Although Metroid has been one of Nintendo’s most storied franchises, it’s also paradoxically one of the least understood. Countless times I have seen people embarrass themselves (usually nostalgic gaming poseurs) by referring to Samus Aran as “Metroid”. No, you ninny,”Metroid” is the furthest life form from an attractive female bounty hunter. They are translucent life-sucking alien jellyfish with giant fangs. Capiche?
Nerd rage aside, Metroid lore can be a little confusing, so no one will judge you if you need to watch this 7 minute catch up video on what happened in the previous games. It’s a good time to catch up before Metroid: Other M releases on the Wii next week, as it promises to be a lot more focused on character and story than any other Metroid game prior. (For the first time ever, there’ll be voice acting in a Metroid game!)
However, we’ll still judge you if you pull the faux pas of calling the main character “Metroid.”
(video courtesy of Joystiq)
Ever wish you could hear Samus’s voice in a Metroid game? Metroid: Other M (MoM) makes those wishes come true.
Metroid games have traditionally been about solitary exploration and incidental narrative through found logscanning, but MoM represents a distinctive departure for the longstanding franchise with it’s heavy emphasis on cinematic storytelling. Virtually every character is voice acted as well, which is something Nintendo doesn’t often do for their games.
I almost felt guilty for indulging in MoM’s lengthy cutscenes at Nintendo’s E3 booth. It felt a little unsettling at first, but I quickly became accustomed to this New Metroid Order.
Without giving away story spoilers, MoM sheds a spotlight onto Samus’s origins. Here’s a character we know almost nothing about over the past 25 years other than her gender and profession. It’s kind of weird to all of a sudden learn where she came from and how she’s felt about her adventures so far. I’m not ready to pass judgement on this game design choice yet, but I can say that I’m intrigued enough to see the whole thing through.
From it’s initial announcement at E3 last year, I always envisioned MoM playing like Ninja Gaiden meets Super Metroid. The playable demo at E3 more or less confirmed this assumption. MoM shifts between 2D and 3D planes depending on what part of the map you’re in. If you’ve seen last year’s Shadow Complex, you have a good idea as to what the 2D corridors look like.
In a surprising move, no nunchuk is used while playing this game. The default controls are similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii where you tilt the controller on its side. <insert obligatory snarky comment on the uselessness of motion controls in games>
Gameplay didn’t throw very man curveballs at me. If you’ve played a metroid game before, this game will feel very natural for the most part. I found the way MoM handled “crippling” Samus at the start to be novel. At the start of the game, Samus works with one of her friends from the Federation. They haven’t “authorized” her to use missiles or heavy weaponry yet, so that’s how her starting ordinance loadout is explained.
I do have to draw attention to how annoying the first-person aiming system is, though. At one point in the demo, I had to fight a boss that could only be damaged by missiles. Problem is, you can only fire missiles by switching into first person aiming mode and pointing the Wiimote at the screen. In theory this sounds intuitive, but in practice it’s awful. I felt like an invalid fumbling around with the Wiimote trying to defeat this particular boss.
The problem lies with the fact that you have to completely change the way you hold the controller in a pressure-filled twitch action sequence. It’s just doesn’t feel natural to be flipping around the controller when you have a 2 second window in which to flip, aim, and fire. Novel exploration mechanic, sure. Twitch boss fight mechanic, HELL NO. Sadly, I fear we may be too close to launch for any significant control changes.
Despite this, I’m too much of a Metroid fan to let this completely derail my enthusiasm for MoM. The game does contain Team Ninja’s signature movement fluidity (other than the aforementioned first-person aiming issue) and the cinematic cutscenes and voice acting are a fascinating new wrinkle for the series.
Metroid: Other M releases for the Nintendo Wii this August.
Fire up your favorite song about kings and airships (Coldplay – Viva La Vida) if you have a Wii, because today is the day you get Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As King!
Nintendo’s much anticipated Wii Ware service launches today with six titles, including the aforementioned FFCCMLAK. Wii Ware essentially allows for original games to be distributed digitally to your Wii, ala Xbox Live Arcade or the Playstation Network.
More platforms for games is always a good thing, especially if it means original Homestarrunner games.
The six titles are (divide by 100 to get actual dollar amounts):
Final Fantasy: 1500 Wii Points
LostWinds: 1000 Wii Points
Defend Your Castle: 500 Wii Points
Pop: 700 Wii Points
VIP Casino Blackjack: 700 Wii Points
TV Show King: 1000 Wii Points
Full game descriptions after the jump.
When I heard that EA and Steven Spielberg were “teaming up” to create a video game, I have to admit that the announcement didn’t exactly get my panties wet. Though Spielberg is one of the great movie directors of our time, he has never been involved with the production of a video game. On top of that, Spielberg’s credited role as “Creative Director” is suspiciously nebulous.
Regardless of Stevie’s role in the game’s production, the fact remains that Boom Blox is actually a surprisingly fun game. Though it’s a puzzle game designed for the whole family/casual players, even hardcore gamers can extract some kind of enjoyment from it. EA LA have managed to develop some of the tightest motion controls seen on a Wii game. It’s safe to say Boom Blox would not have been possible on any other gaming platform at this time.
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Doesn’t the above ad for Guitar Hero: On Tour disturbingly remind you of those oozinator commercials from a couple years ago?
Earlier this week, Activision announced an upcoming Nintendo DS version of their oversaturated venerable Guitar Hero franchise. It’s no secret I’m not a fan of Activision’s desire to milk the once innovative Guitar Hero series for all the short term money it can before tossing its charred husk into the infernal furnace of irrelevance, but I’ll admit the fret buttons add-on they’ve devised for the DS version looks fairly intriguing. I was expecting a touch screen equivalent, but having actual physical buttons will go a long way in simulating the “real” Guitar Hero experience. It looks a bit awkward to hold and strum though, much like reading a book one handed.
Some of the “new gameplay features,” though, are a little suspect.
Fans can also join together to play co-op mode using a local wireless network, or battle each other in a Guitar Duel using new Battle Items unique to the DS platform. For example, players must blow into the microphone to extinguish a pyrotechnics effects gone wrong, or use the touch screen to autograph a crazed fan’s shirt in the middle of their set.
Really? Blowing into the DS microphone “to extinguish a pyrotechnics effect gone wrong”? Such shenanigans might have been neat in 2005 for the launch of the DS when it was called Feel The Magic XY:XX, but in 2008 for a music rhythm game? No.
We’ll see this summer if it’ll work out.
N’Sync still holds the first-day CD sales record with 1.1 million for No Strings Attached in 2001, but that was at the absolute pinnacle of the CD sales era for the music industry. Today, first day sales of even 200,000 would be considered a raging success. If Brawl‘s sales numbers today are comparable to the glory days of the music industry, what’s going to be possible in upcoming years? Let’s not forget that gross revenue of Wii games are five times what music CD’s are.
Nintendo sells record number of Brawl copies [joystiq.com]
