At long last, I had my day in the sun with Nintendo's newest Metroidian masterpiece, Metroid: Other M. I'd been waiting since last year's E3 to have some hands-on time with the game, so naturally it was the first game I played on the show floor (that wasn't part of the morass of scheduled game demos I slogged through yesterday). I had some worries about the game's controls and whether or not the experience would feel like a true Metroid game, but my fears were mostly alleviated as soon as I started running through the space station as Samus.
I was lucky enough to notice that there were two save files available to choose from in the demo. I didn't want to play that same first stretch that everyone and their mom had already seen, so I hastily chose the second save file. The moment the game booted up and I heard the familiar loadout music, I knew that this was a game that would take hold of me instantly and never let go.
The save file I chose picked up immediately after the giant purple boss that we've seen in the past, and had Samus exploring more of the same space station. Control is handled on the d-pad, which made me a little nervous considering how much 3D movement there is in the game, but in practice it seemed to work flawlessly. Samus would dash confidently down claustrophobic hallways, blasting classic Metroid baddies, and navigating the expansive environments. It all felt like classic Metroid to me, and I couldn't have been happier with the sense of scale that the world seemed to have.
As I worked my way through the second stretch of the game, I came to some kind biodome contained within the space station. The verdant foliage surrounding me and the grizzly plant enemies trying to bite my head off again just screamed Metroid at the top of their lungs. Wall jumping to access new areas felt great, and seemed to offer some of that old Metroidy exploration that we all love so much.
The combat was pretty simple and a lot of fun. As you may have heard alreayd, most of the aiming is done automatically for you. Simply point Samus in the direction of an enemy, and she will target it. Sometimes you'll need to jump and shoot to hit those pesky out of reach enemies, but it all felt great. I loved the constantly shifting perspectives as I wound my way through the massive level. It all felt incredibly dynamic, and had a more cinematic feel to it than I am used to seeing out of Nintendo.
A lot of people have complained about the switching to first person perspective, but I really had no problem with it. I found it incredibly easy to simply point at the sensor bar and start surveying my environment more closely. In first person, you can scan different environmental features, and blast away at them with missiles. When you're in first person, you can't move, but you can aim around Samus with ease. It seemed like it might a bit confusing to tell when you should make this switch, but there seemed to always be visual cues indicating that you needed to do this. Sometimes I'd spot a locked hatch or amass of vines on the wall, and I'd immediately know that I should switch to first person and scan them. I was happy that it worked this way, as it seemed like it could have been in the game's detriment to lock you in place while in this perspective. It all seemed to work towards making the pacing a little more deliberate and highlighted the exploration elements pretty well.
Part way through the second stretch of the game, I encountered some mini-bosses in the form of some draconic chameleon enemies who would go invisible for short stretches of time. This fight was awesomely intense, as the enemies clawed, grappled, spit, and pretty much mauled Samus to pieces. Lucky for me, Samus doesn't take crap from anyone, especially not some dumb alien, so I quickly switched to first person, shot a missile at the enemy, and then ran over and did a finishing move. The finishing moves are particularly thrilling, as they just help illustrate how incredibly badass Samus really is. One thing I noticed during this fight that I hadn't heard anyone mention before is the health recharge ability present in the game. If you find yourself close to death, you can hold the Wiimote vertically and hold A to replenish your health. There was an awesome risk/reward to this, as stopping for an instant could mean death, but sometimes it's just too scary to go on without a little help.
All in all, I loved my time with Metroid: Other M. I can't wait to play more of the game when it finally hits stores at the end of August. I love that Nintendo saw fit to try something a little new with the franchise, and it seems to be paying off in spades. It seems like Team Ninja and Sakamoto have put together something truly special. Now, if only they would push up that release date just a tad.
