2/5 ★ – Sefferson's review of Metroid: Other M.

I genuinely don’t know what to say about this game that hasn’t already been said about it. Story-wise, it’s abysmal. Not just from a plot perspective, but from how the story is told. Consistently the game will show the player something, have the player fight a boss, and then immediately after have Samus monologue about what was just revealed to the player. This game does not believe in show don’t tell, it just wants to hammer its plot home over and over. And the plot is just, not good? It feels like the most generic anime ever at times, and it creates a very inconsistent narrative throughout. There’s tension through the entire game about one of the Galactic Federation soldiers going rogue, only for that plot line to just stop in the latter third as the action happens offscreen. The game’s major twists are so uninteresting that even if you somehow don’t see it coming, it’s still not worthwhile. The game consistently tries to build up the relationship between Samus and the Galactic Federation, but more often than not this plotline is fed to the player through random flashbacks that introduce them to the characters Samus is already supposed to have a bond with. I’m sure there’s a salvageable story in there somewhere, but honestly it’s just not worth telling. The overall plot feels even more unremarkable when you consider that the idea of a Federation ship being used to test the possibility of monsters as bio weapons is already the plot of Metroid Fusion. I think the biggest issue with it all, and it’s all an issue don’t get me wrong, is the pacing. Absolutely nothing happens throughout the game’s runtime, and by the time it ends you’re just left confused by how abrupt the ending was. The first 3 hours nothing interesting happens, and then suddenly it just bomb-rushes the story all at once. Gameplay-wise, there’s some neat stuff here. Samus has some pretty cool animations that are implemented for quick take downs, but unfortunately there’s not a ton of variety in them. Many combat situations consist of just dodging enemy attacks, shooting charged beams and occasionally going in for a quick kill when you see an enemy is stunned. For whatever reason this game was made with the sideways Wii Remote being the only control scheme, which automatically limits the potential of a cool 3rd person character action game. And that’s the thing, there’s tons of potential here. Some really cool enemy designs are here that result in potential cool fights, but again, every fight consists of just dodging enemy attacks and shooting charged beams. Unfortunately, the exploration of this game is probably where it took the biggest blow for me this playthrough. I used to look back kind of fondly at this game for being the first 3D space Samus is able to explore with her Speedbooster, but man is it underutilized. Now, disclaimer, I did not go for 100% so I’m sure maybe there’s some cool Speedbooster puzzles located throughout the game’s map, but more often than not the game doesn’t let you really get your Speedbooster off. It’s very uncommon that you’ll find a hallway where you can optionally use it, and honestly that’s my biggest issue with most of the items in this game. There’s very little ability logic at play, you can’t really use any ability in creative ways. Using missiles in combat is just obnoxious, grapple is clunky both in combat and in exploration. You get Super Missiles that function similarly to Metroid Prime, but then rooms after you get them you upgrade to Seeker Missiles which charge the same way and make it so Super Missiles are now reserved for unlocking expansion packs in earlier areas. You don’t really feel a sense of Samus getting stronger as the game progresses. Samus has access to everything except for Seeker Missiles, which if I am recalling correctly, is the only ability you find naturally in the world. For every other ability, the game wastes your time by making you go to the check for the item, leave since it’s a dead end, and then have Adam tell you to use that item. This happens multiple times after the first sector, mainly with Speedbooster and Wave Beam. From memory, this game had a terrible story but somewhat redeemable combat and exploration, and unfortunately that just did not hold up for me on this playthrough. The only reason I am even willing to give this game a 2/5 is because of the potential that’s there. I think a 3rd person character action game starring Samus could be awesome, but this is not that awesome game. There’s some concepts that are really neat here, but everything else is just so baffling it’s hard to find those moments of fun.