When Samus Aran picks up a distress call from a Galactic Federation space facility known as the Bottle Ship, she investigates and becomes involved with a conspiracy that ties together 1994’s Super Metroid and 2002’s Metroid Fusion with just a dash of 1991’s Return of Samus in the Nintendo / Team Ninja co-production, Metroid: Other M. Reinventing itself yet again, the Metroid franchise leaves its Prime first-person exploration phase behind to become an intriguing 2D/3D hybrid with both third-person and first-person elements. It’s all wrapped up with a divisive storyline that either brings closure to some of the events of Samus’s life or takes an unexpected left-turn into bizarre territory depending on one’s perspective. Are the aspects of Other M that inflame the angry fans that much of a dealbreaker?  Is Other M worthy of the Metroid lineage and, most importantly, is it fun to play?
Nintendo doesn't often play "keeping up with the Joneses." All of the industry will move ahead in one direction and Nintendo says to that, "well, we're not gonna do that. We're gonna have a sandwich and play around with waggle controls." Which makes the television commercial for Metroid: Other M so different for the company. The TV spot looks as if Nintendo watched the high-budget Halo commercials and thought they could outdo Microsoft at their own game.Â
Whether or not they succeeded will depend on personal taste, but the music alone has won us over.Â
Get the video after the break.
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Metroid: Other M brings Samus back to the Wii, and a new trailer released on GameTrailers TV last week shows off more gameplay for the title. Samus's weapons, such as the Grapple and Wave Beams, are re-introduced, along with the return of the Speed Boost, last seen in Super Metroid.
The game continues to look great, but there's only problem - anyone else find it weird that, with the title only two weeks away from release, that Nintendo hasn't released practically any story information on what is supposed to be the most story-driven Metroid to date?
Hopped a train to New York, walked a few city blocks and arrived at Nintendo's office on Park Avenue. The 12th floor was home to their goods and a small, private patio party for Metroid: Other M. We scored an hour's worth of playtime before the demo ended (we were actually told to go no further).
The demo wasn't so much a staged demo as it was the beginning of a near-retail build of the game. An hour's worth of play time found Samus an hour into the title. Consider that science and don a lab coat.
Metroid has become more cinematic and deeper steeped in story than ever before. The cut scenes from the onset are lengthy, dramatic and detailed enough to actually feel nearly at home with Metal Gear. As epic as an hour per cut scene? No. But it's definitely built with drama and narrative scope in mind.
The rendered graphics are fantastic. The scenes are all well-constructed and built with a love of the Metroid universe in mind. Samus looks sharp, and the Japanese style has been retained. Voice work was solid enough for the video game medium, but the Shure headphones on-site worked hard to point out the minor intricacies of awkward voice-over. Face it, voice acting in games is a tough bridge to cross. And, no, Samus does not sound like Nathan Drake.
The story for Other M picks up with a re-done, cinematic version of the Super Metroid ending. The baby Metroid is boosting up our hero, fans catch a glimpse at a new, horrific and gruesome Mother Brain and Samus wakes up in a recovery room.
Our weekly round-up covers a huge variety of topics this week. We've got all the week's biggest news compiled into one post for your catching-up if you've been away all week or if you just want a good idea of what happened this week.Â
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Beyond that, we take a look at violence in games. Should we really need a disclaimer before hitting the start button? Let us know your thoughts after the break.
Our weekly round-up covers a huge variety of topics this week. We've got all the week's biggest news compiled into one post for your catching-up if you've been away all week or if you just want a good idea of what happened this week.Â
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Beyond that, we take a look at violence in games. Should we really need a disclaimer before hitting the start button? Let us know your thoughts after the break.
While a lot of game development thunder has moved to the West in recent years, Nintendo remains an undeniably Japanese company. Only they could continue to lead the industry in both innovation and old school gaming. Perhaps no better example of this exists than the upcoming Metroid: Other M, and, unsurprisingly, fans have been scrambling for information about the game both in Japan and in the rest of the world.
When a 15-minute-long documentary about the game's development debuted last week on Japan's Nintendo Channel, the fans at the Metroid Database - perhaps the most comprehensive Metroid site in existence - took it upon themselves to translate it.
Hit the jump.
Metroid: Other M is shaping up to be just as divisive as Metroid Prime, the first true re-imagining of the series, was when it came out in 2002. Curiously, the game is largely going back to the franchise's roots, with the third person respective restored and an emphasis on 2D exploration. What is it that's got some fans so riled up, then?
Watch the trailer, then hit the jump for some gameplay footage and speculation.
Update: Nintendo has confirmed that the new release dates for Sin and Punishment: Star Successor and Metroid: Other M are june 27 and August 31, respectively.
Two of the Wii's most anticipated summer releases, Metroid: other M and Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, may have just been pushed back, with Metroid possibly coming as late as September, says Computer and Video Games. "A NeoGAF user claiming to work at US retailer Play N Trade kicked things off by saying that he'd been sent an email from the company's corporate headquarters, stating that Sin & Punishment had been delayed from June 7 to June 27, and Metroid Other M from June 27 to 'to be determined,'" they write.
Hit the jump to read more.
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John Doe