Metroid Other M

[louisg]

Hopefully the gameplay will be good enough that I can ignore the jaw-droppingly generic cutscenes and other artwork. It looks like it could play like Shadow Complex

I have to say, the first Prime really nailed Metroid's atmosphere

[evil_ash_xero]

So, what do you guys think of it having digital controls? Seems weird. I mean, it strikes me as it plays primarily like a 2D game, but it kind of switches to 3D time to time. I wonder how it will control like that? Maybe something like Shadow Complex, where you just kind of lock on to enemies in the background? All this just so you can point your Wiimote at the screen and go first person. Well, maybe that'll be neat too. I mean, I have to have some faith with it being made by Team Ninja and two of the guys who worked on the handheld Metroids.

[Klatrymadon]

Seems weird. I mean, it strikes me as it plays primarily like a 2D game, but it kind of switches to 3D time to time.

It does seem a bit strange, aye. I was watching Jeremy Parish play it in one of the E3 videos, and in the 3D sections he seemed to be struggling to fire in the directions he wanted to, peppering the rest of the screen with random shots as he turned on a dime. I'm really glad that Samus seems to be quick and agile again, but I'm hoping it isn't just because the controls are loose and oversensitive...

[BulletMagnet]

So, what do you guys think of it having digital controls?

From what I've read of the game, I'm worried that they simplified the control scheme a little too much...last I heard aiming (while in third-person) is automatic and imprecise, and only being able to fire missiles while in (stationary) first-person mode leads to awkward switching, especially during heated battles. Maybe my info is outdated, but offhand it sounds clunky to me.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Yoshio Sakamoto and Yosuke Hayashi speaking.

[szycag]

This is coming out real soon, already out on pirate shores (saw some justin.tv streams of it)
Any opinions of it yet from you all? The reviews are mixed, with a lot of strange nitpicky gripes; footage of the game is too enticing to take any of that seriously though

[evil_ash_xero]

The reviews genuinely are all over the place. Most are kind of on the higher side(8 or above), but there are some strange low ones.

[kengou]

Just about all the reviews I've seen agree that the controls are an issue. Reviews seem divided over whether the cutscenes and story are bad or good. Something which pleasantly surprised me was the mention that the game is NOT story-heavy and featuring big battles with squadmates. It indeed is mostly solo exploration/combat/puzzle solving. So, probably going to be like a 3D Metroid Fusion, with awkward controls. Could be much worse. I know I'll still grab it.

[linko9]

What's sad is that Team Ninja really wanted to use the nunchuck, but Sakamoto insisted on sticking to the NES style control. Ironic since Nintendo pioneered the use of the analog stick for 3D control on console, knowing that a D-pad was insufficient for 3d movement.

[Drum]

I'm not concerned about the controls much at all - the basic ones look really tight and responsive, and it was pretty gutsy to go wiimote-only. Bit concerned about switching to pointer mode mid-combat, that looks really hinky. I *like* the auto-aim, brings to mind Thexder and Alisia Dragoon - always wanted to see how they translated to 3D.

On the other hand, this is a cutscene from Metroid Other M (spoilers I guess, but it might be better to know so you're prepared for it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNVPWHaEPw

It is very, very bad.


I'm probably still gonna get it tho. :(

[Octopod]

The last Metroid game I played was on the SNES but this looks pretty good so I'll pick it up.

[evil_ash_xero]

The only thing that really worries me is the "constant" cut scenes which you cannot skip, even after you beat the game. That always keeps the game low on re-playability for me.

[brentsg]

After reading some of this I went to cancel my Amazon order. Ehh looks like I got it for $5 off.. and there is a $20 promotional credit off your next purchase if you buy Metroid M. So I suppose I'll roll the dice at $25.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I'm more concerned about difficulty after watching the Gametrailers review. The devs make too many concessions for casual players. There's regenerating health once you're down a certain amount of life and generous auto-aim and dash. There doesn't seem to be a difficulty option either.

[Ebbo]

There's regenerating health once you're down a certain amount of life and generous auto-aim and dash. There doesn't seem to be a difficulty option either.

Yeah, but in order to do that you must point your Wiimote upwards and press A - certainly not something you'll do just like that during a heated battle. But then again, this game has checkpoints...

SPOILER: Hard mode unlocks after you'll clear the game, though.

[Drum]

Seems weird as hell to crit the game for making health regeneration a matter of skill/judgement when worrying about difficulty. In all the other games you got health back from (respawning) enemy drops.

[Cthulhu]

Barring reviews from trustworthy sources that said things like "WURST GAME EVAARRRR", I was going to buy this no matter what. The general gist of reviews so far is "great game but starts out somewhat poorly and has some odd design decisions." I'm going to buy it and avoid any more info until I've gotten at least some ways into it.

[Klatrymadon]

For my part, I already know it's going to be disappointing in two areas:

a) Its linear structure, which, by all accounts, is even more restrictive and hand-holdy than Fusion's. Exploration is still present in terms of finding and backtracking for missile expansions and suchlike, but this isn't quite the same as true free-form design, and certainly isn't a substitute for it.

b) Its treatment of Samus as a character, which, in the name of "getting to know her better", has her fraught with insecurities and self-doubt even after the events of the first three games, and apparently only regaining any sort of self-worth after being reassured of it by Adam. The fact that they're trying to play up this bounty hunter's supposed "maternal" qualities is a bit jarring, too. As someone remarked on another forum, mothers don't sell their babies to scientists for lots of money.

Over-protective Metroid fandom aside, though, there doesn't look to be an awful lot wrong with it. I wish the art direction were a little more interesting and a bit less familiar (most of the environments look like they could be on Earth), but the gameplay mechanics all seem to work well enough, and it's great to see the Shinespark and Space Jump implemented properly in 3D. What I've heard of the music on YouTube is heartening, too - it's a very ambient soundtrack, almost to the extent that Return of Samus' was, and the more climactic stuff seems tastefully done. I'll try to approach it as a third-party action game for now, and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Strider77]

I've been playing it over the weekend and have enjoyed it alot. The controls were fine... I could say a few things about that though. As far as the 1st person mode it took a bit of getting use to and I had to figure out when I should use it in certain battles ect. But that is any game... you can't use whatever you want whenever you want. You have to figure out how to properly/effectively use them. Halfway through the game as far as the combat goes I can play it well... using 1st person mode as well. Certain enemies and the freeze beam helps with that.

The dodging and instant charge you can do from using the doge make for some really fun rumbling and tumbling while taking names gameplay. I've enjoyed the boss fights alot also. The 3rd person mode can be kinda awkward but it's RARELY used..... it's only when walking into a story "area" or something scripted.... there is no combat or real exploring in this view, like an elevator.

I know alot will dismiss the game over the control... some are just like that on these 2D franchises. But I've honestly enjoyed the game in large doses. Super Metroid is one of my favorite all time games. I've enjoyed the story for what it is also. I really enjoy the combat and I've seen myself improved and get into the rhythm naturally. I've had to tinker and experiment a little but it clicked without a lot of effort..... less then DMC, NG and other action games. I enjoy it.

The music falls short... it's not bad and the game still has atmosphere. But it's more ambient and in the background. That's not to say you won't here some audio that you'll be happy to hear from time to time either. Super Metroids soundtrack is a tough act to follow.

I know a lot are going to make a judgement before learning new controls and also stop before the game really gets going. Play at least 3 hours.... my attention was held from the beginning though. I adapted to this game (if not quicker) than a good number of other games I love control wise. I'm not calling it a 10... but I would have an easy time with an 8. on a personal level I'd give it a 9. I love 3rd person action games and I love Metroid, and this has alot of 2D gaming mixed into it. It's just the kind of game I look for so take that for what it is.

I'm curious to see what folks say on here.... this place is a little harsh on 3D gaming as expected. Then there are places like G4 giving it 2 out of 5 stars... I could list a 2 star game. Reviewers are gamings worst enemy in this day and age sometimes. But it goes both ways, readers will base their opinions by them or let themselves get jaded before getting hands on time 1st hand. I agreed with most of what the Kotaku review stated. I give it a thumbs up, I'm sure Elixer will give it a thumbs down.

I'm more concerned about difficulty after watching the Gametrailers review. The devs make too many concessions for casual players. There's regenerating health once you're down a certain amount of life and generous auto-aim and dash. There doesn't seem to be a difficulty option either.

This is totally off.... the way it works just causes you to not have to kill respawning enemies or back track to a heal station. It's possible to do in the heat of combat but difficult skirmishes are not made THAT much easier (they just don't stand and let you) and easy fights where this could be used easily.... if you're any type of gamer, I don't even see why you'd need to use the health recharge. Those kind of conflicts are easy without the health fill.... just after 10 of those easy conflicts you don't have to find a heal station or kill regeneration ones over and over to refill. It works for me. Bosses it will have to be planned and it's only going to charge ONE tank at any point, some bosses attacks can take a tank down quick. I works a lot like how it worked in Ninja Gaiden 2, if you can stay alive for that fight then healing is easily done afterwards.... streamlined basically. The game does have multiple difficulty settings... they must be unlocked though. I've never found any of the Metroid games difficult as far as the action, that part was easy (well maybe prime 2 and a few parts towards the end in prime 1)... it was always getting stuck finding something or figuring my way through the maze to get to point A or B. In fact, other than the bosses the enemies were NOTHING to fear in those games other than metroids.

[linko9]

Got the game today, and beat it. Better than I expected, but certainly it's got some problems. The controls were actually fine, though I still think the way missiles are handled is weird. There's really no incentive to pick up missile expansions, since you can almost instantly recharge your missiles. The story was somewhat interesting, but not really worth all the chit chat. Unfortunately, many of the environments are very bland, and overall, the game kind of looks empty and sterile, though it's still a good looking game. The music is terribly disappointing. Most of the game has no music. Weird. Very few classic Metroid sounds. The over-the-shoulder sections are infuriating; at one point you have to walk down several long empty corridors while in this mode... why don't they just let you run? Even more ridiculous, at one point, you are chasing something that's running away from you... and they force you to walk. My main complaint however, is the length/size of the game. The world is quite small, and the game is quite short. Just at the point when I was really starting to get into the game, it ended. Extremely abruptly.

Despite all of these complaints, I did like the game quite a bit. It was very fun, and had some nice challenging bosses. If I had to rate it, I'd give it an 8.5. Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to the Metroid name.

[Strider77]

Just at the point when I was really starting to get into the game, it ended. Extremely abruptly.

Did you go through the credits... all the way through. It might not be over for you yet. I don't want to say more do to spoilers.

I thought it lived up to the Metroid name... it just didn't beat the best out of the library.

[evil_ash_xero]

Well, I didn't like the Primes(I don't like FPS), so this can only be a return to better days to some degree...for me.

The last Metroid I liked was Zero Mission, which was awesome.

UPDATE:

I got this today, and man, I dunno...I don't really like it at all so far. I don't like the droning monologue...and I don't like the unskippable cutscenes. But I really think it plays odd. I hate using the Wii mote to point, and the digital controls feel wrong. And it just isn't that fun yet.

I'll give it some more time, but this isn't looking to be my cup of tea.

[linko9]

Yup, I 100%ed the game. The way the story was playing out, I expected the game to go on for much longer than it did.

[KindGrind]

I'm sold to the Metroid franchise. My favourite game ever is Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime would be somewhere in my top 5, too. I can't remember how much I played these, but every fall I pick these up again and speed run them. Fall is Metroid season for me, and has always been. I gave MP2 another go last week (MP Trilogy), and thought it was way better than I remembered. Basically, I was putting myself in the mood for Other M, a game I was to blind buy for sure.

Yet days pass, and I didn't buy it. Seems very linear (first playthrough at least)... I don't like auto aiming in general, loose controls... I think I'll end up renting this.

[Drum]

Put about an hour into it. Controls are fantastic, don't think I've played a 3d action game that feels as good as this.

Everything else is either questionable or terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrible (the story).

I'll keep playing.

[njiska]

Finally started playing last night and over all I'm disappointed. The gameplay is nice and tight, but the little things keep it from being enjoyable. 3D movement just begs for analog control and aiming without a lock-on goes against what we've come to expect from a 3rd person action game. First person control could be nice, but because you have to point the controller at the screen it's awkward as hell to switch into. It feels like all the potential is there, but is being crippled by the chosen control method.

From a story perspective I'm really torn. The idea of a remorseful Samus after the death of the baby is a great start, but it's handled all wrong. If she's supposed to be distracted and consumed by these thoughts she should be portrayed as such, not hooked into a conversation followed by a disjointed VO. The whole ex-military plot doesn't really work either as it seems they're attempting to build a backstory that doesn't fit the character. Long story short, as I play the game I just feel like something is... off.

[Ebbo]

I've to admit: I hadn't been this excited for Metroid game ever. It was the mixed reception which really caught my attention and I can't really remember last time when people were loving/hating one game so passionately. So, I bought it and gave it try. And I actually like it.

I'm not a big fan of the series (although I enjoyed both Prime-trilogy and GBA games) and I didn't really have any special expectations towards Other M. So far it feels both familiar but also something fresh - which was definetely welcome after Primes. It has got its share of rather questionable design choices and flaws and I can easily understand why some people find it rather unappealing but still, I'm enjoying it. It isn't the greatest thing Wii has ever seen *coughS&P2cough* but to me it doesn't have to be. Musics are a disappointment though.

The story... Well it's Nintendo X Team Ninja, what did you expect? I'm just glad Samus isn't walking around in bikini all the time.

[linko9]

I don't understand why people are complaining about the story so much. As far as a videogame story goes, I thought it was above average. The main problem I have with it is the pacing, but it is an interesting story. The real problem is the script. That's what horrible. Every line that Samus speaks is awkward and unhuman. No one ever utters those sorts of sentences, or even writes them for that matter. I suspect that the problem was that in translating from Japanese, the translator was instructed to make the English translation just as long (in terms of speaking time) as the original Japanese, so that there would be no long pauses in between lines. What they should have done is made a much more terse and natural-sounding translation, and just shortened the damn CG cutscenes to avoid the pauses between lines.

[Ebbo]

I agree. And many scenes could have been much better by simply removing some (read: a lot) of Samus' monologue. Like the part at beginning where Samus and Adam share brief, silent stare after Samus opens the door. Do we really need Samus to thoroughly explain what they were thinking?

[Strider77]

Her narratives were my favorite part as far as the story goes.... I kinda liked that she was so mater of fact and analytical and not super emotional.... she's nintendo's rip off of Ripley from aliens, she was the same way.... Not a cold fish but not a barrel of monkeys either.

I honestly don't see anything wrong about the plot in this game.... no worse than any other video game plot. It ain't shakespeare and metroid never was. It does however entertain me for what it is. Internet reviews get everyone on "what can I find fucked up" mode when they are mixed or bad.

I can see and expect some folks not to like this... that's always the case. Folks HATED prime when it came out, but a lot REALLY liked it. I guess the reviews were great then for prime though... who knows. I enjoyed this one a lot though. I like the format, I'd like them to take another stab at this game's playstyle (especially the combat) and perfect it and get the atmosphere just as high as it was before in the other games.