We’ve spent so much time with the suited Samus Aran, and even had some time with her out of the suit. We’ve travelled the galaxy and taken on the biggest and baddest foes – ended the Phazon wars, destroyed Mother Brain and the Metroids, but how well do we really know her? Not that well at all in fact.
Metroid: Other M aims to end this and give Samus more background, more characterisation, and for the first time in the history of Metroid, a voice. Other M has a story that goes far deeper than any of the games have gone before, slotting between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion in the story arc. From the get-go, we are shown a modernised version of Samus’ confrontation with Mother Brain in Super Metroid. Gone are the blocky pixels, this is an eye spectacle cinematic of the end of the big bad brain. Nintendo has revealed that there is over an hours worth of beautifully rendered cut scenes throughout the game, that will detail Samus’ own tale, revealing her failings, her flaws and ultimately her motivation for being a Bounty Hunter – can we expect many more enhanced flashbacks to previous games then?
The story picks up where Super Metroid left off. After escaping the destruction of Planet Zebes, Samus awakens on a Galactic Federation ship. Not long after leaving she receives a distress signal from another Galactic Federation Vessel. Here she teams up with a group of Federation soldiers, including the commander Anthony Higgins and ex-commanding officer of hers, Adam Malkovich. Flashbacks reveal Samus’ younger days and her relationship with Malkovich, but not too much is known about this yet. At first Samus is not welcome by the soldiers, until she plays a part in defeating a purple tentacled boss. From here the giant Galactic vessel is your oyster, as you take Samus on a quest to see what’s up on board.
There are no planets to explore this time, the whole of the game takes place on the vessel. Sounds boring I know but the large ship contains many different areas and atmospheres. Expect the usual ice, grassy and fire locations, in which you’ll need to obtain the suit upgrades to access the areas. For instance, the Varia suit makes a return, allowing you to survive in the super hot Pyrosphere. There’s also the Biosphere, a tropical rainforest; and the Cryosphere, a sub-zero temperature biome. Each one containing their own unique enemies and boss to go with. As is usual, defeating the bosses will unlock new weapons and suit upgrades, from the grapple to the variety of different beams on offer. Including the new Diffusion beam, which scatter Charge Beams after impact, hitting several enemies at once – perfect for those pesky little bugs.
Team Ninja are working closely with the designers of the original Metroid games to bring us a game that fuses both the 2D classics and the Prime 3D games into one. Much like Metroid Prime changed the series to a new dimension, Other M does so, but does it by fusing the classic perspectives of the saga’s history. In Other M the environments are 3D, and while the camera angle changes depending on your location, you can seamlessly switch between third-person and first-person viewpoints for the first time in a Metroid game. Explore and fight in third-person by holding the Wii Remote horizontally, and – at any time you choose – switch immediately to a first-person view through Samus’ eyes by simply pointing the Wii Remote at the screen.
The default play is in third-person – the main issue with Prime is that we couldn’t see Samus in action – but you’ll frequently need to switch to first for easier combat and exploration. In third person Samus can do what she does best – jump, shoot and turn into a morph ball. While in first-person, Samus is static – she can’t move at all, other than to look in different direcions, and fire her gun.
There are several instances where you’ll have to constantly switch between play modes; for example, playing in third person to fight off a horde of flying enemies, whilst switching to first person to destroy their spawn points. Additionally, the first-person mode is also used in exploration, as when locating hidden items such as missile expansions and energy tanks. The exploration aspect has remained, and not turned to all-out action as originally suspected when Team Ninja came onboard.
Other M is the first in the series to feature a melee combat system. Using well-timed button presses, players can use the Sense Move by tapping on the D-Pad, which allows them to dodge enemy attacks, or perform a Counter Attack with the 1 Button. They can also utilise the Lethal Strike and the Overblast, which are both for finishing off downed enemies, as well as the Concentration technique, which gradually regenerates health.
Metroid: Other M is looking fresh and exciting, and with the original creators working with action adventure experts, Team Ninja, perhaps this is the fresh approach Samus was screaming out for. One thing that is uncertain is whether Other M is catering purely for the hardcore, and delivering a hard and epic game to suit the series (Team Ninja love making hard games – Ninja Gaiden), or are they looking towards the Wii’s casual market to make the game more appealing to boost the sales. Either way, there’s no denying it’s shaping up well, and here’s hoping the final product can leave its footprint on the heart of the series.
Metroid: Other M will be released on Nintendo Wii on August 31st in the US and in Europe on September 3rd.
