Review: Metroid Other M

Full disclosure: Samus Aran, star of the Metroid series, is, without a doubt, my favorite video game character. Some find this somewhat strange since, until recently, she was never really much of a character at all.  Throughout the series, bits and pieces have been revealed about her past and in “Metroid Fusion” for the GBA, she even had some sparse inner monologue (the first time the character had ever spoken in any manner), but for the most part, Samus is kind of a mystery and that’s what I think I find so alluring about her. All you really needed to know about Samus was that she was a badass Bounty Hunter with a slick space suit and an arm-cannon who hunts Metroids, case closed. All that being said, you can imagine my excitement (and trepidation) when I learned that “Other M” would be the first game (with the exception of Smash Bros.) to feature a voice actress portraying my favorite character in a fully fleshed out Hollywood-style, blockbuster Metroid game.  So, did Team Ninja somehow manage to not completely fuck up my favorite pixelated creation?

In a word: Nope…and Samus apparently agrees.

    Let me be clear about one thing, before I embark on a rant about the myriad of problems plaguing this title: “Metroid Other M” is a fun game. Many of the more negative reviews share a belief that it simply tries to do too many things; it’s a jack of all trades, master of none. I did not find this to be the case. When “Other M” actually allows you to play the game, it’s extremely fun. Though some of the action and fighting could use a teensy bit more polish, it’s still rather enjoyable. I appreciate Team Ninja’s dedication to delivering a Metroid title that was truly their own. The Wii-remote only control scheme (no nunchuck required) works incredibly well, the first-person/third person gameplay hybrid is fluid and gunning down countless alien monsters is as fun as it ever was. Also, as in all Metroid games, the sense of growing more powerful through access to increasingly stronger and unique weaponry is present. Though, in a rather stupid twist, the powers are meted out by Samus’ “commander”, allowing her use of certain abilities she already possesses, instead of simply discovering them throughout the game. Unfortunately, all this Metroid goodness is broken up far too often by a series of poorly written cutscenes with voice acting that is just barely passable at best, each one longer and more asinine than the last.  Here’s a taste:


     
      You like that?  I hope so, because get ready to sit through more than two (unskipable) hours of those (which can be accessed as a streamlined “movie” after completing the game, for those that are into inflicting self-torture or have hammers where their brains should be) over the course of the game.  At first, these scenes aren’t too much of an issue, but I believe this is simply due to the fact that I didn’t yet realize how shitty and boring the story is. The voice acting isn’t too terrible, at least by video game standards, though I wish they would have given Samus voice actress Jessica Martin more direction than what was apparently “sound like an emotionless robot, even though the words you are saying are intended to convey a wide array of complex emotions.”  The story and dialogue play out like some 10th grader’s poor attempt at Metroid fan fiction; honestly, as someone who is a huge fan of the series and a giant dork for Samus, I can’t imagine how insufferable these cutscenes are for someone who really couldn’t give a shit.

 

I imagine it would look something like this.

    In the end, I commend Team Ninja for what they attempted with “Other M”, I just feel somewhat let down with the overall execution. This game can be immensely fun and absorbing at times. The graphics really are quite stunning, this is definitely one of the best looking games I’ve ever seen on the Wii. But, almost every time you start to cull some real enjoyment out of it, you are interrupted by some lengthy plot development about characters you couldn’t care less about. For the first Metroid that attempts to fuse both the first person exploration of the “Prime” trilogy with the feel of the old school 2D side scrollers, “Other M” really should have taken its own story a tad less seriously. If a bit more of the effort had been put into the game itself instead of the unnecessarily convoluted story, this could have been a great installment in the Metroid saga; as it stands, I think I’m gonna do my best to simply regard it as a failed experiment.

Graphics: 9/10

Gameplay: 7/10

Replayability: 3/10

The Whole Shebang: 6/10

M’s Watchability Rating: 6/10  “This is a fun game to watch...when you’re actually fighting things. Samus running around power blasting and discovering new creatures...it’s a plethora of fun. Then Samus opens her mouth and for me, completely destroys the illusion. It’s just annoying to have an amazing battle tainted because the cut scene either preceding or following it took 10 minutes of unnecessary exposition (and I haven’t seen many Metroid games but even I got the point the first time). If they had a decent script, this would have gotten a couple extra stars, but overall, it ended up feeling like a mediocre experience.”