User:Phenaxkian/Metroid Other M

So i've been playing Metroid:Other M the past little while (since it came out pretty much, with the exception of the weekend when i was at a LAN party). I have to say overall i've been enjoying it. I've beaten the game, and was pleased with the story line, although the amount of cinematic at the beginning and end of the game could stand to be cut.

I started a hard game of it a couple of days OK. I soon found that they took "hard mode" very seriously. They chuck you into the game with all the items removed (i.e. no additional health or missiles etc. to be found). You get 99 health, and 10 missiles through the whole thing. Now that doesn't seem to bad at first, but you seen realise that you can be basically get wiped in seconds by most things.

This is why I like this games hard mode. It encourages you to play well, and play smart. Admittedly you soon realise you can just run past most of the enemies. But not all fights can be avoided, and running away doesn't always leave you unharmed. I'm still only in the early part of the game, but I'm sure it will live up to the name of "hard mode" and i look forward to some of the more challenging areas (read: Bosses)

In terms of the games controls, while at first a bit tricky, you soon get used to them, and they feel comfortable and easy to use. Switching between third and first person view seems natural after the first few times, and you soon learn where each is needed. The "concentration" mechanic seems reminiscent of Super Metroids "Crystal Flash" technique (in the sense you can replenish health in game instead of finding a recharge station) and indeed Other M on the whole seems like a tribute to Metroid history (the setting is similar to Fusion's, the various bosses from the different games). While the concentration mechanic annoys me in normal mode (because it seems uneeded and a kind of "cheat" to make the game even easier), in hard mode it seems like you will need it if you intend to not die every other second, so I can see why it's there.

The graphics are fantastic (given it's a wii game) and looks good (with the exception of the "gravity 'suit'", who ever designed that needs a slap. I want my actual purple/pink armour back pl0x), though in some areas it seems incredibly dark, and when you get to the annoying "investigation" scenes, it can be even worse in some cases. The investigation scenes themselves are highly annoying, and the first play through can take you a frustrating amount of time to find.

Overall i'm pleased with the game, and I'm glad i bought it. There are a couple of things that I don't like, most i've already mentioned, but there's also that the game feels a bit short. It's the kind of game i think should have an extra few hours of game play just to get a few more details of various things in there, just so it feels more "complete". While I can't fault the game for it, given it incorporates the FPS elements, i don't like the fact you can't do proper "speed runs" like in the classic metroid platformers (being forced to go to save points so you can access the next area with no way around it, unlike the old games where a well timed bomb jump could shave about 30 mins off your time).

If you like metroid games i'd suggest giving this game a try. If you don't I suggest giving it a shot if you don't have anything else to play. It's a decent game in my opinion and while i don't pay much attention to wii titles, i'd say it's one of the better one's to have come out. I can only hope that tema ninja make another Metroid game, jsut with those one or two issues left out.

Feel free to share your own views on the talk, i'd be interested to see different (wiki) people's views.  ~ PheNaxKian talk  23:19, September 10, 2010 (UTC)