After having a few weeks to let this game stew in my brain a bit, I figured now was the time to say something about it.
Metroid is one of my favorite NES games of all time. In fact its one of my favorite game series of all time. The games back in day had this way of capturing your attention. It was just you and this alien planet for you to explore. The sounds, the sights -- you never knew what was lurking around the corner in the game. The music had this haunting sound to it, and was paced just right as you wondered the worlds the games had to offer.
This new Metroid title doesn't quite do all the things that I mentioned from the previous entries in the series. Nintendo sought to actually tell a story with Metroid Other M, making its major focus about Samus Aran and her past. They tried to make her seem more like a person, as apposed to a somewhat faceless character. Most Metroid games have made her out to be a hard as nails bounty hunter trying to stop something that threatens the galaxy. While this is not a negative, it certainly detracts from the idea that this a "traditional" Metroid title.
The story picks right up after the events of Super Metroid for the SNES, and goes full speed ahead with how Samus is feeling and how she is dealing with past events and the current situation. Having received a distress call from the "Bottle Ship," she sets out to investigate what has happened upon the ship. When she arrives she soon discovers that the Galactic Federation is already there, and a unit sent to investigate is under the command of her old commanding officer.
Without spoiling much more about the game, I found it to be a compelling reason to continue playing, though are there several things that I found marring to the overall experience. The voice acting in the game is flat and subpar. In particular, the voice actress for Samus was monotone throughout most of the game. It was not until later in the game that I found her to be a bit more emotional.
The way the game controlled was also in question, as Metroid Other M only uses the Wii remote to control. Holding it sideways like a classic NES controller, moving Samus around in a 3D space with only 8 directions because of the d-pad. After awhile I got used to it, and I found myself being able to pull off her various moves with ease. I found that firing missiles was a little cumbersome, though not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be. You must point the Wii remote at the screen and the lock on to a target to fire missiles.
There are also times in the game that force you into a first person view, like when you are setting up to fire a missile. You cannot move past these parts until you find the the item you are suppose to scan in the environment. I was actually stuck for about 45 minutes looking for the right thing to scan at one point.
Despite a few problems and quirks here and there, Metroid Other M is a solid title. Not the traditional Metroid title, and I am glad that Nintendo took a risk with their franchise. I can only hope that the next one is a return to form.
If you are a Wii owner looking for a good game, get this game.
