Review by KonRadio20

"A ray of sunshine at the end of this long journey."


First off, it is really hard to listen to a bad review about a series you know and love. Especially when those reviews tend to be wrong, maybe I'm being a bit biased because I am a fan of the metroid series, but honestly I believe the reason it got such poor reviews is because everyone else is to. Metroid: Other M is by all standards a great game, it's honestly what I want from every game but alas people have their opinions so I'm here to help sway your minds and maybe give it another chance so that people might be more open to games in trying something different.

Plot: 8/10. Yes I give the plot an 8/10. You may be asking yourself "Why would he do this?" Well first off the whole premise behind the metroid games is you are a bounty hunter trying to destroy the metroids. Super Metroid was the first game where we find out that Samus Aran is a girl. A big shocking moment in video game history? Yes! However the whole idea of Samus being a girl was the team making the game and saying "Hey what if Samus turned out to be a girl?" And the idea stuck. So now we have this idea stuck in our head that Samus is this emotionless bounty hunter and is pretty awesome at her job. Again little of Samus is revealed and people want to make the ploy that we know who she is. Truth be told we don't.

This is the first game with an actual story, plot and some insight into the female who is Samus Aran. So we have the argument that Samus just turned into a whiny little kid. This game looks like it turned Samus into nothing more than a crybaby but if thats really how you view it than honestly you must have little humanity. This game is the perfect look into how Samus really feels after have the baby metroid save her life. And be honest if you were out to destroy an entire race and one of their eggs hatched and the baby actually saved your life don't try and say you wouldn't cry. Then we move onto Adam, and we get to find out about Samus' past and how she became a bounty hunter. First off, Adam is the potential father figure for Samus. He was the person who out of all other's took her seriously, because apparently she was the only woman in the Galatic Federation.

Anyways maybe this is all of topic, the whole premise of the story is that you get a distress message that reminds Samus of the baby metroid. To her, the baby metroid was almost like her own child, this was a baby that for all intent and purpose should have killed her. Instead it accepted her as its mother and saved her life. Anyways the story it's self is really good and well written, there are some dialogue choices that didn't make sense to me. The whole "I believe they are reasearching bio weapons" Yes we figured that out a while back thanks for reminding us. The premise of the game is very Metroid esque and I believe it deserves praise. It is everything I would want in a game. Honestly I wasn't expecting it either, and Samus' narration is really spot on. I loved that she was being more human and voicing her emotions and wasn't just a stale female who makes me want to jump off the nearest bridge. That is my plot explanation I'm not going into detail over the plot incase you haven't played it and if you haven't you really should be looking into this it is one of the best games on the Wii I have played.

Graphics: 7/10. Okay now I'm going to be fair with the graphics. I believe I gave them a modest score. Now we all know the grapical capablities of the Wii, which aren't that great. That being said and out of the way Metroid is a very beautiful game. If I was just giving a score on the cutscenes I would give it a ten out of ten. Metroid: Other M delivers the cut scenes very beautifully and they flow naturally into the game. The enemies have pretty good detail, their are some glitchy ones, but what game doesn't have that? The bosses are really well done but you can tell on some moments where the game seems to lag or cut out a little piece of the enemey or the screen.

Now the characters are some of the best well designed characters I have seen in any game. That is saying a lot for the Wii when it have to compete with the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. The characters are smooth and crisp especially Samus who is the best looking character in the game. And any guy will admit that this Samus is beautiful and sexy. Her body is defined, her face is well defined to clearly read her emotions. All and all though the game has some graphical flaws but it is a very beautiful game especially for the Wii.

Sound and Music: 6/10. First off the sounds in this game were amazing. The team did a real good job on the sound effects. You can hear the constant clawing and screams from monsters or different animals. It gives an air of suspense. Depending on what type of flooring Samus is running on the noise is different. The monsters all make really good sounds which I would expect them to make. This part of the review isn't very good but I'm not so good with sound reviews.

Now as for the music this is why I give it a 6/10. Classic metroid music is what we all love and know about the franchise, and while they try to recreate that I don't believe they did a good job. The best part about the music is the loading screen which has the best metroid score throughout the series. I believe if they were trying to do a super metroid music they should have just used that sound track. Overall though it wasn't that bad and could have been a lot worse.

The voice acting I think is the best part. Samus' voice actor as people like to describe her make her come off as sounding emotionless. I think though that its the exact opposite. I believe Samus' voice is quite full of emotion, it deliever her experience quite well. Everyone want's to believe that Samus is a strong and held together woman who can stand on her own feet with no one's help. Which I never believed that to be true. And since Samus' emotions have never been convoyed in a game before you can't honestly say you know how she feels. And Adam is a suppose to be the potential father figure and his voice is stern and serious. Which portrays his part perfectly. The other voice actors while I find note worthy they don't have a big enough part to make to much of an impact. So overall I would say that this game has one of the best voice acting I have seen in a Wii game.

Gameplay: 7/10. Alright the gameplay is where I did find some problems but not to many. First off we know that the main premise of the Metroid games is exploration. While Metroid: Other M has more of a linear story path. Which isn't a complaint in itself however it does make me wish that I could branch off and explore. They are on a bottle ship which I realize doesn't give much room for exploration but its something I can learn to deal with. The whole thing with not using your powers until Adam gives you premission I think is a great idea. Most people complain at this point and wonder why Samus is being a well I won't say the word here and give into Adam's demands. Well maybe if you actually opened your eyes and paid attention to the cutscenes which explains their past then maybe you could get your head out of your butt. She is trying to show Adam that he is one of the only person that she respects. And not to mention that since the bottle ship is under the control of the GF she has no choice is she wants to help.

I love the 2D/3D aspect of the game. The controls are great I was quite concerend how it would work out but it was great. Holding the Wii remote sideways is the best way to play this game. The auto aiming gave me concern at first but after playing it's a great aspect. Switching to first person does has some problems but what motion game or motion control system not naming any names (kinect and the move which is basically and hd Wii but that's another argument) Giving that argument there are some problems with switching to first person. No matter how much people want to say they are perfect or that they completley suck I'm here to help you find a medium. When switching to first person you cant move, which in a way makes sense and in another way everyone has to admit sucks. Second the second you switch your aiming sensor usually makes you turn to the right or left depending on which way your coming from. I will say though that once you've played it for a while and get use to it it does become alot better. Still glitchy though that I think nintendo should work on or just give the people want they want and go back to tradional controllers.

At the end of the game you get to go back and collect all the items you miss with all your power-ups, though by that point in time it pretty much pointless. So why I don't disagree that you get your powers gradually through the game if you could have got them back a ittle bit before the game was over it would have made it more fun. And there is concentrarion. When your health gets low enough or your missles are low you can concentrate and replenish them. Which if that was just for the health it would make more sense. It would be like in a shooter when you take cover and wait for your health to return. However Samus seems to have a secret stock of infinite missles so really what's the point in her even having a limited amount at a time. If that's the case which it is they would have been better to sticking with finding missles as you progress to replenish them. You have dodging which is really good actually I figured it would be hard and clunky when I saw it but it is actually easy by pressing the arrow pads in either direction simple enough. And the camera moves with you flawlessly. Overall the gameplay is very sound but with noticeable glitches.

Replay Value: 6/10. I wouldn't necessarily say the ending is disappointing but it's not as fulfilling as you want it to be or you expect. The game does allow you to go back and collect all of the items that you missed and that you couldn't get because you didn't have all the power-ups. It's a bit of a disappointment because you get all of your powers but there is really no point in having them or getting to enjoy them. It is worth it for the second ending which is why I didn't put the replay value down so low. However if you just love the game it is still a fun game to start over and play it again.

Game Length: 9/10. The game's length is about as long as an average metroid game which is perfectly fine to me. If they would have dragged this game out it would have been disappointing. The game is on a first run though about an average 8 to 10 hours of game play. Which I don't expect a lot longer from a metroid game aside from the exploration which this game doesn't really have until after you beat it and even then you've already been everywhere.

Total Score: 43/60. I don't know if everyone can agree with that score but being a Metroid fan and with everybody's negative reaction to the game and trying not to be biased I think its a very reasonable score.

Flaws: I think the most annoying thing about the game is having to scan for things. They are usually so small and blended in with the enviornment that it takes about 10 minutes just to find what your looking for. And I will agree that the first person controls are a little cluncky but I don't think that they are the worse. If they were a little bit redfined it would be a lot better but its a Wii.

Conclusion: This probably isn't the best review you've seen or most well writen but hopefully it helped to change a few minds of people who saw this as a terrible game and that they should give it a second chance. Overall I say that Metroid: Other M is one of the best games on the Wii and I think that's saying a lot with all of the other terrible games that are on the Wii. And GI wants to say its the worst game on the Wii but of course we all know how biased they've become. Please though really give the game a chance and Samus a chance its worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10 | Originally Posted: 01/18/11



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