Adam authorizing weapons

[SpareChange]

I kind of wish everyone would stop hating on this scenario for him authorizing your equipment.

I totally makes sense to me.

Here is why:

You are a commanding officer going onto a ship you know nothing about.

It is in deep space.

You don't know if a Missile/Super Missile/Power Bomb or any of the heavy artillery that Samus or the other members of the group have will damage the hull of the ship or how much damage it can actually take.

So after assessing an area or seeing what is going on, cause he said he watches everything you are doing, if it is needed and appears safe, then he let's you use them.

It just takes out the searching for weapons. You can still explore and find upgrades and expansion packs.

The Varia suit thing though...ok I can see how that is a little screwed over.

To me it makes sense that Adam's authorizes your weaponry after assessing the area.

So far I have had nothing but fun with this game, and anticipate when Adams authorizes a new weapon or item for me, cause then I can go back and get the shit that I have missed in the old sectors.

[Outlaw]

The way I see it...

I am on a chaotic Space Station full of Bioweapons. I have POTENTIAL allies nearby.

Do I....

A) Cooperate with them and do what they say.
B) Argue with them and possibly make the situation worse.
C) Kill them.

Yea, I would probably pick A. Makes sense to me.

But yea, the Varia Suit thing I didn't like either but I guess I can see it as a challenge of sorts.

[ph00tbag]

Why is he also locking doors, preventing you from exploring? Why is he preventing you from using the grapple beam? Space jump? Gravity suit? Why does he let his men use freeze guns, but you have to wait until the Pyrosphere?

And it's not just that he's stingy with it. It removes one of the more satisfying aspects of the game. When you beat a boss and collect a power-up in a traditional Metroid game, you get a neat little fanfare, and a sense of accomplishment. The reward centers of your brain go nuts. Now, it has nothing to do with rewards. Unless I'm meant to feel rewarded by trapping myself in helpless situations. It doesn't even feel like that, though. My response to it was just frustration, and a sense that clearly I wasn't meant to be playing Metroid like I was used to. And that made me feel just slightly betrayed.

Once you understand that it's a Pavlovian thing for people like me, then you realize that I don't give a shit if it makes sense from a story point of view. Just about every way of limiting Samus from the beginning makes just about as much sense as this story. But they all feel like Metroid.

[AuroraUnitComplex]

Why is he also locking doors, preventing you from exploring? Why is he preventing you from using the grapple beam? Space jump? Gravity suit? Why does he let his men use freeze guns, but you have to wait until the Pyrosphere?

Early on in the game, I think it may have been a plot device as well, to add uncertainty as to whether Adam might actually be the one in charge of the GF deaths, and orchestrating it by telling who where to go next, and die. For those who haven't played a Metroid game before, this might've been the case.

Anyway, I can't say the whole authorization scenario makes enough sense, but in a few ways, it's much more realistic than some of the alternatives. There is only so much sense that can be made about having to find your weapons which you already had in the previous games. Fortunately, the game this time around makes a distinction between energy recharge packs (including missiles, energy tanks, and charge boosts) that Samus can absorb and repeatedly drain/concentrate, versus physical hardware that probably shouldn't be lying around on a space station or boss, considering we probably had it in the last game already.

So there are some positive aspects, but the strict authorization still didn't feel natural enough to me. I think that's mostly because it always seemed to be authorized at the very last minute, as in: Thanks Adam, but you are late again. If they would have balanced that out more and sometimes given it to us earlier, I think it wouldn't have been as jarring and might have made it much more understandable. Also, Fusion lightly tossed in the concept of getting authorized weapon data, but this time, it's kind of unfortunate because it makes it easy for the player to focus all of our questions or frustration on Adam: Can we use it now? Can we use it now? NOW, can we use it? What?! Ok, fine, I'll keep running and yes I am that strong, but still....you are watching what I'm doing on your screen, right?

So yeah, ultimately I wished they would've modified it some more, but I can live with it. Samus apparently can too. She's a tough survivor...at least, [spoiler]until we play hard mode, which might test her metal and our mettle.[/spoiler]

[Zeruel21]

I think it would have worked better if Samus showed some initiative. She should know her abilities better than Adam, so I was confused that she never suggested he authorize anything. The fact that she would bend over backward to give him total control of the potential she had made it difficult to feel she was anything but another ordinary soldier under his command. A highly skilled and heavily armed soldier, but an underling nonetheless.

I had no issue with Adam focusing on tactical advantage and minimal presence, but Samus not lifting a finger without his go-ahead killed my enthusiasm for it.

[ph00tbag]

Also, Fusion lightly tossed in the concept of getting authorized weapon data,

But even then, we had to do something to get it.

[Echoman]

Because the whole authorization thing felt absolutely trivial. After facing all the logic-defying crazy shit on board the ship and running through environments that have no way to be put in space SAFELY in the first place, the only real thing that's holding me back from being torn apart from all this dangerous crap is ...someone's permission? Refraining from using weapons in a space station is LOGICAL indeed, but the whole premise of being in such a place already requires a large suspension of belief that "safety regulations" seem silly in comparison. We can argue about what would be the most level-headed and strategic way to advance into unknown territory but then I can point out that Samus wears a suit that materializes out of thin air in a facility that allows volcanoes to be space. It will get us nowhere because we are intertwining something so strangely limiting in a world with almost no limits.

It's a disappointing plot device, and Other M seems to be full of them. One might say, "well, how should Samus temporary lose her abilities? Do the same thing over and over again?" I don't know, but the writers could have come up with something that didn't involve Samus being such a lapdog to Adam. It dulls the moment.

Then again, like a plot-related issues in the game... I just tune it out after awhile.

[Xscapist]

Why so many different threads to talk about the same things? I'm starting to have trouble keeping track of them all...

[Project538]

Why so many different threads to talk about the same things? I'm starting to have trouble keeping track of them all...

This. In the first few days after Other M came out, that section of the board exploded with tons of new threads, many of them redundant.

[Echoman]

Wait, redundant threads aren't authorized?

[Mewtwo]

I didn't really have a problem with the Varia suit thing. Its easy enough to survive until he gives it to you. I like the idea that she doesn't activate certain features until its necessary, because she needs to conserve energy. But obviously thats not canon. Or explicitly stated.
I have no problem with anything, they just probably could have handled it better. Like, her Varia/gravity were damaged in the fight against mother brain, and the scientists couldn't figure out the chozo technology. Then, you find upgrades, yadda yadda. Still, it doesn't detract too much from the game. They never give anything to you too easily.

[Project538]

Here we go, I'm gonna take a beating for this...

Adam authorizing weapons makes more sense than some of the other games (there, I said it). I would honestly have it be this over some random explosion damaging her suit in the first 5 minutes of the game. Not that that is a bad way of handling it, but Adam authorizing things works in the context of Other M. Also, I actually didn't mind the forced Hell Run through Sector 3. It was fun and challenging. People go Varia-less through Norfair for fun in Super Metroid, but if the developers decide to make you do something like that it suddenly sucks? Really, people?

[Qazz777]

Here we go, I'm gonna take a beating for this...

Adam authorizing weapons makes more sense than some of the other games (there, I said it). I would honestly have it be this over some random explosion damaging her suit in the first 5 minutes of the game. Not that that is a bad way of handling it, but Adam authorizing things works in the context of Other M. Also, I actually didn't mind the forced Hell Run through Sector 3. It was fun and challenging. People go Varia-less through Norfair for fun in Super Metroid, but if the developers decide to make you do something like that it suddenly sucks? Really, people?

I agree with this completely,
and a lot of people say why does she listen to Adam like a troop.
well its called respect and the fact that she's not supposed to be there
yet she feels the need to be there and help, so she chooses not to
be a problem and just wait to be autherized.

Here we go, I'm gonna take a beating for this...

Adam authorizing weapons makes more sense than some of the other games (there, I said it). I would honestly have it be this over some random explosion damaging her suit in the first 5 minutes of the game. Not that that is a bad way of handling it, but Adam authorizing things works in the context of Other M. Also, I actually didn't mind the forced Hell Run through Sector 3. It was fun and challenging. People go Varia-less through Norfair for fun in Super Metroid, but if the developers decide to make you do something like that it suddenly sucks? Really, people?

Thank you. The guys put a forced % run in the game for you as a reward for 100% completion. Is it really so bad if the fans didn't come up with it first? We were all going to do it anyways.

[Satch]

People go Varia-less through Norfair for fun in Super Metroid, but if the developers decide to make you do something like that it suddenly sucks? Really, people?

I'm not gonna give you a beating, but I'll mention that it's not the same thing.

Doing a Hell Run is not a plot device. The designer's intention is for you to get the suit before you go to Norfair so that you don't take damage. The game is essentially telling you, "Look, if you come in here without the proper upgrades, you're going to be punished."

Going without the Varia suit in Other M is a plot device. Whether or not you get the Varia suit is not up to you. It's a game mechanic that you cannot avoid.