*Screenshots are done by me and video is also my realization.
This game is not too far to be the successor of Super Metroid with story and exploration but the fact that we can solve some riddles easier and the linear gameplay from Other M make it look different for sure but certainly not too inferior. Controls take probably 30 minutes for full mastering (depending of items too) and the training that begins right at the start gives us a good example of what you gonna have to do : blast enemies around, finding weird things in the room, destroying it or examining it and then going to the other room and repeat and after 3-4 rooms or a very long enigma, you end against an epic boss and engage the battle. Right away, it’s impossible to compare Super Metroid and Metroid : Other M. Other M isn’t the worst Metroid game, it’s definitely far from it (the worst being Metroid Prime Hunters with a poor single-player and full focus on multiplayer). But let me develop this for you. I’ll try to be honest and, maybe, neutral.
Story and Presentation
Some actions sequences or scenes are creepy, from the dead researchers to the lava world of the Pyrosphere where you’ve to walk into heat wave without your traditional Varia Suit or several boss looking big or deadly. Exploration and isolation is still there and going in Morph Ball, infiltrating tunnels in 2D perspective is somewhat old-school but seriously appreciated. And this adds lot of fun to the story, making the player wanting to get through it. But a frustrating point is when you want to go back to find an item you forgot… the door may be locked so you can’t get it now and it’s probably the item you need to overcome against a boss. Talking about bosses, some are too easy or simply insane and fun to beat (Lava bosses and Ridley as best examples). However, if you consider that you’ve to follow the commands of the CO, then you’ll understand WHY you can’t go back to several places. He doesn’t want you move until he says so and you don’t fire until he says so. But this CO, Adam Malkovich, is directly connected to the main character, adding another important point to the story. Another nice point from the story is that we discover that Samus Aran is more human that we think, she got true feelings (from her childhood and her days in the Galactic Federation army) and these feelings will be real emotional shocks. Did you know the real Samus? I doubt. Some tense and very sad moments you may not expect and turn of events that could make you say : « but how? ». Mr. Sakamoto wrote an awesome story and using exclusive flashbacks adds a lot of infos about what we never though about Samus. From her first encounter with Ridley and her time as a rebel soldier of the GF army, there are things you may not know and what she gonna face aboard the station is simply shocks from her whole past.
Back to old school, 2D view for Morph Ball!
Graphics
Graphics are impressive for a Wii game. But with a video component cable, turning your TV from standard to almost HD image clearly makes Other M looking even better. Probably the best looking Wii game of all with the previous Metroid game (Prime 3 : Corruption) or Super Mario Galaxy. Cinematics (that can’t be skip on first view) are simply surprising (moving eyeballs and tears) and level design is, again, why Metroid is often rated as a beautiful game. Some details could’ve been improved such as icicles from « cellar » in Cryosphere but I didn't have time to look at this point during first playthrough. Apart of it, the game looks colorful and dark at some points, especially at the start, I'd to fix up my TV lighting because I wasn't seeing ANYTHING and boss design are something to not be missed. In fact, renders you’ve seen in artworks are clearly near from real game (especially with component cable). Animations and shooting effects are fluid and clean. Outstanding!
In-game, it looks much better, trust me.
Sound Effects
Sounds are clearly similar from Metroid Prime (especially Charging Beam) and when you jump, it feels you back into 2D (with the distinctive sound from Spin Jump and electric sound for the Screw Attack). Musics are fully orchestral but not that memorable because it’s clearly atmospheric music. It still does the job with Pyrosphere music (simply creepy) and especially once you get to battle Ridley with the « other » remix of his original theme which is probably now the most epic song from the whole series (followed by his Lair’s theme from Super Metroid). Voice acting is just fine but not always « equal » to lip sync (Japanese game). In my opinion, Jessica Martin does it very well as Samus Aran giving us the most « alive » Nintendo character we’ve ever got even if her voice sounds somehow kind and calm.
Metroid Prime 3 was one of the first Nintendo games with voice acting, Jessica Martin does it well as Samus in Other M.
Gameplay
Back to controls, there’s no use of joystick (Nunchuk) because you need to understand that controls and directions are identified from the map in the upright corner. If you do so, you can master the game. It only disappears against a boss or multiple enemies giving you a free-walk aspect and intense-looking battle sequences. Switching view isn’t always easy, especially when you need to use it against a boss but slow-motion sequences may help a lot if an attack is upcoming and you need to switch back to horizontal controls. Missiles can only be used in first-person and by locking an enemy or object but damage done are considerably higher when at the start because Samus appears to be too weak. But she runs very fast, jump considerably high (no need of High-Jump boots, they're not in the game), does «kick-jump » and uses most of her legendary abilities and they look polished and renewed. It also features an auto-aiming function that doesn’t always work (hit or miss) so a missed Charge Shot could be frustrating because you got to reposition yourself for the next hit but the Charge Beam gets faster with upgrades and Charge Function can be improved with items. If you’re used to play the 2D games, you know what you could get to use : Screw Attack, Speed Booster, Wave Beam, Super Missile, Plasma Beam, etc. Well done animations from shooting giving you the real new Samus, from 2D to 3D, that’s the big change. My biggest appreciation goes to the Grapple Beam, giving us awesome view and funny use when it comes to battle. Incarnations of Samus in the Smash Bros. Series definitely look sluggish while Other M shows a real quick and agile Samus as she always used to be.
You need to lock on a Grapple Point...
And let's travel this pit!
What a catch but... dang it's a big one!
You can also replenish your missiles by using Concentration (holding vertically the Wii Remote, pointer up to cellar and pressing A) but this can also replenish health if in critical status (no energy or missile drop from enemies). That’s a letdown for a Metroid game but considering there’s an Hard Mode to be unlocked, good luck for using Concentration against a boss because it could be a true risk. There are 3 new moves to be used such as SenseMove, Overblast and Lethal Strike (all work very well depending of enemies). SenseMove is about reflexes. Pressing a direction just before being hit will make Samus jumping on a side, dodging every attack. If you press and hold 1 (Fire shot) while dodging, it makes your Charge Shot full already so you can dodge couple of times and once at ease, you can shoot your Beam. However, you've to dodge where you're sure to be safe and ready to dodge another attack. Samus will not always jump where you do want to go so it might give you trouble. Overblast is simple but complicated right at the start : you got to jump over the head of the enemy and land on it with a Charge Shot and stop holding the button once you get on the foe and making your Charge Strike even more powerful (works against some bosses). As name says, Lethal Strike is deadly. You run over a downed enemy while holding Fire button and you’ll see Samus grabbing the enemy and doing an instant KO with a very cool move. Some enemies can only be killed by Lethal Strike and few bosses can only be damaged by "special" Overblast. And thanks to Screw Attack, some enemies that gave trouble in early-game won’t resist at all against this mortal attack (as it has always been in 2D games). With Space Jumping, you simply need to jump directly on an enemy, no need to shoot and the foe will explode. But on a bad note, if you can’t master the SenseMove right at the start or special strikes, you can’t beat the game so easily. But shooting memorable enemies like Zoomers (Geemers, these spike crawlers), Sidehoppers (two legged aliens jumping with lot of impact), Deseaggas (improved Sidehoppers), Skrees (Bats that fall on the ground and explode), Reos (weak clawed bees), Ki-Hunters (large swarm of insects) by using new ways of controls with old-school fashion is really awesome. Another point that I appreciated is the tutorial right at the start, just after the intro, giving us the opportunity to quickly practice with running, jumping, shooting, using special strikes, kick-jump, missiles and bombs from Morph Ball. On a last sad note, if you have big hands, you might need to take frequent breaks because you could feel a bit hurt.
Lethal Strike
Overblast
Verdict
Overall, if you’ve enjoyed Batman : Arkham Asylum (bad reference but I think it's a similar game) and want to try a sci-fi way to play it, you may discover some similarities (nice story, great images with impressive level design, amazing controls and nice combo hits) and probably having the same fun. But a thing that Metroid : Other M got over Arkham Asylum, it’s boss battles. They make you want doing it again and again and they’re much more epic. Just like Batman : Arkham Asylum, you don’t have to search for your power-up items since you’ve them right at the start but compared to Arkham, instead of being rewarded for Experience Points from riddles and battles, the CO will let you use your items depending of circumstances or plots in story (using Plasma Beam against Ridley, doing such deadly damage to a lethal foe). For example, if you got to deal against fire enemies that are hard to kill with your standard firepower, he’ll let you use Ice Beam (that you can keep for the rest of the game) or if you got to travel a straight road blocked with walls, he’ll let you use Speed Booster (speed-powered running). You still need to search for finding Energy, Missiles and Accel Charges (boosting your Charge speed) but after destroying all enemies in a room or finishing the game, items will be shown on the map (in Arkham, you get a map of the area after doing few actions). But where Metroid may fail over Arkham, you can’t use the Grapple anywhere but only on specific points (named Grapple Points, of course) but where it has its advantage, the Grapple Beam is a key weapon against a boss and when balancing from a point to the other in order to travel lava pits, it gives us an insane view of how awesome level design really is.
Now this is a boss you got to take seriously! Ridley!!!
Shortly, one of the rare good games for Wii. Far from being a traditional Metroid, considering that Metroid Fusion wasn’t too appreciated at first, you may feel the same way… but still a very good game! If you’ve played the 2D games, you may get some good surprises. « Any Objections, Lady? » « No objections, of course! » If you got a Wii or plan to get one, this is a definitely try/buy now.
Here's the CO and father-figure to Samus, Adam Malkovich.
Time to go with my heart... As a Metroid fan, I’ve seriously enjoyed this game, discovering an all-new Samus and making me appreciate this character even more. And her friend relationship with some troopers is somehow expected but well-explained. Being a galactic warrior, a solitary bounty hunter and a genetically-enhanced woman, apart of all these qualities… she’s merely human. We got to love Samus.
Samus finally got feelings... and earlier I was talking about tears...
Final Rate : 8.7/10
Plus :
- Outstanding graphics with an awesome level design, nice cinematics and a beautiful Samus (Power Suit, GF soldier uniform and Zero Suit)!
- Boss Battles, of course!
- Intense gameplay with nice action sequences in fights.
- Can be replayed for Speed Run or Hard Mode!
- Exploration and isolation still present!
Minus :
- Voice acting at some moments and atmospheric music...
- Linearity... (expected already)
- Not good gameplay for big-hand users...
- Time goes too fast while playing... (10-15 hours)
