Nintendo knew that Metroid: Other M was their big gun for the media summit. They may have dedicated 8 demo booths to Super Mario Galaxy 2, but it was Metroid: Other M that got the special treatment. This game was behind closed doors, and available to those with appointments. If you didn't have an alloted time to play, you weren't getting in. It's very clear that Nintendo is still trying to shroud the game in mystery, but I'll do my best to reveal what popped up during my playtime.
Let's start off with the controls tutorial. You'll be holding the Wiimote in classic NES style for most of your play. You move around with the d-pad, press 1 to shoot and 2 to jump. Hit the A button to turn into a morph ball, and then it's 1 for bombs and 2 for jumping. If you take the Wiimote and point it at the screen, you go into a first-person mode. This allows you to better inspect and area, or even take out foes from a distance. It's completely up to you when you want to use that mode. You cannot move forwards or backwards while using it, but you can spin 360 degrees.
My favorite new move would have to be the quick dodge. Right before an enemy is about to hit you, you can tap a direction on the dpad to flip out of harm's way. Your timing has to be right on the money, so you can't just smash the dpad and wait for it to happen. This dodge move seems to add so much more to the game. It really makes the combat come alive and feel quite visceral. I couldn't stop thinking about how such a little addition made such a big difference, and made this type of gameplay feel brand-new.
I would liken most of the gameplay in Metroid: Other M to that of Super Metroid, and with a little bit of the changes that were made in Shadow Complex. There are major portions of the game that are side-scrolling, but there are also portions where you're running from the front of the screen to the back. Now, all of these screens also let you move in any direction as well. Think of it as a beat'em-up. You could walk left, right, up and down in those titles, and that's what you'll be doing here. There's also a vertical aspect to gameplay, so you'll be ascending/descending elevator shafts and other such locations.
Similar to Shadow Complex, Other M will throw enemies at you from all directions. If you're moving in a hallway that's mostly left to right, that doesn't mean that enemies won't come at your from just those directions. In Shadow Complex, I had some major issues getting the character to aim at the enemy I wanted to take down. In Other M, the system worked absolutely flawlessly. I didn't have to fight to position Samus in a way that she would shoot the enemy I was hoping to gun down. I would just move left or right, and Samus would also take down the enemy I was looking to stop. I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to see how well this worked.
As I said, the morph ball is back, but in my demo time I only saw a few areas that took advantage of it. I rolled through some secret areas to pick up energy tanks and the like, but didn't come across any puzzles to solve. Keep in mind that I played what amounted to a 40 minute demo, and a lot of that time was spent watching cut-scenes. I can't venture a guess as to whether the morph ball will play a bigger part in the full game or not.
As you can tell, Other M is deeply routed in old-school traditions of the Metroid series, but it tries to update them with new twists. One such example that impressed me was how Samus' different weapons and abilities came into play. Instead of having Samus lose all of her weapons, she seems to have all of them on her. The thing is, she's working with a 'military' team that's investigating a strange occurrence, and the commander of the team has to authorize the use of weapons. That means that Samus can only use what is allowed by the commander. He gets the authorization for weapons, and unlocks them for you as you go. They only become authorized when an appropriate threat is detected. It's definitely a unique way of staying true to the old series while having the motive make a bit more sense.
What's the best thing I can say about Metroid: Other M? I was really disappointed when my play time was up, because I really wanted to continue on. I had a 40 minute taste of the game, and it left me very hungry to continue my adventure. There's no denying that this is a very different take on the Metroid series, especially coming off of the Prime trilogy. It's old school and new ideas mixed together, and the outcome thus far seems like a bold step in an interesting direction. I cannot wait to get more time with this title, but that probably won't happen until launch.
Unfortunately, I do have a negative point that I have to rag about. Metroid: Other M is huge on story, and you get to see a lot more into the life of Samus and all that she's been through. I can't tell you how excited I am for this look into Samus' life. In Other M, you get tons of backstory through gorgeous cut-scenes...and horrible voice acting. Seriously, I can't stress how poor the voice acting was. I'd have to say that Samus had the best voice, but I thought the actresses' performance was abysmal. That tells you how poor the rest of the voice cast is. I really, REALLY hope that Nintendo forks out the cash for some better voice actors. I'll love hearing the story no matter what, but things would be so much better if the voice cast was more professional.
