Ben Croshaw's Top 5 Best/Worst of 2010, M:OM is second worst: beating out FFXIII (#4), which he said in the review could only make it through the first 6 hours and stopped out of sheer boredom and its extreme linearity, and The Force Unleashed II, a five hour game that sounds like a greater waste of potential (gameplay and story both) in every sense of the word. For this placement's justification, his discussion of M:OM's gameplay in both the original review and in the latest video is an utter afterthought (what he did say of the gameplay, it just seemed to be the "normal crap" of most other games that he reviews).

/end opinionated rant

[Troid]

I'm still looking high and low for evidence that more than a handful of people have said they hate Other M so much as once.

As far as gameplay/music/etc. went, I thought it was generally enjoyable; yes. I loved the third-person controls and the way every so often I had to remind myself I was playing a 3D game. I liked some of the music, the graphics were pretty, the combat somehow didn't seem to wear out its welcome, and running around getting 100% after the ending was fun.

But: The pixel hunts were ridiculous, the level design ranged from tame to boring, the first-person was a complete step backward from Prime, the constant A-to-B-then-B-to-C linearized everything even more than Fusion (at least in Fusion you would occasionally find your way blocked or an elevator would fail and you'd have to find an alternate route), in several cases the way onward was completely unclear (room with the water levels, anyone?), and of course most of the music was ambient nonsense. Oh, and the fact that it was over in several hours didn't help. So that's a big list of complaints that doesn't relate to the story at all.

My rating was a shaky 6-7-8 out of 10 (nowehere near hating it). I don't normally dwell on the minor-to-moderate flaws of the games I play, but I've come to expect a lot from Metroid, and Other M barely/didn't really meet that high standard.

[Opium]

My rating was a shaky 6-7-8 out of 10 (nowehere near hating it). I don't normally dwell on the minor-to-moderate flaws of the games I play, but I've come to expect a lot from Metroid, and Other M barely/didn't really meet that high standard.

When you put it that way, then I have to say that I don't 'hate' MoM either. I'm just butt-hurt by a game receiving a mediocre to average rating which bears the name METROID in the title. I've come to expect total excellence from the series, and when you look at the games we have gotten so far I can't say that anyone can blame me.

[KingBroly]

Other M does nothing well. Everything ranges from alright to dangerous. There's no direction in this game. When you have no direction, you limit the quality of your game unless you are taking a long time developing it. This game was clearly rushed out the door for some reason.

[kronoridley]

Of course! *cough*Graphics*cough*

[Ben]

It's not an Admiral Dane approved game, but it is an Adam Malkovich authorized game, which is lower tier than Admiral Dane approved, but compared to any other video game, it's really good.

[Not Authorised]

The very high votes frighten and confuse me.

At least, until I realise that if this wasn't a Metroid game, and if the protagonist wasn't Samus Aran, this would be a really great game with an engaging story and flawed but interesting characterisation.

I'm sorry, but Super Metroid and Metroid Prime has set the bar much, much higher than this. Samus and Metroid as a series deserve better than this. Far better.

[THE DUDExD]

I strongly dislike large gaming community websites like this because they are filled with idiots, and I tend to stay away from them, however today I was presented with an opportunity...

Back to the topic at hand: After much deliberation and playing the game, doing evrything humanly possible, I will give the game a grand score of 7.5 since it does have a Metroid title. However, if one were to remove the franchise title, the game would be given somewhere from the 9.0 to 9.5 range. The technical aspects of the game were done very well thanks to Team Ninja's input, but the storyline and voice acting was of a relatively low quality, all things considered.

The Graphics pushed the Wii's ATI GPU almost to the edge, leaving the player with a breathtaking scene. The dark side of its graphics was the lack of very diverse scenery, taking away one of the key aspects of most Metroid games. The gameplay brought about a refurbished, updated system based on the classic 2D sidescrolling Metroid games. The new attacks, in particular Overblast, Sensemove, and Lethal Strike, introduced a newer, more action-based cinematic combat system. The enemies were 3D remakes of some of the older Metroid enemies, especially from Fusion, this gives the game a better view on how to kill enemies. The Cinematic sequences are gorgeous, Team Ninja did a very good job creating detailed CGI in-game cinemas; the only downside is not being able to skip through cinemas( i.e. the 15min long scene after beating the first boss).


Yoshio Sakamoto, the story developer for every Metroid game except the Prime subseries, must have not realized that the storyline for Metroid: Other M would be considered to be essentially bad by the public and critics who would eventually purchase and play the game. The way that the story was set up is basically a remake of the Fusion plotline with some altered aspects, and like Fusion, Other M is linear to its core. The voice actors didn't seem to show enough emotion in parts that could have used it. What should have been done was to hire experienced voice actors (an example would be the cast of South Park) to do the voice overs with emotion instead of montone. The only other thing that could have been done quite a bit better than it was, would be the audio quality of Other M, it used very little diversity in its music, but the sound effects were decent.


On a personal note: the "effects" that Team Ninja did for the Zero Suit Samus were cool, it's the first time ther has been a Metroid game with a 3D playable Zero Suit Samus.

Overall there were more good things about the game then there were bad, it still can't compare to Metroid Prime which still has near-perfect scores. It did take me awhile, however, to figure out who put what into the game since there are quite a few discrepancies when it comes to detailed information.