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Metroid: Other M (Nintendo Wii) discussion [game]
 
  Matthew T  
Metroid: Other M on the Wii
8.16/10 from 55 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for Metroid: Other M on the Wii!

To start, please add this game to your log, add it to your collection (if applicable), and (when you are ready) rate it using the link above!

...seeing as you're the group of gamers whose opinions I trust the most.

Picking up Other M today was a bit of a strange experience--the guy at Play-N-Trade revealed that one of his coworkers mistakenly told everyone that the game released today, so the store had preorder folks coming in all day to try to get it. However, this particular employee was pretty upset about the whole ordeal and decided to sell it to me anyway...then promptly called his manager and quit. I told him I didn't want to cause a fuss and would come back Tuesday for it, but he took a devil-may-care attitude and let me buy the game regardless (he was actually quite friendly to me, just upset about the mistake the coworker made).

So that interesting story of acquisition aside, I now have the game and have played roughly 40 minutes or so (just beat the first boss). It's quite early so my previews aren't going to be very in-depth, so I'll make this quick for now:

-Controls are better than expected, feels fun and pleasantly quick like Samus should
-Voice acting better than expected; the ancillary soldiers and such sound pretty good
-Samus herself seems to be directed to sound fairly cold and emotionless, which usually works, but sometimes her delivery is stilted (so far)
-I'm kind of missing Retro's attention to environmental detail, but the areas still look decent enough
-Killing classic Metroid enemies like Geemers and Rios in 3rd-person is somewhat cathartic. They made a 3rd-person Metroid feel work rather well, and I like the Wiimote so far
-You can't seem to wall-jump off every wall, just select surfaces
-Not sure what to make of the story yet, I kinda like a lot of it and some of it is sort of overbearing; we'll see. The direction and transitions are pretty nice though
-Pretty cool first boss
-Casper's right, it needs more music during gameplay

That's all for now. I mainly made this thread for everyone else to post their impressions too, but I wanted to give a few of my own first.

URL to share (right click and copy)
08/30/10, 01:20    Edited: 08/30/10, 01:31
 
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  achhibbar  
DrFinkelstein said:
@achhibbar

So how do you get past it then? It's just random whether or not it'll open or not?
I don't think any particular sequence of events has been linked to it yet, it seems to just happen to some people. But once it does, unless you have another previous save, all you can do is start all over again!

Game is just getting better and better though. I just wish it had been like this from the start. Every puzzle was basically find a hole to role into, and that's it.
09/13/10, 01:11   
Edited: 09/13/10, 01:15
  DrFinkelstein  
@achhibbar

Good to know. I'll be on the lookout. Thank you.
09/13/10, 01:16   
  Zero  
How do you save in multiple slots? The game saves for you by default. Unless you mean copy your save to SD or something?
09/13/10, 02:15   
  Secret_Tunnel  
Zero said:
How do you save in multiple slots? The game saves for you by default. Unless you mean copy your save to SD or something?

There's an option to copy your save file to another slot.
09/13/10, 02:23   
  DrFinkelstein  
@Zero

Just copy it to another slot before starting the game.
09/13/10, 02:28   
  Zero  
Oh ok. But my brother is playing through too and there are only 3 slots! Ah well, I'll probably beat the game by the next time he gets over here anyway. Maybe.
09/13/10, 03:00   
  carlosrox  
@achhibbar
So it was a puzzle that you couldn't figure out or was it an actual glitch?
09/13/10, 03:35   
Edited: 09/13/10, 03:35
  Zero  
BTW, does anyone else feel like this game is being a bit underrated? It has a 79% at Gamerankings right now between 30 some reviews and 4 of those are 60% and lower. I just don't get it. I'd be the first to jump all over it if it came up super short (you guys know I was somewhat negative/worried before release), but I think it works very well for what it set out to do.

I wonder if it comes down to the simple fact that it's a shooter that completely ignores what popular shooters do, and a Metroid game that ignores a lot of what past Metroid games did. It's not what people expected and it's probably way too old school arcade-like for the modern game review industry? I dunno.

I'm not saying it doesn't have flaws, it does. It's not near the level of Super Metroid or Metroid Prime for me. But I think it works for what it is, and I like it. And I'm kind of surprised it's not reviewing a bit better. (Although it DOES start off slow and the controls do feel weird at first, and I often suspect a lot of reviewers don't get much further than the first few hours of a game that isn't grabbing them...)
09/13/10, 04:05   
  achhibbar  
carlosrox said:
@achhibbar
So it was a puzzle that you couldn't figure out or was it an actual glitch?
Mine ended up being a puzzle that I couldn't figure out, but there is also a glitch in roughly the same area that is effecting some people.

I had read about the glitch, but I didn't want to be spoliered so I didn't read about it in detail. I ended up thinking the puzzle was the glitch.
09/13/10, 04:19   
  TriforceBun  
@Zero
I agree with your assessment of the game.

Regarding reviews...well, I've seen a few particularly dumb ones. G4's now infamous 2/5 review complained about the "stupidity" of Samus's concentration move (which didn't bother me at all during the game--it was quite intense during boss fights, although I did miss the item pickups), the game's supposed "sexist" portrayal of Ms. Aran (debatable, but hardly worth chopping off a huge point value for), and...uh, Samus being more sexualized in this game than in past ones...? The last comment makes no sense at all; I've played every Metroid games (sans Hunters) multiple times, and this is the least "sexy" portrayal of Samus outside of the Prime games.

Then again, that's just one review. I do think there's a bit of a learning curve and some of the major changes to the series might throw some reviewers off, but the game does improve throughout the adventure and ends up averaging out to be a very solid title. It's not one of my favorite Metroids, but that's like saying A Bug's Life isn't one of my favorite Pixar movies.
09/13/10, 04:40   
  VofEscaflowne  
@TriforceBun

They took off a point for being sexist? What the hell? I know some people hate on Nintendo for no reason but damn, if they have to start being so ridiculous on game reviews with Nintendo, I'd be afraid if reviewers started using the same methods for other games.
09/13/10, 04:55   
  chrisbg99  
I've seen people claim that the game is sexist and ruined Samus but so far I haven't seen it.

What I am really missing though is the Metroid music.
09/13/10, 04:58   
  Zero  
I already brought this up before, but some people are ok with all kinds of blatant T&A as long as you don't show a woman having... gasp... weaknesses. Or ever, ever, relying on a man for anything.
09/13/10, 05:00   
  carlosrox  
@chrisbg99
You won't ever see it. It doesn't exist.
09/13/10, 05:05   
  TriforceBun  
@VofEscaflowne
It wasn't necessarily "minus one point for being sexist," but it clearly was a factor in their score. Their (highly obnoxious) 3-minute video review spent--no exaggeration--about half the time complaining about Samus's portrayal as sexist.

There are some moments in the game that I think don't work very well in terms of Samus's character, but I'd definitely hesitate to throw around the word "sexist," especially when a billion other games get off scott-free for far worse portrayals of the fairer sex.
09/13/10, 05:11   
  VofEscaflowne  
@TriforceBun

It seems really hard to judge Samus as a character though, considering this is the first time we've really learned so much about her and her past. I honestly can't think of anything that would be out of the ordinary... except maybe her being shoved down that linear path because of Adam but again, given her past with him and of course the danger of SOME of her power ups (and for game play reasons ), she followed his command, not because of her sex, but because he's the commanding officer.

What about Nathan Drake in Uncharted 2? Oh noes, he relies on Chloe for support during gun fights! How sexist is that and how badly it portrays males! It's ridiculous that this game got so many GOTY awards!
09/13/10, 05:19   
  Zero  
Hmm, that is the thing about taking a relatively undeveloped character that has existed for years upon years and starting to develop her. Most everyone has some idea in their mind (whether thought out or vague) about her, so even if some qualities in the game aren't actually going against her previously established character, they might go against what we made up in our minds to fill in the gaps.

Kind of the same argument for not giving Link a voice.

Anyway, the story bits are annoying me a bit less and I'm understanding what they were going for a bit more, but I still prefer the solitary, few words Samus of past Metroid games.
09/13/10, 06:33   
  GameDadGrant  
Well, my copy of the game came in the mail today and I played a little bit of it. So far, I think... it's pretty decent. I've only really played the beginning area (just got to Sector 1) but so far the game is pretty heavy-handed when it comes to those cutscenes. I suppose it's necessary at this point, to set up the narrative and such.

I'm a little confused by the sections that forces Samus into those Resident Evil 4-style sections where I can't really shoot or lock on to anything. Samus moves slowly and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's explained later.

* didn't read the thread, just posted my thoughts as soon as I played a bit of the game.
09/13/10, 06:55   
  Zero  
I... don't think it is explained per se. And yeah, they're pretty slow for a fast paced game, not a fan of those parts. But for the most part they are minimal.
09/13/10, 07:03   
  Griptor  
Those parts are just used to create tension. I think it works well.
09/13/10, 07:05   
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