Metroid Other M: Hands on
August 3, 2010 by Chi Wong
Filed under Events, Reviews & Interviews, News & Lifestyle
When Other M was first shown during E3 2009, I totally fell in love with the Metroid series. Before seeing Other M, I had only played the newer games such as Metroid Prime Hunters for the Nintendo DS and Metroid Prime on the Gamecube, but Other M grasped me on a different level… the game is more story driven now, and there is a history going on about the main character Samus Aran. The story will be about who she was, and how she ended up as a bounty hunter. I immediately played older games for the SNES and Gameboy Advance. I noticed the 2D platformer type of gameplay and I really liked that, it’s fast-paced and very different from the 3D shooters.
Finally I got my hands on the controller at the Nintendo Post E3 event in Zaandam, and together with Chris I tried out demos of new games and as we moved from one game to another, we stumbled upon Metroid Other M. No, actually, we were waiting for another guy to finish his demo first. There were at least 30 minutes worth of cutscenes in the demo, which is more time than you spend playing the game itself!
Other M feels and plays like the old Metroid games; it features platforming and first person shooter type gameplay. I’m speechless by the result of Other M, the controls are so simple and yet I can do so much with it!
For running, jumping and shooting just hold the Wii controller as a normal controller with two hands, pressing the buttons with your thumbs. Moving the character will be done with the directional pad, and buttons 1 and 2 are mapped as shooting and jumping respectively. For morphing Samus into a ball, press the a-button. For going into first person perspective, hold the Wii controller as you would hold a remote controller and immediately you will see that everything changes from third person into first person. Now the a-button shoots and the b-button is mapped for locking onto targets and allowing the player to pan around, and when b-button is held you can shoot rockets with the a-button that are more powerful than the standard beam shot. Beating enemies has never felt so powerful. While in third person view, standing close enough to an enemy Samus will lock-on to that enemy by facing it. Shooting has never been so fast and easy before. If you’re tired of the easiness, then just go into the first person shooting.
The graphics are stunning, while running through the familiar sci-fi space station-type environment, it plays and feels like Metroid. Everything is so fast-paced, running through a room multiple times isn’t boring because there is always something going on. Killing enemies is fun and a few of them are difficult to kill, some spider-like creatures require the player to jump on top of their heads and shoot it. The game will go into an automated animation where Samus is doing that and kills off the creature, and I was thought “now that is awesome. The demo only allowed us to play the actual first level of the game, as it was told to us by one of the Nintendo staff that the game just ends there with no “thank you for playing this game.” I could not believe it, and tried to explore a few things, but I found nothing.
Other M takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, and tells the history of Samus Aran in her younger years as a Galactic Federation soldier. Throughout the story the question why Samus left the Galactic Federation military will be answered, as the player will see how the main character was before she went into the solitary world as bounty hunter. The Samus in her younger years shows a rebellious, strong-willed character that followed orders in her own way. Her actions give a certain cute affection towards everyone around her, and everybody likes Samus, even her commander Anthony Higgs. I don’t intend to spoil the story because I know so little about it, but I assume that this story will develop into a romance where Samus has to choose either to stay or leave the Galactic Federation military.
Metroid Other M is definitely one of my favourite demos from the Nintendo post E3 event, and I want to buy this game when it’s out. There are so many games that I want to purchase but I know I can’t afford them all at once, which is unfair. I am thankful to Nintendo that they keep thinking about their target audience, that they know what we want and they keep us attached to their community.
http://www.nisute.com/2010/08/03/metroid-other-m-hands-on-needs-images/
