Metroid Other M

Name: Metroid Other M

Devoloper: Nintendo, Team Ninja

Year: 2010

Platform: Nintendo Wii

Genre: Action Adventure, Puzzle

At first I wanted to write something else then ANOTHER Nintendo game. Yet due to my busy schedule today I am writing a smaller review. Metroid Other M.

Other M takes place after the events of Super Metroid which is seen in the beginning of the game, flashbacking the events of that game. After a short cinematic you are given the tutorial in which you learn the basics of the game. After that you depart on your spaceship where you will receive a distress signal. Following it you encounter your old friends on a bottle ship. With them you investigate where the distress signal comes from and what is happening on the ship. 1 Hint, Super Metroid wasn't the last game where you encounter Metroids.

In Other M (even though I finished the game I still don't know where the M stand for) you fight differently from the last Metroid games. Although it is a 3D game like the Prime series you do not fight in 1st person. Instead, you walk around in 3th person view. You can change your vision to first person view to aim better or fire missiles. In 3th person you auto aim at enemies although you have to look in their direction. The camera doesn't always give you the option though.

Because of the 3th person view you can also engage in melee combat. If enemies are weakened you can go into combat with them to deliver a devasting finisher. Some enemies can be jumped upon to deliver special attacks .

This game isn't all about fighting though. Trough the course of the game you can use multiple abilitie to go futher into an area. For example, you can go into morph ball mode. In this small mode you can only lay small bombs but you can enter real small holes to gain acces to new area's. The Screw attack (hehe) allows you to stay in the air for a long time. With it you can cover a cliff that open up the area more. Once you unlock an ability in area 1 you can go futher into area 2 where you get the ability to go into area 3 which brings you back to 1 etc. Not every opening is obvious though. You have to look around and experiment with everything.

The area's you explore are actually part of the ship, which is mechanical. However, since it is a ship which observes several bioforms they simulate the area's for the bioforms. You see several landscapes such as a jungle, a dark lava cavern or some icy plains, all in 1 Ship. Most of them are illusion though, which you can sometimes turn off to reveal the truth and a new pathway. The area's a brilliantly designed though and although  it is a bit too unrealistically  colourful sometimes.

The soundtrack is typical to the Metroid series. Active but in the background. It fits the mood of the area or bossfight. But the emphasis is never on the music itself. Most of it are some kind of techno music with a theme.

Overall Metroid Other M is a great action adventure game with some puzzle elements. Although it doesn't follow its predecessors' with the 1st person view it is truelly a great experience to walk around and see Samus from all angles. Also a thing to note is that you will hear Samus her voice for the 1st time. And this game has a lot of background story which the previous games didn't have.

If you aren't a Metroid Fan I wouldn't get this game if I were you. For fans this is a MUST have though due to the story and background information.  

Fun Facts about this game:

-Metroid Other M takes place after Super Metroid and before Metroid Fusion

-Samus talks in this game and so do other characters such as the famed Adam

-Samus DOESN'T lose her equipment this time. However, Adam restricts her from using everything.

-When you finish this game there is extra content and even a secret endboss!

-Other M could stand for Mother, as in Mother Brain, or Metroid.