Metroid: Other M is supposed to be a return to the series' roots. The Metroid Prime trilogy, while excellent, takes place entirely from a first-person perspective. Classic Metroid is on a 2D plane, taking place entirely in third person. Other M is a hybrid of sorts. Is it better than Super Metroid? No, it's not. That's not to say it's a bad game, however. Read on to see what I mean.
STORY
Whoo, is there a lot of story. Narrative is the focus of Other M, and I thought it worked quite nicely. Taking place immediately after Super Metroid, Samus picks up a distress call from the Bottle Ship, a scientific research vessel in a remote corner of space. She runs in to a few old friends from the Galactic Federation Army, including her old squad mate Anthony Higgs and her former CO Adam Malkovich. I won't go in to too much detail here, but I do want to voice my complaints about the story/voice acting/dialogue. The voice acting, while ok, is far from award-winning. The dialogue is too wordy, especially the monologues from Samus. The localization team could have done a better job of Americanizing the speech, as it still comes off as "Made in Japan" even though the characters are speaking English. The story is a generic science fiction story, but it's still good. If the plot twists were not spoiled for you, then they aren't predictable. It's not perfect, but overall it's ok.
GAMEPLAY
Other M's gameplay is, to sum it up in one word, fantastic. Gone is the slow-moving, tank-like Samus of the Primes, replaced by an agile Samus who moves more like a ninja than a tank (I promise, that is the ONLY ninja comparison I will make. I have never played the Ninja Gaiden games, so this will be evaluated strictly on a Metroid game to Metroid game level). Along with you're standard beam and missile arsenal, you can perform melée attacks. The Lethal Strike is a way of taking out downed enemies with cinematic flair. The action Samus performs varies by enemy, so it's neat to try it on different creatures and see what cool thing Samus will do. The attacks range from shoving her arm cannon down a giant worm's throat to taking a Ghalmanian (giant chameleon) into a headlock and firing into it's skull. The Overblast involves jumping on enemies and firing charge shots into them, which is also very cool. The standard beam weaponry is controlled by an autotargeting system, which is really the only way they could have controlled beam firing in a 3D space. It works, but it certainly doesn't make the game easy. Missiles are fired differently, which I will discuss in the "Controls" section. Bosses are definitely challenging enough, but you almost never get rewards for defeating them. Weapons are usually unlocked, or rather "authorized", before battles by Samus's CO Adam Malkovich. Some people hate this mechanism, but it works in the context of the game. Shut up and get over it. Some of the Metroid feel is lost in this game due to it's greater linearity, but it ends up ok.
MUSIC
Music? What music? Although the soundtrack is almost entirely orchestrated, it is more ambient background stuff than the driving, memorable tunes of older Metroid titles. The two pieces that really stand out are the remix of Ridley's theme and a certain piano piece that plays near the (real) end of the game. Other than those pieces, nothing else really shines. I can honestly think of and hum at least one tune from every Metroid game except Other M. It's kinda disappointing.
CONTROLS
I'm going to be brief here, and mostly adders the major complaints I've heard about the controls. First of all, a d-pad in 3D space works, despite what you may have heard. In some instances it is preferred over an analog stick, such as when you are running in a straight line to activate the Speed Booster or trying to Wall Jump. Secondly, switching to first person for it's various uses works as well. I found it to actually be quite easy, and it becomes second nature as you progress through the game. So, all ye haters: shut up.
FANSERVICE
Yes, this deserves it's own section, as there is plenty of it. And no, I'm not talking erotic fanservice. Get your mind out of the gutter. What I mean is references to past games, cool little touches that fans want to see. Spoilers are ahead, though, as I am actually going to mention what I thought was cool. So, if you don't want to see spoilers, scroll down to the next section header. I think it's great that the game opens up with an act of fanservice in the form of a 3D recreation of the final boss from Super Metroid. Many enemies from the past games are here in 3D goodness for you to blow up. Throwing Nightmare (from Metroid Fusion) in as a boss was a nice touch. There were Rinkas (you know, the nuclear Cheerios from Metroid 1 and Super) on the way to the (sort of) final boss. My favorite thing was probably the Phantoon fight, which is what I'm calling the real final boss fight. And of course, the Zero Suit escape sequence with the Paralyzer stun pistol was really fun too.
THE VERDICT
Adam Malkovich authorizes the use of your hard-earned cash to buy Other M. So do I. While it doesn't exactly live up to previous titles, it should be appreciated by series fans. If you don't like the game, then I am sorry for your loss. You are truly missing something great. While not perfect, Other M is very well done. I don't really want to slap a number on it, but if I did I would give it a solid 9/10. As opposed to a liquid 9/10, or maybe a gaseous 9/10. Or perhaps even a... PLASMA (gasp!) 9/10.
Final score: 9/10
So there you have it. There's my review of Metroid: Other M for your enjoyment and reading pleasure. If you liked it, show your appreciation by commenting below. Feel sympathy for me, as this took ms almost an hour to type on an iPod touch keyboard (so excuse any typos). If reception is positive, I may review the other Metroid games in the future. See you next mission!
-Nate
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