Metroid: Other M! Review and First Thoughts.

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So since I have not yet finished the game I am going to start this off as a first thoughts thing and then add the full review in when I finish

I'm playing right now... About 5 hours in. I am a little disappointed but it is by no means a bad games. Here are in my mind the cons.

Cons-

- The controls can be a bit annoying such as switching from the normal view to the 1st person as well as aiming in first person, wall jumping can also be a pain due to the tiny d-pad, (moving around in the normal view feels surprisingly good though) Also every now and then they force you into this behind the camera type view that you have to move Samus around using the D-Pad in that feels horribly clunky and it really brings the experience down.

- The graphics are ugly... I mean I don't really complain much about graphics but this is a first party Nintendo game and I expect a lot more out of them... Textures are very low-res, graphics can look blurry at times, and anything other than the human characters (which look pretty nice but not perfect) just look ugly... Game looks very last gen and is kind of insulting to the hardcore Nintendo fan because Nintendo knows the Wii can handle alot more than this... I also noticed some framerate stutters as well.

But other than those issues it is still a great game so far and none of those issues are game killing just a little annoying.

Pros-

- The music sounds pretty good so far, typical Metroid Music which always is amazing.

Other-

- The Voice acting is a little weird at first and Samus's character seems to be modeled after an Aspergers character archetype (Her character screams of Aspergers like her interaction with the other soldiers as well as a scene early on where she said she was heartbroken when Adam called her an "outsider") which I like mainly because that way I can relate to her more. And the characters voices and acting all seem pretty good. Not perfect Voice Acting by any means but nice.

- The Story is pretty good if a little meh at times... It is a direct sequel to Super Metroid and really delves into Samus and her mindset after witnessing the death of the Baby Metroid whom she had a deep attachment to as well as her relationship with Adam and on a smaller sense her relationship with the other soldiers. As well as going into her past as well which I am liking.

I'll add more in later and right out a full review when I finish the game hopefully tomorrow as I have to do some homework and probably won't play again tonight. But just thought I'd put this here for some people to look at and get some impressions. Also please ask questions if you don't understand what something means in the review or first thoughts. and I will try and answer.

I just got the email ad for the game from Nintendo and saw that it uses sideways Wiimote for controls...

It already sounds pretty awkward. Does it support Wiimote+nunchuck or Classic Controller?



Second party, Team Ninja's behind this one.

The controls and the camera are just awful. If I was some game reviewer, I would give it a 1-2 outta 10. It's a total deal-breaker for me.

Otherwise the story (about 6 hours into it) hasn't been that bad like most people say. Also, I don't find the graphics are that bad like Xenu does.

Last edited by kriskarnage on 01 Sep 2010, 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Nope only supports Wiimote.

Well it was collaborative effort between Nintendo designers and Team Ninja, And Metroid is a first party franchise so it would be considered a 1st party game (Kind of like how Capcom developed Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons)

It's not another FPS like the last one so I won't be getting it. I loved the gameplay and controls on Metroid Prime 3. This seems more like it'll be a very fractured gameplay experience trying to fit too much onto a medium that's too limited. Not a game I'm interested in.

What do you expect . . . Samus was raised by the Chozo, so her interaction with the human race has been limited.

That's prettymuch the definition of "second party"

Not to be confused with third party.

Man...just saw G4's review and Morgan Webb teared the game a new one and confirmed my assumptions regarding gameplay and how it probably isn't that great.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjGNIUsjK44[/youtube]




Man....poor Samus; setting women back 20 years in video games.

That G4 review is terrible... That lady is mad because a human shows emotions who happens to be female. Obviously Morgan has no idea what it's like to be in the military and the mental state soldiers are always in when a commanding officer gives orders, not only that but a commanding officer whom she deeply respects as a father figure because her own parents were brutally slaughtered by Ridley while she watched.

Here's my mini review

Graphics:
Graphically this game is not on par with the newer games on other consoles, however we already knew this would be the case and this is quite possibly the best looking Wii game to date. Environments tend to be a bit lower res but the characters are all very detailed and of course Samus in particular looks great.

Controls:
The sideways controls alone work very well, simple scheme that makes it easy to dodge, easy to attack, and easy to perform finishers. the problem comes when switching between third and first person view. It takes a bit to get used to but once you do it's very easy to switch between modes quickly and being able to dodge out of first person mode is very helpful.

Sound:
The music is mostly rehashes of tunes from the older Metroid games however this isn't necessarily a bad thing as all the music sounds great. The new music included has a lot of classical inspiration to set the mood. Sound effects are great and believable. Samus' voice actor sounds very fitting for the part, however her performance is lacking a bit and it takes away from the game a tad but it's certainly not crippling for the game.

Story:
The story is told from Samus' inner monologues and while it is an interesting story it can get a tad boring when the obvious is being re-explained by Samus. The game goes over a lot of Samus' back story but unless you already know it there are a lot of holes a layman would not be able to understand. The story at hand becomes very interesting very quickly and the conclusion is surprising to say the least. If they had cut down on reiterating so much it would have been better.

Gameplay:
Gameplay is very fast and intuitive. The controls are simple but very accurate so that when you attempt to perform a move you know it'll trigger. As previously stated once you play for a bit you can switch easily between first and third person without a problem. The context sensitive kills are all very brutal and you'll easily know when you can perform them. While having a simple control scheme the boss battles maintain a good amount of difficulty and are all very fun and entertaining. Near the end of the game you're just way too powerful for any normal enemy to stand a chance but that's standard fare for Metroid.

Conclusion:
This is Metroid. This game represents the logical progression of the Metroid experience in gameplay but contains a bit too much story emphasis. Anyone who's not used to Japanese story telling will be aggravated with the story in general but the gameplay and other elements more than make up for it.

Rating:
9 out of 10

People disliking a Metroid game? Heaven forbid.

Weighing in here. I got M:OM earlier, and I have to say I'm not too effing impressed.

No gripes about the graphics or voice acting, no. My complaint is regarding the control scheme. It SUCKS. Seriously.

They had a beautiful thing going with the control system in Metroid Prime 3, and they had to go and screw things up. I'm very disappointed.

It hurts to say this, because I am the biggest Metroid fanboy on the planet, but this game is epic fail.

Only because you can't admit the game sucks. Her complaints of a formerly stoic, equal character being reduced to a stereotypical subjugated female role are legitimate complaints. Samus was always portrayed as a peer before and this game, instead chooses to objectify her as a female. One of the only female characters in video games has been reduced to the same stereotypical female roles that every other character has been.

The controls sounded like a bad idea as soon as it was described to me and the complaints about it are legitimate. Why fix something that isn't broken with the MP3 controls? It's obvious that you're only going to step backward in terms of playability and ease of control. MP3 was a game that one could point to as a shining example of how well the Wii's control designs could be implemented into a game to make a very immersive FPS that actually felt like progression in controls rather than just a gimmick. The control design for the new game is just a gimmick and a poorly implemented, overly-taxing one. And it's ironic that you say accurate while others have complained that the auto-aim feature is anything but accurate. It's a step backward where they could have worked to finely tune the MP3 experience and improve on that. That's what you get when you outsource your IP: a product that isn't as good as what the in-house guys would do.

first off i hate g4 all they do is give what the fans want to hear instead of their own opinion because there to scared of losing views but thats my opinion second i do agree that the game a some flaws but its not major for example the controls do get clunky but heavy rain had the same problem and it was still a amazing game plus graphics dont make a game, its a game you play it you dont watch it

Personally I liked the game a lot. I liked the new controls including Sensemove and the finishing attacks which put a new spin on enemy interaction, and Concentration which I found was a fresh and interesting new way of restoring health and missile stock. The fully-voiced cinematics and full storyline were amazing, and through these I really felt a greater connection as the player, and made it even more saddening when I died, which did happen a lot, so it's evident too that the satisfying challenge of a Metroid game is still there.

However, I found the final battle with MB to be a little bit short and underwhelming for what a final battle is worth. Where is MB shapeshifting into another Mother Brain to give us a good long fight like we experienced in Super Metroid? I suppose we could call the battle with Queen Metroid the final decently-lengthed battle, but it wasn't THE final battle!
And would someone please tell me what ever became of that furry little thing that killed one of the Galactic Federation guys and Ridley? I'm afraid I can't remember paying attention at the part where that was explained... and KG Misawa? Where did he go?

That's why their Other M review is so widely popular, eh?

I like this game so far and I don't need to fanboy rant over it. If you don't like the game, the Prime Trilogy is your friend.

I thought Retro's Metroid games were good, but Nintendo needed to chaange their direction. It might not appeal to a lot of fans, but then MP1 had the same slack when it was out.