As of the 3rd of September Samus Aran, galactic bounty hunter and mercenary has stepped back onto the Wii console with a brand new adventure. The red and orange power suit wearing is back to tackle the forces of evil aliens and uncover the mystery behind an abandoned star ship.
In the sense of the Metroid storyline, Other M is slotted between Samus’ adventure in Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
Having just escaped the destruction of the planet Zeebus, destroying Mother Brain and her arch enemy Ridley, Samus reports back on her mission only to find herself somewhat withdrawn from the life around her. No stranger to isolation something seems to have struck a nerve with her and she quickly throws herself into her work once more. En route to collect another job Samus picks up a distress signal from a nearby Galactic Federation ‘Bottle Ship’, never one to turn down a mission or adventure Samus boards the ship only to find she is not the first to do so. On board the ship she finds her former army comrades and her commander Adam Malkovich, a man who seems to have a strong connection to Samus. Refusing to cooperate with her, Malkovich orders his team to move out and not to sure information with the bounty hunter.
It isn’t until the group are attacked and Samus saves them that her former superior officer decides to work with her in uncovering the mystery behind the disaster onboard the ship.
Gameplay
Metroid: Other M isn’t just a new adventure for our heroine, the former soldier also gets a new way of playing the game. Normally Metroid games are played from a 3rd person perspective, holding the Wii remote horizontally you can guide Samus through different areas and target incoming hostiles. By pointing the remote at the television (i.e. vertically) you switch from a 3rd person mode to 1st person point of view allowing you to lock on to enemies and objects, scan them or fire missiles with 100% accuracy. By switching to first person mode however Samus is unable to move and so to complete the game and defeat bosses you must alternate between the two modes, something that sounds a little confusing and tiring but in play is actually a lot more fun than it sounds (trust us!). Samus will battle her way through various themed areas on the Star Ship, from jungle terrain to frozen landscapes, the ship interiors to a molten area and along the way must acquire equipment and upgrades if she is to face up to her surmounting challenges.
Verdict
Being honest when we first picked up Other M we weren’t too thrilled about it – don’t get us wrong the in game cut scenes are something to marvel at but all in all this game feels like it should have been made a few years ago with nothing special about the graphics.
The game also now comes with ‘voice actors’ and even our bounty hunter gets in on some oral action as she narrates her story. The dialogue is a little bland and while it tries to work on our heart strings we found ourselves drifting off and flat out ignoring it at some points (No one likes a whiner Samus).
It wasn’t until we picked up the game for a second time that we really found ourselves immersed in the true power of this game. Metroid: Other M is a fantastic throwback to the old school Nintendo games, playing very much like Super Metroid (1994) and ok while the dialogue might have needed some extra fine tuning we are only too intrigued to play on and learn more about Samus’ enigmatic past.
It is difficult to put it into exact words how Nintendo, Team Ninja and D-rockets have managed to encapsulate the tradition of the Metroid series and fused it with the sleekness of the current generation of the Nintendo consoles but with Other M is a game worthy of your purchase and is hopefully an indication of the direction the Japanese gaming company plans on taking many of their older series.
Rating
Rent or Buy: Don’t bother renting this because you will only end up buying it afterwards. BUY IT!
Gold Stars: 7.9 / 10
