However...
I feel that most people keep ragging on the small complaints about the game and driving it home like it's a show stopper. The dialog is well spoken even though it is cheesy. I do not feel that Samus's inner monologs are horrible, yeah they can sound like a teen blog, but who said she was a stone cold killer? She is articulate; she should be having grown up with the Chozo after all right? The liniarity I can see being a problem with most Metroid fans. At the same time though, most titles in the series you can beat in under three hours and Metroid Fusion was the same way but nobody complained. Now the missile thing I did not have a problem with. Flipping the Wii-Remote towards the screen to shoot doesn't really feel awkward unless you feel the need to shoot missiles in normal combat. But if anybody has played a Metroid, it's all about the charge beam anway, but let's continue.
So yeah, I can see people being upset about certain things. I know some people are even upset that you start off in a group of Galactic Federation soliders. Just look at the GameInformer review, they complained like it happened the whole game saying that the solidarity common to Metroid games was lost. It's not, to calm you down. You don't team up with them that much actually; most of the game you are alone. But that is my point when starting off with .... uh these points. Most reviews are trying to take one bad thing, exagerate it and then ending up with a negative score. I can see the game getting a little lower, it's not my favorite Metroid, but 6/10? 2/5? C'mon.
So let's get to it, why play Metroid: Other M? (yeah I know, MoM...)
Other M feels like a classic side-scrolling Metroid done in a 3D environment. Not quite a 2.5D game, but once you play the game, you will know what I mean. All of Samus's power-ups are there, the action is a lot more fun to play thanks to Team Ninja, and their are some cool ideas going on in the story. You will also be happy to see some cool returns throughout all of the new bosses in the game. Now I know you have read about the way the power-ups are unlocked, yeah it is a little silly once you think about the idea of the varia suit, but it started off as a really clever way to pull it off. For those of you who don't know, she ends up under the command of Adam Malkavich, old Federation officer she was under command of before and a slight father figure, who authorizes the use of her weapons like missiles and power bombs so as to not hurt anyone that may still be on the Bottle Ship. So yeah, good idea, but there is no reason that she would not turn on her Varia suit. It does protect her quite a bit after all.
Now I know that Metroid games have never really been about combat, but Team Ninja implimented a simple and addicting way that made it fun and more action oriented than all Metroid games before it. You are still just shooting with the 1 button with some slight auto aim, which is not as bad as I thought it was going to be, but when your enemies get weak enough, you can jump on their heads and do a finishing move sort of speak that is really gratifing. Some of the smaller enemies will also be able to be grabbed by running at them and then thrown about. Quick and simple. On that same note, if eneimes are attacking you, a quick tap in any direction will do a 'sense move' which means you will do a quick dodge; and if you hold down the 1 button, you will automatically charge up the power beam and be facing the enemy. The combat definately is simple and fun.
I know you have all seen the CG cutscenes by now with all the advertising, and those look incredible, but even the in-game graphics are really sharp. Outside of some outdoor environments, the game could pass as early 360 quality. The characters don't look to shabby (Samus definately get's the most polish) and the enemies have a sort of classic/new look to the. It's also nice to see some of those cool looking bosses being slammed by a finishing move! The voice work has it's ups and downs but overall I think that the game is voiced well, just not written as well as it could have been. Samus does say some cheasy lines in her inner monologs (peirced my heart, confession time, ect) but it's not really an issue for the most part. The only one I personally thought did an odd job voicing was at the end.
The story of the game was up to par. Not great, but definately not horrible. Basically Samus gets a distress call and heads to the Bottle Ship, where the whole game takes place, finds herself helping the Galactic Federation secure the situation, finding out that they were producing bio-weapons (a huge no-no) and I wont spoil the bigger parts but metroids come into play pretty well. So Ms. Aran must help stop all the threats that live within and save the day. A pretty basic story that starts off strong, gets out of the way to remind you that you are playing a Metroid game after all, and ends decently enough. Nothing big, basic story, good enough I suppose. The Bottle Ship is very similar to the ship in Metroid Fusion. It is a ship that has lots of different environments built in to house all sorts of different alien life for testing and all that jazz. It provides you with the classic set peices of a Metroid title; ship parts, lava place, snow area ect.
All in all, Metroid does have it's flaws, it is a lot more straight forward, easy to get 100% (which everyone should do by the way) and does have some things with Samus' character that people will take issue with. What might ease that pain a bit is to sort of familiarize yourself with the Manga-verse of Metroid, maybe know a little of the history outside of the game, because that's where this game seems to be getting more of it's inspiration. I encourage everyone to give it a shot and make their own mind up because I keep reading these reviews from G4 or GameInformer and I think they are blowing up small issues and not giving this game enough credit. Honestly, not one of my favorite Metroid games, but definately a fun game in general and a great pick up for the Wii.
-Eddie
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