Game:

Metroid: Other M (2010)

Duration: 12:23

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Samus’s Log: “BOTTLE SHIP struck me as an odd name for such a facility, and combined with the Baby’s Cry distress signal, and my time with the Infant Metroid, I couldn’t help seeing all of the maternal imagery surrounding, no, engulfing me. But I have bad experiences with Mothers, so nature better not get any ideas.”

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The game begins proper with our main setting, the Bottle Ship. Or BOTTLE SHIP. This game is in love with putting things in ALL CAPS. We also get introduced to the rest of our cast, along with a LOT of exposition being dumped on us. Say what you will about this game’s story (and boy will I when the time comes) but it certainly doesn’t follow the notion of “show, don’t tell.” We’ve barely had our hands on the controller and we’re already meeting tons of new people and having backstory shoved down our throats!

Anthony Higgs is one of the few thing I really like about Other M, and I hope to see him return some day. Sure, he’s tied to the “Remembuh ME?” meme that sprung up when he was first shown in a trailer years back, but I like him.

Adam Malkovich…more will be said on the man later on. This isn’t his first appearance in a Metroid game, though! Introduced (albeit posthumously) in Metroid Fusion on the GBA, Adam was stated to be Samus’s former Commanding Officer there too, though Samus wasn’t quite as wordy when stating it back then. But Other M Samus will, time and time again, monologue about how much she value’s Adam’s opinion, so if you’re not feeling this now…this isn’t gonna be a good time.

Adam gets a lot of heat from Metroid fans not just for his callous attitude towards Samus in the story, but also being behind the most reviled gameplay design element in the game: the Weapon Authorization mechanic! Most Metroid games either have Samus start from scratch or have her lose her abilities in some way at the start, allowing players to slowly work their way back up to full power and fully explore a given game’s world. Other M has Samus at full-power though, with her entire arsenal from Super Metroid at her fingertips (well, spoilers, but the X-Ray Visor isn’t gonna show up here), but here she…choses to not use them all until Adam says it’s OK.

Now, gameplay-wise, I get WHY we can’t use everything at once. It’d be hard to design a game where Samus is able to go anywhere and everywhere from the word “go.” I also appreciate a story-given answer for the “Bag of Spilling” that’s so common in games, but here’s the thing: they do it half-assed. We’ll see it more later on, but the game prevents Samus from using VITAL components of her suit at times for no good reason. I GET that Samus respects Adam and wants senpai to notice her, but at the same time…he has NO power over her, and I find it hard to swallow that she’s that subservient to him.

There’s also the added frustration of seeing power-ups and secrets that you COULD obtain, but can’t for this arbitrary reason. Some see this limitation of powers as a necessary evil, but I say make a game that is built around Samus having everything or give me a better reason for why she can’t do it. Don’t give me a story-related reason that’s full of holes! But I can save my rants for the REAL dumb side of this mechanic later on…

So we’ve met our aloof allies, fought some mook enemies and now have to deal with this creepy ship. Someone better get those lights back on! But hey, at least the save rooms still work. Convenient!

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