Metroid: Other M

It was tremendously hard for me to get back into this. While I was playing it, Other M felt good enough -- the action is competent, if shallow, and the basic gameplay works well enough. When it's paced right (more on that in a bit), the game can be pretty engaging. But being away from it even for a few hours - let alone a whole week - made me pretty apathetic. The lavish cutscenes can't really make up for their shoddy writing and acting; and the plot, underneath all the melodrama, is nothing new for the Metroid series. It's downright confusing how so much effort was spent on the cutscenes, and yet the rest of Other M's dramatic execution is just so lackluster.

Back to the pacing: the first third of the game, not counting an excessive amount of cutscene at the beginning, makes a good first impression. The action mechanics are just capable enough to make Samus feel like a badass, and the lush vegetative levels are actually somewhat interesting to look at. But as I mentioned, it sets aside the unguided, lonesome exploration that is, arguably, the main theme of the Metroid franchise.

In that sense, the middle third is sort-of a return to form, as Adam's orders were surprisingly unhelpful (and sometimes contradictory) in figuring out what the hell I was supposed to be doing, and I got lost pretty often. Unfortunately Other M's level design and combat gameplay simply can't support this -- aside from a few particular rooms, most of the map is made of utterly unremarkable space-station corridors, and difficult enemies really just become a matter of chain-dodging and firing charged shots into their backs.

The final third is where I felt the game came into its own, again by eschewing many classic Metroid conventions. Frequent boss fights mixed up the enemy patterns, and rapid movement from objective to objective kept my head in the game. Then there were more excessive cutscenes, and the ending was pretty lame; but up to that point, it really felt fun again.

Also, there is a short gameplay segment after the ending, where you fight a real final boss, and finally do a Metroid-trademark escape-the-self-destruct sequence.

Of its three apparent ambitions - a gripping narrative, solid action, and a classic Metroid adventure - Other M doesn't really excel at any of them. The first isn't a complete disaster, but comes pretty close; the second is competent, not a lot more; and the third I'd barely even consider, except for a few moments of series nostalgia. The game lives up to more than the sum of its parts, in that it was able to string me along just well enough to feel satisfied at the end -- no doubt due to the monumental effort that went into making its questionable control scheme, the majority of the time, work pretty well. Ultimately, as a game, I think it succeeds, if just barely.

But as an experiment, I can only consider this a failure. I don't care about the remaining pickups, and I don't care about how it fits into the Metroid story timeline. I would call it my least favorite game in the series, if I hadn't completely forgotten that Hunters had a campaign mode.

This is as far as I can imagine Team Ninja could have gone with their initial premise. Next time, start with a nunchuk. And for the love of Gunpei, never, ever put hidden-object segments in a first-tier franchise game.

Better than: Metroid Prime Hunters
Not as good as: Metroid Prime
I still think the "authorization" upgrade-unlock schtick: is stupid. I'm a goddamn intergalactic mercenary. Fuck the Federation. I play by my own rules.

Progress: Got Adam's helmet, 38%