Metroid: Other M is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Tecmo Koei's Team Ninja and Nintendo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the eighth main Metroid game, taking place between Super Metroid (1994) and Metroid Fusion (2002). The player controls the intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates a derelict space station with a Galactic Federation platoon, including her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. The Metroid director and series creator Yoshio Sakamoto approached Team Ninja to develop Other M, while the animation studio D-Rockets handled the cutscenes. The development team employed a simple control scheme to appeal to modern players, and focused on plot and characterization, with extensive cinematics and voice acting. Other M is played from a third-person perspective using only the Wii Remote, and focuses on exploration and combat. It introduces melee attacks which can only be executed when an enemy's health is reduced. Metroid: Other M received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its elaborate cutscenes, graphics and action-oriented gameplay, receiving honors from several publications. However, its story was criticized by both critics and fans. Despite being the third-best-selling video game in Japan during its first week of release and the ninth best-selling game in North America during September 2010, sales were disappointing for a flagship Nintendo franchise. No new mainline entries in the Metroid franchise were released until Metroid Dread in 2021.
Gameplay
Metroid: Other M is an action-adventure game with 3D graphics. Players take control of series protagonist Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who investigates a derelict space station, known as the Bottle Ship. The main environment is the vessel interior, known as the Main Sector, along with the other environments that are contained in "sectors" or gigantic spheres within the ship: the Biosphere, a lush, tropical region; the Cryophere, an arctic environment; and the Pyrosphere, a heated, lava-filled area. The gameplay involves solving puzzles to uncover secrets, platform jumping, and shooting enemies. The game unfolds in a linear manner, and the in-game map highlights the next objective. Other M moves between two perspectives with differing controls, depending on the orientation of the Wii Remote. Normal gameplay features a third-person perspective, where players hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Samus can jump, fire the arm cannon, and turn into a morph ball, which can roll into narrow passages and drop energy bombs. While gameplay is similar to 2D Metroid games, the environments are three-dimensional and movement is not limited to a two-dimensional plane. When the Wii Remote is pointed towards the screen, the angle switches into a first-person perspective, where players can look around, lock onto targets, and fire missiles, but cannot move in this perspective. There are several instances where players will have to constantly switch between play modes; for example, fighting off a horde of flying enemies in third person, while switching to first person to destroy their spawn points. Additionally, the first-person mode is also used in exploration, such as locating hidden items. Other M is the first game in the Metroid series to feature melee attacks. With well-timed button presses, players can use special techniques, such as the Sense Move, which allows them to dodge enemy attacks, and the Overblast, where Samus jumps on the enemy and fires a charged shot at point-blank range. Unlike other Metroid games, enemies do not drop items, with the restoration of health and ammo performed via use of either the Navigation Booths or the Concentration mechanic. The Navigation Booths can also be used to save progress. While there are power-ups scattered around the Bottle Ship, a few items are already equipped by Samus, but she agrees to wait to use them until commanding officer Adam Malkovich authorizes her to do so. Players can find items that will augment Samus's abilities, such as Energy and Missile Tanks. As a special feature, players can unlock "Theater Mode"—a two-hour film presentation—after completing the game. Divided into chapters, this film contains every cutscene, along with clips of gameplay footage recorded by the developers for bridging purposes.
Plot
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