Metroid: Other M Is a "Traditional" Metroid

[Keane Ng]

Metroid: Other M Is a "Traditional" Metroid

The Team Ninja developed Metroid: Other M is more in line with a "traditional Metroid" as opposed to the Prime games, according to Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime.

Last week's announcement Metroid: Other M [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrodfchKEgM] seemed to suggest that Nintendo was taking the franchise in new directions. With Reggie Fils-Aime's pre-trailer talk of Nintendo working on new titles with teams known for its "mature" games, the action-heavy third-person combat on display in the trailer itself and, last but not least, what looked like a new hairdo for Samus Aran, it semed very much like a new chapter for the series.

But Fils-Aime says [http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6211815/] that even though Other M will "revitalize" the series in a creative way, it'll be closer in line with the older Metroid games than the more recent Metroid Prime games that brought the 2D adventure series into first-person 3D. "A year ago, if someone asked me what's going on with Metroid -- when are we going to go back to the more traditional Metroid series versus the path that we went down with Prime? Here's the answer: Other M," Fils-Aime said.

Looking back to what made the Metroid series great in the beginning was Nintendo's goal, Fils-Aime explained. It's also where the money might lie. "Metroid, for us, is a key franchise and in our view, since the SNES Metroid, we haven't broken through -- as in [selling] 1.5 or two million units," he said. "As we looked at where we wanted to go with Metroid, we wanted to place Samus back in the more traditional lineage of Metroid."

Not that it'll be the same as the old games. "We wanted to do it in a way that had a harder edge, and we wanted to go deeper into her story and more into this Metroid mythology," Fils-Aime said. Harder edge would explain Samus' newfound abilities to do superhero flips and stylish execution moves. I guess those things are part of what Fis-Aime called "a little extra special sauce" that Team Ninja is injecting into Other M. Now that just sounds kinda naughty.


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[ZeroMachine]

I'm still holding judgement until I see a gameplay video that comes out closer to release... but I'm very skeptical. And I'm usually very optimistic.

 

[megapenguinx]

I think it'll be a Ninja Gaiden clone but with Samus. Either way, it does look to revitalize the series, I hope it comes out well.

 

[Lord Beautiful]

In spite of the fact that I do not own a Wii, I am looking forward to seeing how this game ends up. This was perhaps the only announcement at E3 that really caught me off guard.

 

[murphy7801]

hmm this doesnt look good

 

[Johnn Johnston]

I hope it's good; I don't own a Wii, but I want to see something to make me jealous.

 

[Dectilon]

"Metroid, for us, is a key franchise and in our view, since the SNES Metroid, we haven't broken through -- as in [selling] 1.5 or two million units,"

Have those metroid games been available on the major consoles for the hardcore this and last generation? No? Welp, there you go then.

 

[KDR_11k]

Really? Traditional Metroid? Because the guy who's in charge (same guy who's been in charge of all the 2D Metroids) said he's going for something like Fusion which lost what made Metroid different from other sidescrollers. I'd love to be proven wrong but IMO Metroid and story (active story, not just backstory that you can read if you check the environments but don't have to care about) just don't belong into the same game. In traditional Metroid Samus is in that underground maze and wandering around, looking for new pathes and stuff while in Fusion and the later Primes she always got orders from someone and acted on those. The environment wasn't neutral, you weren't exploring it, you were there to do what you were told.

I think Prime 1 is more traditional than Fusion. Gameplay design is really secondary to level design and Prime's level design felt like Metroid.

 

[hcig]

please, PLEASE

dont screw this up ninja.

and nintendo, DONT LET THEM SEX UP SAMUS

friggin capcom did it to jill, and look how stupid that ended up!

i like the look of this new game, i just dont want the ninja gaiden DoA bullshit titties

make her flat chested if you have to.

 

[randommaster]

Really? Traditional Metroid? Because the guy who's in charge (same guy who's been in charge of all the 2D Metroids) said he's going for something like Fusion which lost what made Metroid different from other sidescrollers. I'd love to be proven wrong but IMO Metroid and story (active story, not just backstory that you can read if you check the environments but don't have to care about) just don't belong into the same game. In traditional Metroid Samus is in that underground maze and wandering around, looking for new pathes and stuff while in Fusion and the later Primes she always got orders from someone and acted on those. The environment wasn't neutral, you weren't exploring it, you were there to do what you were told.

I think Prime 1 is more traditional than Fusion. Gameplay design is really secondary to level design and Prime's level design felt like Metroid.

Don't judge the game from the first trailer. The cutscenes could easily be at just the beginning of the game, or they could end up not using them at all, having made them just for E3. Fusion's story was about her working directly for the government on one of their research stations, though, so her being given orders isn't out of place, escecially considering how a big part of the game is making you think about a conspiracy, which is hard to do by not havin dialogue.

 

[hcig]

I think it'll be a Ninja Gaiden clone but with Samus. Either way, it does look to revitalize the series, I hope it comes out well.

nintendo is working with them, it will be alright.

"Metroid, for us, is a key franchise and in our view, since the SNES Metroid, we haven't broken through -- as in [selling] 1.5 or two million units,"

Have those metroid games been available on the major consoles for the hardcore this and last generation? No? Welp, there you go then.

what? you can get the metroid games on the virtual console, wtf are you talking about?

Really? Traditional Metroid? Because the guy who's in charge (same guy who's been in charge of all the 2D Metroids) said he's going for something like Fusion which lost what made Metroid different from other sidescrollers. I'd love to be proven wrong but IMO Metroid and story (active story, not just backstory that you can read if you check the environments but don't have to care about) just don't belong into the same game. In traditional Metroid Samus is in that underground maze and wandering around, looking for new pathes and stuff while in Fusion and the later Primes she always got orders from someone and acted on those. The environment wasn't neutral, you weren't exploring it, you were there to do what you were told.

I think Prime 1 is more traditional than Fusion. Gameplay design is really secondary to level design and Prime's level design felt like Metroid.

what is wrong with the story? i liked in mp3 i didnt have to worry about getting all the scans, i was interested in them, but it was a really cheap way of lengthening gameplay time.

i cant believe you dont like fusion either,the only game to come close to super metroids awesome.

just to let you know, samus was never some space spelunker, shes ALWAYS on a mission, even if you didnt bother to read the pamplet that came with your game.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

All I care about right now are those graphics... they look so neon that it's hideous.

 

[Dectilon]

what? you can get the metroid games on the virtual console, wtf are you talking about?

Last I checked the Gamecube wasn't widly successful and the Wii isn't the hardcore gamer's console of choice, and if the Prime series is available as a download on either 360 or PS3 I must've missed that completely.

just to let you know, samus was never some space spelunker, shes ALWAYS on a mission, even if you didnt bother to read the pamplet that came with your game.

You seriously need to slow down and think before you post.

 

[Keane Ng]

please, PLEASE

dont screw this up ninja.

and nintendo, DONT LET THEM SEX UP SAMUS

friggin capcom did it to jill, and look how stupid that ended up!

I thought Jill was always sexed up. Did they do something to her in RE5?

 

[Hirvox]

Why do I keep thinking about Haloid?

In any case, I don't mind Samus being agile. Dashing, wallclimbing and backflips were things that were consistently in her repertoire, but I've never seen her as a close-combat brawler. And the running towards the screen scene woke up some bad memories of Crash Bandicoot. If the camera is too close, it just becomes trial-and-error gameplay.

And yes, I've always seen the exploration as a huge part of the Metroid games' appeal. While the rest of the gameplay was fine, Metroid Fusion locked the player in way too often and even chastized the player for attempting to pull off a sequence break. One of the worst things they could do for this game would be to always lock the battle area until all enemies had been destroyed. God of War did it, Ninja Gaiden did it and even Assassin's Creed did it. Ideally, the story in this game should offer only a premise and then let the player immerse himself into the setting as much (or as little) as he wants. Samus is a lone operative who is quite capable of taking care of herself even if she's the only human on the planet. The story should reflect that.

 

[RikSharp]

i really hope this works, i'm a huge fan of metroid, the first one was released on the day i was born, but i was not impressed with the prime series or fusion. prime had the right idea with exploration, but the combat was either too unwieldy (1 and 2) or too easy (3). fusion had too many interruptions for talkie talkie. the platformy and combat were awesome tho.

 

[Dectilon]

One of the worst things they could do for this game would be to always lock the battle area until all enemies had been destroyed.

To be fair, Super Metroid did this too, albeit sparingly.

edit: Sorry, missed the 'always' somehow. And yeah, that would indeed suck, unless the combat reaches DMC-like levels of fun.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I'd like to say I'm skeptical...but I'm not. It looks shit.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

They should stick with the FPS, its by far the best versions of the game.