Critical Review of Metroid Dread - an Imperfect Masterpiece

Channel:

Chris the Gaming Enthusiast - Hidden Odd Box

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Published on October 23, 2021 6:30:22 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEF2ta-Eu80

Game:

Metroid Dread (2021)

Category:

Review

Duration: 10:44

67 views

6

This is my critical review of Metroid Dread!

The first thing we notice about Metroid Dread is how well the game looks and runs: it's super smooth and looks really great for a game on the Nintendo Switch. I also want to praise the cutscenes, everything from the animations, to choreography, effects and audio was on point.
The combat is also amazing, as Samus controls perfectly, and she also has some new incredible abilities.

The bosses in Metroid Dread are probably some of the best bosses I encountered in gaming as a whole, great designs based on patterns.

Exploring and navigating planet ZDR in Metroid Dread you will find out that the map is open and interconnected with the various elevators, transports and teleporters. That being said, most of the time I found the exploration quite easy. If I was at Mercury Steam I would have added or changed a few minor areas, or just even small rooms to feature some hazards like spikes or dark rooms. The shinespark and speed booster challenges were very skill based though, I really liked that.

From an artistic stand point there are many areas that really caught my eyes, aside from each room really feeling like a little piece of art of its own, my favorite places were the deepest water sections, the sunny natural environments and most of all the Chozo themed temple areas - one type of area that was not as visually stimulating to me were the EMMI areas, which were all very similar to look at, so, since we mentioned them, before we dive into atmosphere and theming let's talk about the EMMIs. The AI design of these hunter robots is truly impressive, they can hear you, they can climb and then they know how to chase you, even to the point of some times anticipating the moves of Samus, insane. As much as I loved the gameplay aspect of the EMMIs though, I was not scared of them as much as I hoped I would have been. The reasons for this are mainly because for one you always know when you will meet an EMMI, as their areas are clearly highlighted both on the map and in the world itself through their specific doors, then the second reason was caused by their design and sounds, which in my humble opinion were not scary. I decided to consider them like another obstacle rather than actual predators and luckily it made me enjoy them better.

Regarding the atmosphere there are certain areas that were able to really put me into the shoes of Samus, such as the ones I mentioned earlier in my comments about the art style and all the heated areas with lava, but for the most part I was not really into the atmosphere of the game because of just one component of it: the music. All the tracks that return from previous titles have been remade in perfect style, but most of the new ones kinda felt limp and not quite themed to me... I felt it more like background music than anything else. I alsowanted to quickly mention the Hard difficulty, which is a reward you get after completing the game. As far as I've seen, what this new difficulty option does is simply making combat harder, instead, I would have made it so that it could also hide all these visual indicators that walls can be broken and also make it available from the get go including a description that would explain that both combat and exploration would have been harder.

Aside from the returning powers in Metroid Dread, also the newly introduced mechanics are a greatly welcomed addition to the gameplay: the Phantom Cloak was essential to hide from the EMMIs and pass through their areas, and made the hunt sessions much more interesting. The Flash Shift was an amazing tool for combat as it allows Samus to quickly move herself of a few meters, and it made all boss fights super intense and fun, and I also think it may help speedrunners a lot combined with the speed booster and the shinespark. The Storm Missiles also helped a lot against bosses and were the perfect gameplay mechanic to allow Samus to take aim while moving.
One slight problem I had with the bosses was the repetition of the Chozo Soldiers, their patterns were quite a lot similar and it's kinda too much to re-use them 4 or 5 times.
And finally, the story was incredible: Samus arrival on ZDR was planned by the main antagonist, which wants her Metroid DNA to conquer the galaxy. The narrative will link with all the previous titles and there is a huge plot twist before the final battle that blew my mind.

#MetroidDread #Review #NintendoSwitch

Intro 00:00
Graphics & Performance 00:46
Cutscenes 01:08
Combat 01:25
Bosses 01:44
Exploration 02:48
Art Style 04:00
EMMI robots 04:26
Atmosphere/Music 05:51
Hard difficulty 07:26
New abilities 07:58
Problem with one Boss 08:45
Story 09:00
Summary & Score 09:33
Bye bye 10:08

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