Other M was a decent game

[xPixelatedx]

I am still seeing people beating down on Other M to this day. Recently I even saw someone make a comment that this figure:

Was shit because it is based on Samus from other M... never mind that it might be (or is) the most beautiful Samus figure ever crafted. Also, Samus in armor (more-or-less) looks like Samus in armor; you'd have to suffering from a near-lethal dose of butt-hurt fanboyism to think that Samus figure is awful just because it's connected to Other M. That's my point though, just look at how ridiculous this has gotten. The way people talk about it you'd think the "game" part of this video game was as bad as E.T. or Colonial Marines... that's not the case at all though.
I recall the very last episode of Xplay I watched, it involved Morgan Webb saying this game is an abomination because it assassinated Samus' character... and that was basically the whole review right there.
http://www.g4tv.com/games/wii/61992/Metroid-Other-M/review/
The moment she says "Fuck You" you can tell the review has long past the point of biased, to the point I actually started to find it unprofessional. While I agree with her on all the story grievances (which was 80% of her complaints) the story wasn't what I was playing, the "game" was... and the game was alright, even good in a few spots. I 100%ed it just like all three Prime games, and I am happy I did.

YES, the story was Shit. YES, it's portrayal of the main character was offensive. YES, it's portrayal of women was offensive. YES, it was linear compared to most other Metroid games. ...But none of those things calculate with me on how good a game is. I mean, hell, you could even attach those "bad" traits to Super Mario bros. on the NES. I found Other M very fun and engaging. The way you controlled Samus was very reminiscent of SNES/GB/DS game entries, and the combat was brutal and fun, more so then it's been in a while. That's nearly everything I could want right there. I also loved seeing the stages of Ridley's life cycle. Come to think of it, the alien/monster variety and design in this game is the best it's been since Super Metroid. I guess I should expect that of the people who made Ninja Gaiden; that's all they're really good at haha.

To say this game had no exploration is an admittance of not finishing it and not giving it a fair shot. There was a lot of little exploration. Many secret things, secret rooms, a few paths that lead to other paths that trigger things. No, it wasn't Super Metroid, but Prime 3 also failed dramatically in the exploration department, and people don't raise near as much stink about that. Why would they? It's ok if Prime makes that mistake because you all like Prime, right... right?

Summery: It's not the best Metroid game, by far, but it's not a bad game at all. For someone who liked Prime, but didn't find the FPS mechanics of the Prime series particularly fun, it was a refreshing play experience.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Summery: It's not the best Metroid game, by far, but it's not a bad game at all. For someone who liked Prime, but didn't find the FPS mechanics of the Prime series particularly fun, it was a refreshing play experience.

Yeah, gameplay-wise it is pretty decent. It just doesn't compare well to the rest of the series. Though it has to be said that not all entries are pure gold. I found Metroid Prime Hunters to be pretty meh. Metroid 2 doesn't hold up quite that well either and the original Metroid loses out badly to its GBA remake.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The gameplay in the game was fine, and was quite fun, or at the very least serviceable to everyone who played it. No one has ever disputed that fact (at least I don't think). But the story is awful, and so is the characterization of Samus. Considering that's a big part of the game (since the developers attempted to make it a big part of the game), I would say that it's a huge flaw. So I would say that people who have gripes about the game deserve to have their gripes, and you can't tell them that they need to shut up and that the game was fine. If the characterization that Ninja Theory shoehorned into the game ruined the game for people, then it ruined the game for them, and they are allowed to be angry about that. If it didn't ruin it for you then good for you, but that doesn't mean you get to tell people what parts of the game are the "important" parts to focus on.

 

[General Twinkletoes]

The gameplay was just... totally average to me. Really nothing stood out, so the only thing I could focus on was how terrible the story was. It wasn't bad or good, so there's not a whole lot to talk about.

 

[shrekfan246]

Response to thread title: It's just too bad that everything else about it was terrible.

To be fair, I haven't played it, but whenever I see complaints about the game they're not usually focused on the actual gameplay. Just throwing that out there.

But then, haters will be haters. Things like fun gameplay won't get in the way of people raging over perceived canon and stories or character personalities that don't fit their own very specific ideas.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The gameplay was alright.

But this is Metroid.

Metroid shouldn't be 'alright'.

I miss Prime T^T

I hope the WiiU gets a new, proper Metroid title.

 

[Toxic Sniper]

The Samus figma is awesome and anyone who thinks otherwise is just jealous because s/he doesn't have one. That said, Other M was an awful, awful, awful game.

You say the story being terrible has no effect on the game. This isn't true because the way the storytelling is conducted means it is integrated heavily into the game experience. You can't skip the two hours of cutscenes on your first playthrough. You can't skip lengthy scripted sequences like the part where Samus walks slowly through the Sector 1 bioweapons facility. You can't skip the way the authorization system makes no sense for parts like the infamous Varia Suit-less run or the section where Samus has to dodge pirates behind a wall for a minute before Adam authorizes the Wave Beam. You can't skip how the final "boss fight" is you just aiming at mb. People won't stop complaining about Other M's storyline because Other M just won't let people forget about it. Nobody complained about bad story in Super Mario Brothers because Super Mario Brothers did not focus on storyline to the detriment of everything else. Even the game's painfully linear and simple level design is a result of its storyline, since sequence breaking could potentially "ruin" its narrative.

Other M's "exploration" is limited to the post-credits sequence, and is hamstringed by the awful level designs that has too few shortcuts and way too many long narrow corridors. One of my favorite things about the Prime games is how recognizable 3D room geometry can be; you have tall cylinders, long boxes, twisty mazes of morph ball tunnels, rooms consisting of a few platforms connected by rails over a giant void, you name it. 2D Metroid games also had some real creativity in level design; I'm thinking of all those wonderful vertical rooms in Brinstar in Zero Mission. Other M is also hamstringed by the frankly awful powerups; what's the point of exploring when the only thing you'll find are missiles, energy tanks, and freaking pieces of energy tanks? It's not like you need missiles and energy tanks anyway with the concentration mechanic. There's nothing cool like the X-ray visor from Super Metroid or the beams from Metroid 2 or the beam combos from the Prime games.

As for comparisons to Prime 3: Prime 3 still did better on the exploration front. There were interesting puzzles, creative world designs like Bryyo, engrossing lore to scan, tons of landing sites to avoid unnecessary backtracking while exploring, and far more varied level design than the glorified hallways that littered Other M. Oh, and remember what I said about Other M having terrible rewards for exploration? Prime 3's energy cylinder system was a really great idea because exploring would find you keys and you could use those keys to open new areas of the game as you choose (Although I wish they had made the Valhalla larger). Was Prime 3 my favorite Metroid game? No, definitely not. But it's still lightyears ahead of the pile that was Other M.

It's not a good Metroid game, it's not a good game period. It's a bad game that awkwardly merges Metroid with some of the worst things in gaming - an overuse of quick-time events, a fanfiction-quality storyline told through long cutscenes, simplistic hallway-heavy level design, etc.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

The gameplay seemed pretty crummy to me. The combat basically is either charge your weapon and walk up to an enemy, or have auto-aim do all the work for you. Scanning for that one pixel that was out of place is not interesting. Exploration is severely limited. And yeah, the story sucks. And yes, I beat it to completion, including the after credits sequence.

 

[Splitzi]

I think one phrase sums up how terrible it was... THE BABY.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I found the game alright(got it for 10$ used), but those parts where Samus requires you to look for something on the screen or when you needed to walk slowly as her with her arm out really annoyed me.

The game was average to me. Funny enough, it's like 80$ at my Walmart.

 

[anthony87]

From what I've gathered during my travels around the internet, isn't it more a case of people hating the characterization rather than hating the game?

 

[Serinanth]

What essentially happened is that a game based on Boba Fett was made. However, his characterizations were that of Shinji Ikari.

 

[Valkrex]

From what I've gathered during my travels around the internet, isn't it more a case of people hating the characterization rather than hating the game?

Pretty much. Gameplaywise, Other M was a lot of fun. It DEFINITELY had some issues, but nothing deal breaking.

The main issues were characterization, the story, and the way they told the story. The way they told the story was aggravating. Cut-scenes would break up the action way too often, and plot points were repeated to the point that I wanted to puke.

The way Samus was portrayed was just disgraceful, and it didn't acknowledge any of the bad-assery that she had done in previous games. She was portrayed as weak, whiny, and in need of protection. Which is the exact OPPOSITE of the Samus Metroid fans have come to know and love.

(spoilers ahead)

At one point in Other M you fight Ridley, and Samus completely freezes up and starts freaking out for about ten minutes. If this was the very first time she had seen Ridley since her childhood, I could understand some fear, but Other M takes place after Super Metroid, which means Samus had defeated him MANY times now, and therefore fear should no longer be a noticeable factor to an observer.



(end spoilers)

So yea, gameplay was fun, story/characterization was terrible.

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

I probably have no business in this thread because I've never actually played it myself. But from everything I've seen/heard about it, I think I'm gonna align myself with the opinion that it's probably not very good.

I dislike Nintendo.

 

[Holythirteen]

Good instincts... go with those... yes... your uninformed opinion is completely accurate...

I guess the gameplay must be good for a wii game? Because I bought it out of pure metroid love for a console I didn't own and I could not get into it, I knew nothing of the story when I gave up playing, just that a bunch of guys showed up and Samus has no emotion.

I guess my opinion is mostly uninformed as well, I tend to arrogantly assume that if my rabid fanboyism can't make me enjoy a game then it must be pretty bad and that anybody who likes it must not understand "fun".

 

[Lovely Mixture]

What's funny is that I recently said to myself that those figures were the one GOOD thing to come out of Metroid Other M. That Zero Suit Samus one awesomely detailed, I plan to buy it sometime.

 

[Jenvas1306]

(spoilers ahead)

At one point in Other M you fight Ridley, and Samus completely freezes up and starts freaking out for about ten minutes. If this was the very first time she had seen Ridley since her childhood, I could understand some fear, but Other M takes place after Super Metroid, which means Samus had defeated him MANY times now, and therefore fear should no longer be a noticeable factor to an observer.



(end spoilers)

Other M might be a little late in the series, but it is also a game that is heavily influenced by the time it was made in. Thats where that type of storytelling comes from, like the lots of other games that are half a movie. This also allows to show Samus a bit different, as a female protargonist she is atleast allowed to have feeling, including the fear of ridley, who just refuses to stay dead (killing him again and again must get frustrating and be seemingly endless). It doesnt portrait her as strong as it should (or as tall as she should be), but atleast the game has a story and samus has a personality.
The story isnt shit, its just not good making the game overall alright and still clearly part of the series.

No idea where the hating comes from, personally I loved it, getting it up to my second fav metroid game, shortly behind metroid prime 3.

 

[Louzerman102]

(spoilers ahead)

At one point in Other M you fight Ridley, and Samus completely freezes up and starts freaking out for about ten minutes. If this was the very first time she had seen Ridley since her childhood, I could understand some fear, but Other M takes place after Super Metroid, which means Samus had defeated him MANY times now, and therefore fear should no longer be a noticeable factor to an observer.



(end spoilers)

Other M might be a little late in the series, but it is also a game that is heavily influenced by the time it was made in. Thats where that type of storytelling comes from, like the lots of other games that are half a movie. This also allows to show Samus a bit different, as a female protargonist she is atleast allowed to have feeling, including the fear of ridley, who just refuses to stay dead (killing him again and again must get frustrating and be seemingly endless). It doesnt portrait her as strong as it should (or as tall as she should be), but atleast the game has a story and samus has a personality.
The story isnt shit, its just not good making the game overall alright and still clearly part of the series.

No idea where the hating comes from, personally I loved it, getting it up to my second fav metroid game, shortly behind metroid prime 3.

I have no problem with Samus being bothered by Ridely it does give her character and personality, I just really hated how they did it. Samus is a military combat veteran. Trained by the chozo, then trained by the galactic federation, then she became a solo bounty hunter for several years. The ridley cut scene was way to dramatic for my taste.

There is a difference between a protagonist with a drinking problem, and a "protagonist" who attacks an innocent crowd with a baseball bat, killing two, while out black out drunk at 1 in the afternoon.

Edit: I know I get very picky with graphic depictions of Samus but... have her knees always been that thin?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Looking at that figure, I wouldn't be able to tell it had any connection to Other M unless you told me, so not liking it just because it had some connection to Other M is got to be the most petty and pathetic thing I've heard in some time.

Yes the story of Other M is absolute shite, there is no way anyone can argue that. The portrayal of Samus was atrocious and whoever did the voice sounded like... well let's just say I've seen more emotion from my toaster oven. However having said all that I will still maintain that the gameplay is quite enjoyable except for a few niggling complaints I have. I loved the one boss fight where you have to fish the thing out of the lava with the grapple beam. I thought that was wonderfully creative.

 

[Snotnarok]

I played it all the way through and thought the game wasn't very good because the game it self just wasn't very fun,the control scheme was poor, the music was bland besides the Ridley theme, and the gameplay mechanics was just not fitting to the type of game it was...The rest was just the whipped cream, cherry and sprinkles on top. I mean really enemies that don't drop health/ammo but instead you raise the remote and hold A and B to regen some HP and all your missiles making the game devoid of challenge. Events that left you totally clueless what to use; grapple point part, metroid queen, and the stupid 'investigation' parts.

It's not just a bad metroid game, it's just a bad game in general. Annnnd to round it off I didn't even like the suit design before I played the game, the chest is boxy and it just looked awkward.

If you liked it? Great that's awesome, I couldn't find a single redeeming quality of the entire game, and it was exceptionally boring on top of it, so it angering to have spent 50 bucks on it.

Edit: The one other problem I have is, the game is rather full of itself to the point where it, in one line tries to declare the Prime series non-cannon. The series that was far more interesting and fun to play, so there's some more to the pile of reasons to really not like the game.