Metroid: Other M Review

I would like to start of by saying that I had high hopes for Metroid: Other M. It's been far to long since we've had a good Metroid title, and Other M's mix between 2D, 3D, and first person shooter seemed like it had a lot of potential. On that note, I would like to say that I was not disappointed by Other M, but at the same time the game did not meet my expectations.

Other M begins with the ending scene from Super Metroid, which admittedly is pretty damn cool. Seeing one of the greatest endings in video game history come to life in full-on 3D immediately gets you hyped to play this game. Unfortunately, immediately following this cut-scene is a tutorial on the games controls, which is where the problems begin. At this point you will have realized that the game is controlled by a single Wiimote. At first this was fine, everything was going swimmingly. Then first person mode is introduced. I immediately began to see problems, the biggest one being that fact that without a nunchuck it is impossible for you to move your character while in first person mode, and lets not forget that the only time you can use missiles is while in first person mode, meaning that the game literally forces you to use it when fighting a boss, or simply a strong enemy.

Notice how above I said "a boss or a strong enemy", well this is where my next problem with the game comes in. Usually you are simply fighting bats, or small rodents, that are easily killed with a shot or two from your cannon, but occasionally you will come across a stronger enemy, almost like a mini boss, which I could not stand. Nine times out of ten I found myself dying on these mini bosses more so than I did on the actual bosses. The biggest problem with the mini bosses was the fact there was always a specific way you needed to kill them, otherwise they would simply stay alive forever. Sometimes you would need to jump on there head, other times you would need to shoot them in a weak spot, perhaps you would need to go first person and fire a missile at them, or maybe you needed to do all three of these in a specific order before the mini boss would finally go down. It may not sound that difficult, but you need to keep in mind that these bosses would deal and overly powerful amount of damage (usually 40-60 points of damage), and they constantly stuck you in a 2-3 hit combo that you simply could not escape, and 90% of the time the doors to the room would lock until you had beaten this monster.

Which leads me to my next, and final, complaint about Other M. When I think Metroid I think of a few very simple things:

1) Exploring a deserted and unknown planet somewhere in the depths of the galaxy that contains...

2) Gigantic bosses that are guarding a wonder prize that is an...

3) Awesome power-up, sometimes old, and sometimes new.

Sadly, Other M disappointed me in all three of these areas. Throughout the course of the game you are taking orders from captain Adam Malkovich, he tells you exactly where to go, and exactly what weapons or power-ups you can use. With that I would like to thank everyone who ever complained about how "Samus always loses her powers at the beginning of every game", now I can only assume it is because of those people that Team Ninja decided they should switch it up. So, all you complainers, you got your wish. Samus starts with all of her powers from Super Metroid, but she decides not to use them until Adam tells her she can. This means that you will do exactly what Adam tells you to do, go exactly where Adam tells you to go, eventually fight a boss in these areas, and... receive absolutely nothing after defeating the boss. Now, I will admit that usually Adam gives you a new power-up while you are fighting a boss, but it doesn't have nearly the same effect as the classic Metroid style. The entire game I felt like I was accomplishing nothing, and that defeating the random bosses was completely pointless.

I realize that up until now I have basically done nothing but complained about what was wrong with Other M, but now that I have gotten all of that rotten stuff out of the way, I can focus on the things that I truly enjoyed about the game. The first thing that I would like to focus on would be the story.

I truly did enjoy the story of Other M, it was really what kept me going. Throughout the game you will find out a bit about Samus' past, why she quit the Galactic Federation to become a bounty hunter, and my personal favorite: How Ridley continues to re-appear in every game. That's right, as far as the story goes, Team Ninja definitely did their homework, and it certainly shows.

Another thing that I enjoyed was the battle system. I know that this is odd for me to say, considering that I was complaining about it earlier, but earlier was me complaining more about how over powered the mini bosses seemed to be. In the end the only problem I really have about the battle system is the fact that you can't move once you have entered first person mode. Other than that I liked how they went about handling the battle system, I enjoyed the way they allow you to dodge oncoming attacks, I enjoyed how fast paced the game was, but the thing I enjoyed most of all was jamming my cannon into a monster's skull, throat, or gut and firing a charge beam. It truly is a good feeling, especially if it's against a mini boss that has killed you 5 times.

Continuing with the three ideal things that each Metroid game should have, Other M was rather disappointing when it came to exploring and power-ups; though it did have a good amount of gigantic bosses that you needed to face. And on top of that, there were also a few recognizable faces among the bosses. Ridley being one of them, of course, but there was also an appearance of another Queen Metroid, just like the one you fought in Metroid II. Another familiar face is Nightmare, the gravity controlling monster that was first seen in Metroid Fusion (which takes place after this game).

All-in-all I think that the biggest problem with Metroid: Other M is simply the fact that it is a Metroid game. If it was a game that had no connection to the Metroid series whatsoever, like a new project from Nintendo and Team Ninja, I think I would have enjoyed it more, but the game truly just didn't have a Metroid feel to it. Still, if you're a die-hard Metroid fan like myself, and want to collect all the games, then you will not regret buying it. If not, then Other M is definitely worth a rent; you'll probably end up liking the game much more than I did because you won't be judging it against the other Metroid games.

Overall Score: 7.6/10

Ninja Gaiden II Review

The review for Ninja Gaiden II is up!

Check it out...

at the original VFH.

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UPDATE (3/22/10) VFH Classic is dead:

Ninja Gaiden 2 seems to play out every kids dream in virtual form. You are a ninja, and you kill shit. Pure gold. Ninja Gaiden used to be, in my mind at least, the Xbox equivalent of the Devil May Cry series. But now that they're both available on the 360, what one should you go for?



Gameplay: 9

Ninja Gaiden's gameplay is very much based on precise timing and twitch reflexes. Unlike Devil May Cry, you cannot just go in guns ablaze and start swinging your sword and hope to take anything out besides the occasional lucky kill. If you're in a room more than 3 seconds without blocking, you're in trouble. The point I'm trying to get across is that this is not a easy game. You will need to know the timing to block, counter, and strike. But when you get it right, oh man, it's satisfying. The ability to do a finishing move with the press of one button once your enemy is injured bad enough or missing a limb is possibly the best addition to this sequel, along with the easy dismemberment of your enemies. They make the experience very visually gratifying.

Minimal platforming, multiple weapons to master, and new enemy types along with environmental changes will keep things fresh and give you enough motivation to continue playing the game. While it should be mentioned that the game is basically a room to room slaughterfest with not too much diversity thrown in, it still managed to keep me interested with the constant feeling of accomplishment that comes with each kick ass kill that you pull off. The only reason that I scored gameplay a 9 is because the boss battles are often cheap and frustrating, ruining the quick pace of the game by making you stop and replay the same boss over and over. The horrible camera doesn't help this at all, on more than one occasion I turned a corner into enemies I couldn't see only to be beaten silly. Or fought in a hallway the camera refused to show. While not too frequent, it is still frustrating when it comes around. Still, I have to say that the feeling I got from this game was very much the same one you get when you play an amazing solo on guitar hero perfectly. Like you have actually done something noteworthy, something that required skill. It will keep you coming back for more, if not just for the gameplay then to complete the in game trail, get your level score up onto the leaderboards, or just to watch on of the level replays you saved.



Graphics: 9

This is the type of game where the graphics play almost as big a role as the gameplay. Your hard work and concentration is paid off in the form of your opponents limbs flying left and right, and their blood covering the walls and floor underneath them. After pulling off a finish technique your opponents head may explode, shooting their brains onto the wall, or you may chop them into 5 different pieces and kick them away. These graphical quirks really make the game what it is. The gameplay would not be half as fun without the visual payoff. While the game as a whole is very nice looking with pretty clean textures, nice effects thrown in here and there, and detailed character models there is a lack of interaction with the environment, such as very limited destructibility, no physics, and then there is the occasional floating blood splotch. These flaws in no way detract from the fun, but if they where fixed it would really kick the presentation up a notch.



Story: 4

Some demon statue has been destroyed unleashing the 4 greater fiends! You have to go and kill the monsters before they destroy the world! Yeah, that same story that you've played a million times before. While it has its moments, the gameplay is what your here for. If you're looking for a great story I'd suggest that you look in some other genre.

Sound: 7

Nothing memorable. While the voice acting is for the most part good, there are a few characters who come off as very cheesy. They still fill their purpose though. The musical score is... well, honestly I cannot remember any piece from the game, if that tells you anything. I'd say that “Nothing memorable” summed it up well.


Overall: 9

While it has its shortcomings the amazing gameplay more than makes up for them. The combat is fast, hectic and addicting. You'll be coming back again and again to try to complete the trial or just to mess around and kill stuff on a higher difficulty. Possibly get yourself a place on the leader-boards or save a replay to show off to your friends. All in all the game is just plain fun, and isn't that what you want in a game.

9/10