Metroid: Other M

This is one I've been wanting to do for a few weeks now, and I'm finally getting around to it.
Before I get into that, though. Let me explain how my scoring system works.
I grade games on a 20-point scale, rating four different aspects to a game on a 5-point scale, with the sum of each score adding up to the final score.
Here's a general guideline for the 5-point scale for the four aspects.
0-1 = Horrible
2-3 = Decent/Passable
4-5 = Good/Excellent/Perfect, etc.

So naturally, a good way to see the final score is this:
0-5 = Don't even bother. This game is on a level of fail comparable to Jack Thompson's career.
6-10 = You might play this game out of sheer morbid curiosity, or it falls into your niche, but not enough to keep you hooked.
11-15 = Good game, definitely worth a rental, or buy it pre-owned at Gamestop or something.
16-20 = Perfect/Near-perfect masterpiece, definitely worth your hard-earned money.
Without further ado, here's my unbiased, objective review of Metroid: Other M.

Storyline - 4/5

Up until this point, if you asked any Metroid fan about Samus Aran, you wouldn't get a very detailed answer. All most people know is that she's a woman, she's a badass bounty hunter, and that she was raised by the mysterious and powerful Chozo from a very young age. This game pretty much fills in a bunch of the blanks in Samus's past. From the destruction of her home planet at the hands of Ridley, to her brief stint in the Galaxy Federation Army, going deeper into the relationship between her and her commanding officer, Adam Malkovich, and to a lesser extent, her comrade Anthony Higgs.

The story of the game itself takes place during the events after Super Metroid, but before Metroid Fusion. Voice acting aside, it does a really good job of painting a picture of the true Samus Aran and where she came from. In fact, I think the only thing that's really missing is her life with the Chozo, and we can certainly hope they put that in the next Metroid game.

Metroid: Other M starts off with Samus being recovered and nursed back to health by the Galactic Federation after the events of Super Metroid. After that, she goes off and patrols the galaxy, searching for a new bounty to hunt.

All of a sudden, she catches a distress signal code-named "Baby's Cry", which supposedly holds the urgency of a baby crying, hence the name. She follows the distress signal to a giant research station called BOTTLE SHIP. Not long into her investigation, she runs into her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich, as well as her former comrade, Anthony Higgs, along with a small squad of soldiers.

Now HERE is where most people have a problem. We all know Samus could just go through the entire thing by herself, because she's a badass bounty hunter who could probably destroy the entire Galactic Federation Army if she wanted. Well, if she DID do that, there wouldn't be much of a point to the game, now would there? Seriously, if you're going to bitch about that, then ask yourself why she doesn't have all her powers from the first two Metroid games in Super Metroid. At least this time her absence of uberness is explained and, oddly enough, a convenient plot device.

As to WHY she decides to seal her powers and abilites? Simple. Samus still holds a great deal of respect for Malkovich, who knows and understands her better than anyone, and despite popular opinion, Samus actually has emotions. She wants to show Adam that she can take care of herself. And like any good guy, she likes to play nice with the the little guys.

I can see how this can be confused for Daddy issues, but honestly, I think people only say that so they can make a cheap Montana Fishburne joke.
To be honest, I think it makes her MORE of a badass, because WE ALL know that Samus could blow up a small planet by herself, and SHE knows it, too.
If you're surprised by Samus's decision to suppress her powers, then you haven't played Metroid Fusion, otherwise, you would have seen this coming a mile away. Go find a copy, you'll see what I mean.

Graphics - 4/5

Now, I'm not going to compare grapics from other action games on the PS3 or Xbox 360, that just isn't fair. While I admit they could have probably done a little bit better on the graphics, this is one of the best looking Wii games I've seen in a long time. Nintendo has done a great job on the level of detail in the BOTTLE SHIP, making an entirely new adventure while at the same time maintaining a certain level of familiarity. Colors are crisp and vibrant, even when they're dark and gloomy. Each member of the Galactic Federation army is visually unique, and has their own personality, instead of being faceless minion A-D. And the opening movie and cutscenes are a pleasure to watch, with the opening movie being especially easy on the eyes. It's actually comparable to most cutscenes you find in PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Color me impressed, Nintendo. An opening sequence I actually wouldn't mind watching over and over again. They must have been taking notes from Hideo Kojima.

Audio 3/5

This is probably where I take the biggest issue with the game, so let's get the good points out of the way first.

The music is phenomenal, recognizable, and it always seems to be playing the right tunes at the appropriate times. The "life hangs in the balance" style music plays during boss fights, the "Oh, shit, runrunRUN!" music plays when you need to escape, and so on.

The sound effects are a little on the dry side. They're still pretty decent, but I could have done with a bit more "oomph". Samus' weaponry all has the familiar sounds, from the pleasant "Pew pew" of her beams to the oddly-dull "Boooooosh!" of her power bombs. There's nothing really great or distinct about it. Enemies still make that familiar "splat" noise when you kill them, Ridley's roar is still annoying as hell, and of course, alarms still make you want to run like mad, if just to make it stop.

The voice acting is definitely, hands down, the BIGGEST disappointment in the entire game. I have waited over 20 years to hear Samus speak her views, instead of seeing them typed out on a screen, and now, I think I would rather have them typed out on a screen. Not just Samus, but every character in the game sounds like they were handed their lines and instructed to read them as unenthusiastically as possible. The closest I felt to actual emotion in the voice acting in the game was near the end. Those that have played, you know what I mean, because I don't wanna give away any spoilers to those that haven't.
In short, they could have done much, much better, but still, not the WORST I've ever
heard *CoughChaosWarsCough*.

Gameplay 5/5

This is the meat and bones of the game. I'll admit, I was one of those people who facepalmed and said "What the f***?!" when they introduced the control scheme. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how intuitive and easy it is to control. The first-person controls take some getting used to, but it's second-nature once you get the hang of it.

The game is played mainly by holding the Wii Remote sideways, like a classic NES controller, using the D-Pad to move Samus in just about any direction, while you use the 1 and 2 buttons to jump and fire at enemies, which is remarkably easy due to the game's auto-aim feature.

The combat mechanics are where you can see Team Ninja's greatest influence. Under certain circumstances, you can grab and perform finishing moves on most of the non-boss baddies in the game, destroying them in a spectacular fashion. And no matter how many times I see it, I never, ever get tired of seeing Samus step on a monster's neck and blast him point-blank in the face with a charged shot. And that's actually one of the more tame animations. Samus can get pretty brutal in this game, performing actions like execution-style finishers, pulling the wings off of bug-like monsters in mid-flight, or countering an opponent's grapple with a fierce boot to the face. *Insert PMS joke here*

If you need to take a closer look at something, you can point the Wii Remote toward the screen to look around in first-person view, which is also the only way to fire missiles and super missiles, as well as revealing which of your weapons will work on a specific obstacle. This takes away your ability to move freely, but it doesn't leave you defenseless, as you can still use the game's forgiving dodge mechanic in either first or third-person view. Also, your beam is instantly charged upon a successful dodge, provided you were charging when you started, leaving you ready for an immediate counterattack on your aggressor.

The concentration system is now the only way to recharge your health and missiles, with the exception of save points, as the monsters no longer drop health and missile pickups upon defeat. You can replenish your missiles at any time, which essentially gives you unlimited missiles, but it's kinda hard when you're being swarmed by like 20 bug monsters at once or constantly dodging attacks from a boss. Health, on the other hand, can only be recharged when it reaches a certain threshold (In the red). This threshold, as well as how much health you can recharge can be expanded via in-game pickups.
All in all, Nintendo and Team Ninja took a gamble combining the classic Metroid controls with Metroid Prime controls, but it pays off big time with an enjoyable, easy-to-learn control scheme that may take a bit to master, but is well worth the effort.

Score

Storyline - 4/5 Easy-to-follow story, which gives fans many answers to their questions about Samus Aran, even if it is kind of in a cheesy way.

Graphics - 4/5 Not perfect, but definitely one of the best visual experiences on the Wii right now.

Audio - 3/5 Superb musical score, but almost completely offset by mediocre sound effects and horrible voice acting.

Gameplay 5/5 Intuitive controls combined with incredible combat make the game fun to play for hours on end.

Total - 16/20

In conclusion, Metroid: Other M is an enjoyable action game that's well worth the price of admission. It has its flaws like most other games, but holds enough sheer gameplay value and fun factor to allow you to forgive or even ignore those flaws. Definitely worthy of a spot in anyone's Wii library.

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Tune in next time for my next big review! Hope to talk to you all again soon!

~Grif Out