Jump to content
Welcome to the new Forums! And please bear with us... ×
N-Europe

Metroid: Other M

Retro_Link

By Retro_Link
in Nintendo Gaming

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.3k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Nintendohnut Newbie

Nintendohnut

Posted
Posted

Not particularly spoiler-y, but if you don't want to know anything about the game then I don't want to be shouted at... There's quite a lot, no gameplay details, just details of the 2D controls and the way in which you switch to/work the first person control method. Sounds interesting...

 

The controls are surprisingly uncomplicated. You hold the Wii remote sideways (most of the time, which I'll get to) and finger the D-Pad to move Samus. Digital controls, I know -- but they work very well within the context of the game. Oftentimes, the presentation is quasi-two-dimensional, meaning that despite the fact that the levels are constructed via polygons and full 3D, the viewpoint unfolds via a 2D angle. Samus can walk in and out of the foreground even as she runs left and right. There's a lot more to it than that, though, because the structure of the world enables her the ability to run sideways at one moment and then directly forward via behind-the-back third-person the next. The camera very competently follows the action regardless of your choices or placement, although there are the occasional quirks that need management -- for instance, the character might sometimes walk into the screen as she seeks a door, which is not ideal.

 

The 1 button shoots her beam. Hold it down and she'll unleash a powerful charge attack. You'll quickly find that while there's no real lock-on system from third-person mode, the heroine very accurately auto-targets the nearest enemy. Simply face her into the general direction, press the 1 button and your chances of success are very high. The 2 button, meanwhile, is used for jumping. Press the A button and Aran will go into morph ball mode, at which point she can lay bombs every time you tap the 1 button. If you hold down the 1 button here, you'll drop a single power bomb, capable of burning up everything in the room in a powerful nuclear light. The controls feel very responsive and Samus moves through environments extremely fast -- an attribute of the character missing from the Prime games.

 

There's more, though. Yes, some pro-tips -- for example, if you charge your beam completely and then switch to morph ball, Samus will automatically lay four or five bombs circling her perimeter, which is a great way to quickly dispose of enemies. But if pyrotechnics are not your thing, you can also play defensively. When enemies shoot projectiles, you can cinematically dive out of harm's way if you tap any direction on the D-Pad just before impact. Works flawlessly and looks good, too. Time it just right and Samus can pull off reversals on alien attacks, too. And if you beat an enemy into submission, you can also perform a thrilling finishing move complete with a sweeping camera that spotlights Samus as she cinematically disposes of the poor creature in question.

 

Here, though, is where the gameplay mechanics take on a few distinguishing facets. At any time, and anywhere, if you point the Wii remote at the screen, the action will change to the first-person and you'll be able to take direct control over Aran's beam as you might in the Prime games. There are some differences, however. First, you can't move around in the first-person -- you can only look and shoot. Tap the A button to very rapidly shoot down foes on a static screen. Hold B-trigger and you can actually look around in a full 360-degree radius. The latter is amazingly useful for examining rooms because you will oftentimes see crevices, vents, and more that cannot be easily observed from the quasi-2D viewpoint. It's also useful because when you've got the B-trigger held, you can lock onto potential targets and fire missiles (and presumably other weapons, as you gain access to them) at objects and enemies.

 

Utilizing the Wii remote in this dual fashion is extremely uncommon and there's certainly a very small learning curve to the process -- one more likely to seem difficult in the heat of intense battles. But I have to note, it works really well and I like it. The aim sensitivity on the Wii remote is fast and very reliable. However, I would like the ability to set my turn speed so that I could crank it up a little higher during those situations when I want to thoroughly examine all areas of a room. Right now, it's a bit slow for my liking. (I tried to access the options menu but it was completely disabled.)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Owen Newbie

Owen

Posted
Posted
I'm a little worried about this game - summer release seems soooo soon. I hope it'll be polished and finished properly. I get nervous when big releases come out so soon. Also, wtf is going to be the big Christmas game?

 

Zelda is your big Christmas game, i think Nintendo should just go all out and make 2010 Wii's year!

 

October release is Wii Relax and the Vitality Sensor!

 

Don't expect anymore from Nintendo this year after that, they would probably collapse with the amount of work they've done in 2010. :laughing:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Retro_Link Newbie

Retro_Link

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm a little worried about this game - summer release seems soooo soon. I hope it'll be polished and finished properly. I get nervous when big releases come out so soon. Also, wtf is going to be the big Christmas game?
It'll be over a year since it was shown at E3'09, and it looked at a pretty decent stage back then, I think this will have had a good deal of development time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tellyn Newbie

Tellyn

Posted
Posted (edited)
How is it?

 

Awesome.

 

Does 2D feel like Super Metroid (Or any 2D Metroid game, really)?

 

And how do those "special 3D moves" work, anyway? (I mean, things like the fancy dodge the other "hands-on" mentioned)

 

It's strange, because it's a fully 3D game, and as such you can move along corridors in any direction you wish, not just side-scrolling. The perspective can change a lot sometimes too, which feels pretty cinematic. I found a toilet somewhere on the space station, and the perspective changed to over-the-shoulder, a bit like Resi 4. In other parts, such as running across a wider corridor towards the briefing room, the camera goes behind Samus at a slightly diagonal angle.

 

It definitely still feels like a 2D Metroid though, oddly enough.

 

In regards to those "special 3D moves", you basically tap anywhere on the D-Pad just before a shot hits you to do a Matrix-like jump out of the way. I didn't use them much beyond the tutorial.

 

Tellyn, we need to know. From the information we have, the controls seem weird but a whole heap of hand-ons say it feels great. What is your impression on this?

 

I loved it, it all seemed pretty natural (SNES/NES style controls for the most part). I personally think we were sat too close to the TVs, so the first-person switch felt quite jumpy, but it seemed to work seamlessly when I physically moved a fair distance away from the sensor bar.

 

It'll be over a year since it was shown at E3'09, and it looked at a pretty decent stage back then, I think this will have had a good deal of development time.

 

"Many years", according to Tim.

 

How the hell is this control scheme even working on a controller that has less buttons than a SNES pad? It looks nice but I'm still concerned on how all the upgrades etc are gonna work.

 

It's wonderful, it works much better than I thought it would. :D In terms of upgrades, there are no upgrades beyond Energy Tanks (and probably Missile expansions). Samus has everything available that she usually spends the entire game collecting, but as she's teamed up with the Galactic Federation, she's under the direct control of General Adam Malkovich, who has to authorise the use of weapons. For instance, when you fight a disturbing eye beetle boss with the soldiers, he authorises the use of freeze guns, and later bombs and missiles. He says he'll authorise Samus' weapons as and when needed, but emphasises that she is following his orders. He refuses to authorise the Power Bomb though, since this poses a danger of, um, killing everyone.

Edited by Tellyn
Link to comment
Share on other sites
viceview51 Newbie

viceview51

Posted
Posted
I foresee a twisted ending where Samus only remaining option is to drop a power bomb and get outta there toot sweet.
Isn't that what Jeff Gerstmann said on his hands-on of the demo (check for the Metroid: Other M hands-on on Giant Bomb, since I'm not allowed to put urls just yet)?

 

About the game, I have my reservations though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
marcel Newbie

marcel

Posted
Posted

hey guys, you might appreciate the following info. The news comes from the Dutch site wiids.nl.

In the past they got the exclusive release date for Mario kart Wii from an insider and also reported June as the release date for Mario galaxy 2 (3 days before the media summit of this week) in Europe.

 

Now the same insider reported that Metroid other M will be released on July 16th 2010, which falls in the Q3 timeframe that Nintendo Europe reported.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Owen Newbie

Owen

Posted
Posted
hey guys, you might appreciate the following info. The news comes from the Dutch site wiids.nl.

In the past they got the exclusive release date for Mario kart Wii from an insider and also reported June as the release date for Mario galaxy 2 (3 days before the media summit of this week) in Europe.

 

Now the same insider reported that Metroid other M will be released on July 16th 2010, which falls in the Q3 timeframe that Nintendo Europe reported.

 

I heard this too...but start of the summer holidays? Not too sure myself...people go on holiday in July/August...not really months to stay in and game..

 

but i hope for Europes sake it's that date, if it is though..why not announce it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jonnas Contributor

Jonnas

Posted
Posted
It's strange, because it's a fully 3D game, and as such you can move along corridors in any direction you wish, not just side-scrolling. The perspective can change a lot sometimes too, which feels pretty cinematic. I found a toilet somewhere on the space station, and the perspective changed to over-the-shoulder, a bit like Resi 4. In other parts, such as running across a wider corridor towards the briefing room, the camera goes behind Samus at a slightly diagonal angle.

 

It definitely still feels like a 2D Metroid though, oddly enough.

 

In regards to those "special 3D moves", you basically tap anywhere on the D-Pad just before a shot hits you to do a Matrix-like jump out of the way. I didn't use them much beyond the tutorial.

 

Nice :) The dodges don't sound too appealing, but the rest sounds good.

 

And LOL at Samus' being too dangerous for several allied soldiers :heh:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Zechs Merquise Newbie

Zechs Merquise

Posted
Posted
I just wanted to drop in to say that Other M is amazing. I finished the demo completely, so if you have any questions before the preview, fire away!

 

Thanks for the impressions, you've made my fears disappear! I hope this is good, I just hate it when you play the big game you've been waiting for and you feel a little 'if only they'd just...' about it. Where you can see the blatent improvements the developers have just ignored.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shino Newbie

Shino

Posted
Posted
Nice :) The dodges don't sound too appealing, but the rest sounds good.

 

And LOL at Samus' being too dangerous for several allied soldiers :heh:

 

The dodges is what's appealing me more, I imagine in harder parts it can get incredibly rhythmic and satisfying if done correctly, making a really good cinematic experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
darksnowman Contributor

darksnowman

Posted
Posted
Isn't that what Jeff Gerstmann said on his hands-on of the demo (check for the Metroid: Other M hands-on on Giant Bomb, since I'm not allowed to put urls just yet)?

 

About the game, I have my reservations though.

 

All I've read on Other M is whats been posted in this thread. I gave that a Google and found the article you're talking about. (You'll be able to post links after you reach a certain post count. :))

 

Originally Posted by GiantBomb

Before too long, he'll authorize the use of bombs... but not the Power Bomb. The game practically grinds to a halt long enough to tell you that Adam has "no plans to authorize the use of power bombs" because they are TOOOOO DESTRUCTIVE! Even back in the tutorial, your scientist associate raises big metal shutters before you test them out. Though I wasn't able to play long enough to find out, I'm going to take that as pretty obvious foreshadowing that, at some point later in the game, you're going to do something big and bad with power bombs.

 

Looks like me and big Jethro are thinking along the same lines then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
1-up Mushroom

Support N-Europe!

Get rid of advertisements and help cover hosting costs on N-Europe

Become a member!

×
×
  • Create New...