Metroid: Other M feels more progressive than retro on Wii

I got some hands-on time with the upcoming Metroid release (to be released on August 31 for Wii) at a press event at the Caprice on Granville last week. That’s right, it was held in a nightclub. Bouncers built like tanks with knife fight scars, disco balls, and black lights—it made for bad photography, but lots of vibe.

And fair enough; the newest Metroid can definitely boast that it has vibe, so maybe its press demos should, as well.

First things first: die-hard fans needn’t worry—Other M appears to preserve most of Metroid’s trademark characteristics, including that quiet, atmospheric zen, which one achieves only by exploring a dark, not-so-deserted outpost turned labyrinth in a yellow space suit.

Here’s a rundown of what I learned or observed at the event, which I think will be useful to prospective players:

”¢ The game is played with a Wiimote—no nunchuk, nice and simple—and there aren’t alternate control configurations.

Ӣ In side-scrolling sequences, the Wiimote is turned on its side, NES style. You move Samus with the D-pad, and shoot and jump with the 1 and 2 buttons, and roll into a ball with the A button. There are also standard special moves, such as charge-shots and wall-jumps.

Ӣ Pointing the Wiimote at the screen flips perspective to first-person, which gives Samus decreased mobility, but greater targeting accuracy, and access to her missiles.

”¢ Holding the Wiimote upright and holding down A (after moving to safety; it takes awhile, and gets interrupted if you’re attacked) recharges health and missiles.

These moves—shifting your grip of the Wiimote—are part of the new core mechanic; and will be performed repeatedly during the course of the game.

In-game observations:

”¢ Everything looks great; character models, environments, frame rates. Other M is also somehow more psychedelic than any previous Metroid game—all enemies seem to, by design, possess at least one neon-colored spot or appendage, and this makes for some attention-grabbing lava lamp effects.

”¢ Everything is modeled in 3-D at all times, but in side-scrolling sections, you’re guided along a single plane, í  la Shadow Complex or LittleBigPlanet.

”¢ Combat wasn’t especially tough, but explosive and satisfying.

”¢ With a new developer, Team Ninja (of Ninja Gaiden fame) at the helm, Other M includes some signature trappings—ultra-violent finishing moves, for instance.

So what else do die-hard Metroid fans want to know? Concerns raised in gaming forums most frequently during the past year, seem to surround the shifting perspectives, and the control system (of which Nintendo has been granting us glimpses for over a year) and whether it will feel right, changing grip on the Wiimote constantly. Few believe Nintendo will release a poorly-designed core franchise game—it’s just a matter of whether they imagine they’ll like playing in this new way.

Leaving the event, my take was that Team Ninja and Nintendo have found a cool way to pay tribute to Metroid’s side-scrolling roots, while still letting players explore the world in 3-D, and that it feels more progressive than retro. I’m stoked with how well it seems to be working.

Chris Vandergaag is a Vancouver-based freelancer. When he's not gaming, writing, or forwarding links of questionable moral repute, he's asleep.