Metroid: Other M hands on impressions

We have our hands on impressions with the mother of all Metroid games, Metroid: Other M

Just 3 weeks before launch, Nintendo Australia held a preview event for the upcoming action-adventure title, Metroid: Other M. The game isn’t yet completed, but from what we know, the game fills in the gap of what seems to be between Super Metroid on the SNES and Metroid Fusion for the GBA in terms of story and plot.

Visually, this game is very impressive. The graphical capabilities can (at times) make it hard to believe that this is a Wii game. Solid 60fps, beautiful cut scenes with voice acting and vibrant colours that stand out to identify even the tiniest of details. The gameplay approach is excellent. Given that you hold the Wii remote sideways as you do with a NES controller, you move around with the D-pad, shooting and jumping with 1 and 2 buttons, with the A button used to morph into the Morph Ball.

You may be wondering how the D-pad would work in a three-dimensional environment. Quite simple really- think Super Mario 64 DS. It’s simply just that, an easy control system that everyone is familiar with. Shooting enemies in third-person has auto-aim on. Note that this doesn’t hinder gameplay, as you are constantly running around and with lots of creeps in the area; this would be a good idea, since the enemies come from all sorts of directions.

Certain elements in the area aren’t reachable with the auto-aim function, so by using the Wii remote’s pointer, you go into first person mode and are able to shoot at specific spots within the area. Being in first-person, you are only able to look in different directions (much like in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption), as you are immobilized. By saying that, this is helpful so that we are able to stand still and locate certain enemies in the room that can turn invisible and lock-on to the enemies.

Most of Samus’ power-ups are still in the game, her blaster, missiles and morph ball ability, but she has learnt some new moves too. There is a move where Samus is capable of charging her blaster, and once fully charged, jump on the enemy’s head and she’ll blow their head off. As gory as it sounds, it is a one-shot kill. Samus’ Morph Ball technique also comes with the Spring Ball ability from earlier games, allowing her to jump while in Morph Ball form.

Another new feature is the capability to recharge your health and inventory. Should your energy be critically low (HP < 50 or so) or should your missile count be depleted, you simply hold 1 and tilt the Wii remote up to regenerate whichever item is nearly depleted first. But note that this only fills a small portion of energy (1 bar) or 10 missiles.

Overall, this game provides a unique experience of incorporating third-person and first-person gameplay into this action adventure title. With the game’s beautiful display of impressive visuals and epic storyline, there’s no reason that any hardcore Metroid fan should skip this, even those that don’t follow the series should pick this up.

Metroid: Other M is available on Wii in Australia on September 2nd. Many thanks to Nintendo Australia for the invite!