What follows is an exhilarating adventure that pushes the series to new heights, but also shows some unfortunate seams.īoth the cut-scenes and the in-game graphics are beautiful, and I won't damn with faint praise by using the old it-looks-good-for-a-Wii-game routine. This powers the narrative of this full-blown space opera as we delve deeper into Samus's past while simultaneously attempting to unravel the mysteries of the Bottle Ship. The tension between Samus and her old CO opens the door for the first in a series of cut-scene flashbacks in which she reveals much about her time with the Army and hints at her reasons for leaving that structure and camaraderie for the life of a solitary bounty hunter. Following the events of Super Metroid, our blonde bounty hunter picks up a distress signal commonly known as the 'Baby's Cry' that appears to be emanating from an abandoned space station known as the 'Bottle Ship.' The game goes to great lengths to drive home the personal significance of this pseudo-military jargon as it further reveals, upon meeting a squad of Galactic Federationsoldiers, that Samus herself was once a member of the Federation Army.Īs fate would have it, this squad includes both Higgs, an old military friend who refers to Samus as 'Princess,' and Malkovich, her former commanding officer. The plot of the game unfolds at a time after the destruction of Zebesand the supposed extinction of the Metroids. Having spent ample time with the retail build of the title, however, I seem to find many of my expectations exceeded, but not without some noticeable disappointments.

Because of this alone the title has easily been at the top of my wish list during this, the annual summer video game doldrums. Metroid: Other M goes out of its way to mine the best that the franchise has to offer, especially with regard to its much touted marriage of the classic 2D series- and Metroid Prime-style controls.

While this latest chapter isn't afraid to switch up the age-old *Metroid *formula both by giving long-silent protagonist Samus a true voice and by focusing the storytelling more clearly on her own unique history, it is very much a love letter to the many adventures we have shared with our iconic heroine in ages past. It's hard to talk about the forthcoming Nintendo/Tecmo release *Metroid: Other M *without reflecting back on the history of the franchise.

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