Metroid: Other M

Metroid: Other M is the twelfth Metroid game announced by Nintendo at E3 2009 and developed by Team Ninja and Nintendo. Taking place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion, Other M is said to feature a similar storytelling style to Fusion while retaining the "traditional Metroid feel". The designers are putting an emphasis on adventure, and aim to have a "seamless and natural" interaction between gameplay and cinematics. The game will be played with a sideways Wii Remote similar to the NES Controller, while aiming it at the screen switches the view to a first-person perspective similar to the Prime series.

A demo for the game was released at the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco along with E3 2010.

Plot


The game begins shortly after the end of Super Metroid. Samus Aran, in a hospital, is having a dream about the death of the Baby. Awakening, she finds herself in her Zero Suit. A new character that Samus calls the Quarantine Officer then directs her to enter a training sequence. After this, she reports the status on her mission and takes off in her gunship. Weeks passed, and while reflecting more on the Baby, she picks up a distress signal, dubbed Baby's Cry, from a derelict Bottle Ship.

Upon landing, Samus encounters the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon, led by Anthony Higgs, who fought alongside her before she defected from the Federation. She also finds Commander Adam Malkovich, who used to be her commanding officer when she was in the Federation Army. Due to an incident that caused Samus to leave the army, Malkovich acts standoffish and guarded, calling Samus an "outsider" and ordering his team not to reveal any details of their mission to her.

After an encounter with an unknown, large purple-tentacled creature, Samus is welcomed onto the team and briefed about the mission. Adam explains that the comm systems of the soldiers are useless, so the Navigation Booths in the facility will be their only method of communication when not together. Adam also orders them to search for any survivors and bring them to safety. The group then splits up to search different sectors of the ship in the hopes of finding the threat that they are up against.

Samus is first ordered to reactivate the Bottle Ship's electrical system, then is ordered to find a facility of interest in Sector 1, known as Biosphere. She runs through the tropical territory, encountering a small, furry creature that stares at her. She finds the facility of interest and meets up with the platoon, being attacked by a large, purple lizard-like creature. The group discovers the body of Lyle Smithsonian, one of their members, and the husk of the white creature Samus found earlier. She is ordered to follow it.

Descending down a shaft into Sector 3, the Pyrosphere, she tracks the creature, being attacked by a large lava creature attempting to eat her. Soon, Adam orders her to go to Sector 2, the Cryosphere. While there, she discovers the body of Maurice Favreau, another soldier, and sees a woman staring at her. The woman flees, but Samus pursues, and tries to convince her that she means no harm. The two of them are attacked by a soldier wearing a Galactic Federation Power Suit, and the woman is seperated from Samus.

Samus returns to Pyrosphere to investigate the Geothermal Power Plant, and encounters the husk of the lizard-like creature she battled earlier. This husk was shed from Samus' arch-nemesis Ridley, who is present for some reason onboard the Bottle Ship. Ridley assaults Samus, with Anthony Higgs saving her. Ridley seemingly kills Anthony by knocking him off the ledge. After a battle, Ridley flees. Leaving Pyrosphere, Samus spots one of her comrades walking away, and pursues him to Biosphere. She finds the woman again, who identifies herself as "Madeline Bergman". She tells Samus about the secret operations there: the scientists were propogating Metroids in Sector Zero.

Samus journeys to Sector Zero, and encounters a small Metroid that reminds her of the Baby. She also spots Adam, who has decided to detach and destroy the sector. Unfortunately, this would take him with it. Samus pleads with him not to, but he locks the doors and leaves a heartbroken Samus behind. Samus returns to the facility where she re-encountered Madeline Bergman, and finds that a Queen Metroid had survived the detachment of Sector Zero. Samus faces the Queen in a long, difficult battle before destroying it. She spots another red-haired woman that runs away from her similar to Madeline. Samus introduces herself and states why she is here, and the woman calms down. She identifies herself as Madeline Bergman as well. Samus is confused, but Madeline explains: the woman she met was MB, an android that was reincarnated from Mother Brain, used to control special forces modelled after the Space Pirates. MB soon began to develop emotions, and turned against the scientists, controlling the forces to destroy the station, setting the events for the game.

MB, whose nickname from Madeline is "Melissa", steps in aiming a pistol at the two of them. Despite Samus' protests, Madeline attempts to talk to MB. However, she blasts Madeline back, and is subsequently frozen by a group of Federation Marines that invaded the Bottle Ship. They shoot MB to death, and restrain a heartbroken Madeline. A man resembling Admiral Dane talks to Samus and states that since the rest of the platoon members are dead, she is an outsider and is not allowed contact with Madeline. He orders one of the soldiers to escort her back to her Gunship, but the soldier turns out to be Anthony Higgs, who states that his orders are to ensure the safety of any survivors. Madeline, Samus and Anthony leave the Bottle Ship in Samus' gunship, for Galactic Federation Headquarters.

After a few days, the Galactic Federation decides to destroy the Bottle Ship. Before they do so, Samus flies back to recover an important treasure. She re-explores the Bottle Ship, and defeats her old foe Phantoon, before she discovers the location where Adam sat and left his helmet. Samus clutches the helmet as she escapes from the Bottle Ship in her Zero Suit, before it is utterly destroyed.

Development
According to Yoshio Sakamoto and Yusuke Hayashi, the game takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The blond-haired woman at the end of the trailer is not "a second Samus" of any kind, but another "very, very important character", and may be one of the survivors (or even last) of the Bottle Ship. The Bottle Ship and its areas (the Main Sector, Biosphere, Pyrosphere and Cryosphere) is the setting of the game. Cutscene segments show Galactic Federation Headquarters as well as Tourian.

The only two new items thus far are the Diffusion Beam which appears to be similar to the Spazer Beam in past games, and the Accel Charge upgrade, which increases how quickly Samus can perform a charge shot.

Samus will not collect her powerups in this game as in previous games. Rather, Adam Malkovich will authorize her to use certain powerups, as she has apparently retained all her items from Super Metroid rather than losing them prior to or at the beginning. Instead of losing them, she has to wait until she is authorized to use them. Some "new" powerups, such as the Accel Charge, will be collected in a more traditional manner, however. 

E3 Trailer
The trailer demonstrates combat and movement mechanics in third-person, with first person segments for ranged attacks. It featured Ridley, Mother Brain, and Adam Malkovich as well as Samus Aran. Recurring creatures include a swarm of Reos, Ki-Hunters, and a type of Space Pirate that has only been seen in Metroid Fusion and the 2002 Metroid manga. Samus is seen wearing both the Power Suit and Varia Suit during the trailer, most resembling their appearances in Super Metroid. Suit upgrades seen include the Power Beam, Charge Beam, Missiles and Speed Booster. The trailer appeared on the Nintendo Channel, along with several other previews and trailers for other games.

Teaser Movie
A second movie titled "Teaser Movie" was shown at the Nintendo Media Summit, and features Samus staring out the window, speaking. Adam Malkovich is also seen in a flashback that may depict events from the 2002 manga; this scene also depicts a younger Samus wearing her Zero Suit. This is one of only two trailers to not feature gameplay at all. It was later released on Metroid.com.

Around the same time as the summit, the intro, filmed with an iPhone camera, was posted on YouTube against the terms given by Nintendo to the media to not film gameplay. It was later removed, though several users had already copied it and posted it to their accounts. The intro only goes up to the beginning of the training sequence.

Gameplay Movie
A gameplay trailer was released on March 30, 2010 which showed more gameplay than the previous videos. Samus wears the Power Suit in most of the trailer and can also be seen wearing the Varia Suit in some scenes. The Ice Beam, Morph Ball, Screw Attack, Wall Jump, and Super Missile are also seen being used. A large number of the game's enemies, bosses and environments were also seen in the second trailer. Recurring creatures include Dessgeega and Geemers. It showed how the game would be played with the Wii Remote sideways for 3rd person view, and when the Wii Remote is pointed at the screen, the first-person view is shown. Also given away are some new environments, one of them being a luscious rainforest-like landscape much like Crateria and the Tallon Overworld, two other places shown were an ice area and a ship-like area. It also shows off several impressive looking finishing blows. At the end of the trailer, it shows in the cutscene from the beginning of the game - the climax of Super Metroid.

Metroid and Me (by Samus Aran)
On May 20, 2010, new footage was posted to YouTube and features the Other M intro scene depicting Super Metroid ' s ending, with scenes from the original version placed in for comparison. After this, Samus is seen in her gunship; this is the scene where she picks up the distress signal from the Bottle Ship. Samus speaks in Japanese throughout the video. It was later revealed to be a retrospective on the Japanese Nintendo Channel covering Metroid (curiously, instead of Metroid: Zero Mission), Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Metroid, up to Other M. It does not mention the Prime Series or Metroid Fusion (the latter due to Other M taking place before that). On August 17, 2010, just two weeks before the release of the game, a translation was posted on Metroid.com. It is relatively the same as before, although the game cartridges and systems shown have been changed, as well as the music, due to regional differences. Other differences include the removal of a clip of Samus in Super Metroid, opening her eye. Another clip that was removed consisted of Samus destroying Mother Brain in the Other M recreation. The latter is replaced with an additional clip of Mother Brain, Ridley in Metroid (representing a Space Pirate), a Metroid in Metroid II as well as Crateria in Super Metroid (representing Zebes) as Samus states that they were all eradicated.

Fifth Trailer and various clips of gameplay
A fifth trailer was shown during E3 2010, depicting new cinematics and areas and one new boss. New screenshots and artwork were released as well, and some websites filmed the rest of the gameplay in the demo, including the boss fight with the purple tentacled creature.

Developer Interview
On July 7, 2010, a new video was posted to Metroid.jp, showing clips of the previous trailers as well as footage of the development of the game. It also showed some new cutscenes and footage, and a new creature that appears to be the Super Metroid depiction of a Space Pirate. It also revealed the name of Samus' Japanese actress (Ai Kobayashi) and mistakenly gave away the name of the lava area in the game: Volcano Island. on July 17, 2010, the Metroid Database uploaded the video to their YouTube channel with annotations containing English subtitles.

Story Trailer
A seventh trailer was released on July 27, 2010. It reveals the names of all of Adam's soldiers (Lyle Smithsonian, Maurice Favreau, James Pierce and K.G. Misawa), once again shows the battle with ULF 27, and other, additional footage. The Wave Beam is shown in the trailer, when Samus is firing it at several Skrees. It strongly resembles the Metroid Prime version. The Grappling Beam is also shown for the first time (though Samus has been seen using it in screenshots). The game's Samus Screen is shown clearly for the first time. Samus can also be seen performing the Shinespark. A new, multiple-armed black creature is shown fighting Samus. The last shown scene features the Bottle Ship exploding. An orchestrated remix of Vs. Ridley plays throughout the trailer.

The trailer was initially only aired in Japanese, but has since been released in English.

Action Movie
An eighth trailer was released on August 13, 2010, exclusively to GameTrailers at first. This was more or less footage of the game taking place outside of a facility. One new boss was shown (though a part of it could be seen in the previous trailer), as well as new footage of ULF 46 and a new type of Space Pirate. Numerous Grappling Beam segments taking place in Pyrosphere are also shown, with one of them involving ULF 28. Then in Cryosphere, Samus could be seen with three Zoomers. This scene revealed that the Five-Bomb Drop from Super Metroid would be returning. The Samus Screen also suggests that the Shinespark is now an upgrade and not a technique with the Speed Booster. The trailer placed Zoro and Ki-Hunters in the same location, hinting on a possible connection between them that was first implied in Metroid Fusion. The last scene shows Samus running out of the facility before being tackled down by ULF 50.

TV Commercial :60 Spot
A live-action TV commercial of Other M was released on August 19th, 2010. The commercial shows Samus walking through a ruined city in her Zero Suit while narrating. As she walks, images of Ridley attacking her as a child, her time with the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon, her shooting a Space Pirate, finding the Baby and finally Mother Brain shooting the Baby are shown. Samus then activates her Power Suit. Clips of Samus in the Bottle Ship are shown, including her fighting a Griptian, Reos, a Ghalmanian and ULF 39. Finally, a clip from the scene where Samus is confronting Mother Brain is shown before the commercial ends.

Demo
A demo of Other M appeared at the Nintendo Media Summit in San Francisco and at E3 2010. It delivered more details of the game's plot and showcased the gameplay and controls of the game. Abilities seen are the Bombs, Power Bombs, Five-Bomb Drop, Morph Ball, Power Suit, Missiles, Scan Visor, Power Beam and Charge Beam. Samus also can use several melee moves during the demo, like Sense Move, Lethal Strike and Overblast. It is also revealed that Save Stations in Other M are called Navigation Booths. Samus fights the purple tentacled creature in the demo, and continues exploring the station up until reaching the top of a long shaft.

Teaser site
Metroid.jp revealed a small teaser site for the game on January 29 2010, that consisted of an image from the trailer, a new song, and Samus speaking in Japanese, "A dream. It's as if I was watching a playback of a tragedy that really happened." Metroid.com has also since been updated with the English-speaking line, "A dream. I had been reliving the tragic moments of my recent past." A short video titled Teaser Movie, with no actual gameplay, was added to the site on March 2, 2010. A gameplay movie was also added to the site in late March 2010, showing off several features. On June 3, 2010, the entire Japanese site got revamped. On 21st August, 2010, the English site was also updated to include the same features as the Japanese site. Links to the main Nintendo website are also present now.

Title
The title of Metroid: Other M is abbreviated to "MOM", and the subtitle is an anagram for "Mother", strengthening this game's connection to maternal themes from the series history, such as Mother Brain (who appears in the trailer) or perhaps Virginia Aran, the mother of Samus. It may also refer to the Baby and how Samus was its "mother".

The "Other M" can also refer to the two Bergmans, both of whose first names start with M, and one of whom serves as a maternal figure to creatures on the station.

Yoshio Sakamoto, the co-creator of Metroid, confirmed that the name will have significance in several instances.

Reception
Early reviews of the game have been mostly positive, with some negative/mixed reviews.


 * Metroid: Other M received a score of 8.5 out of 10 from IGN.
 * X-Play gave Metroid: Other M a 2 out of 5, saying that Samus's character was unacceptable and the controls were too clunky.
 * GameInformer Australia gave Metroid: Other M an 8, but GameInformer US gave it a 6.25 out of 10.
 * GameSpot gave Metroid: Other M an 8.5 out of 10.
 * GameTrailers gave Metroid: Other M an 8.6 out of 10.


 * Joystiq gave Metroid: Other M 4.5 stars out of 5, (9.0 out of 10).

Trivia

 * Metroid: Other M is the first canon Metroid game where Samus Aran speaks, as she did not speak in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. She had previously spoken through text during the intro of Super Metroid, at various intervals during Metroid Fusion, and in two instances in Metroid: Zero Mission. Samus had grunts of pain in the Metroid Prime Trilogy, and spoke in all of her taunts as Zero Suit Samus in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * Yoshio Sakamoto claimed in a Super Metroid interview that he was the only person to know "where Samus' beauty mark is," which was not visible until the Other M trailer, where it could be seen under the left side of her lip. A mole was also marked on concept art for Samus' face in Metroid Prime, but was not added to the model.
 * During one of the ending scenes of the first Metroid: Other M trailer, two sets of numbers briefly appear in the upper-left hand corner of the 2010 screenshot. The numbers show 3 and 25 in what looks like a Missile count. At the time, many fans believed it was the release date (3/25/2010 or March 25, 2010). However, this was later proven false as the actual release date for North America was August 31, 2010.
 * Metroid: Other M will be the first Metroid game to receive a 16+ PEGI rating.
 * Metroid: Other M is the first game in the Metroid series to have orchestrated music.
 * Hardly any of the "traditional" Metroid music is in Other M

Videos

 * GameTrailers (420p, poor sound)
 * GameVideos
 * IGN (Poor sound)
 * Trailer 2, Nintendo Everything
 * Trailer 2 (Japanese version), GameTrailers
 * Trailer 3
 * Metroid: Other M NEWEST action trailer (720p HD)
 * Metroid: Other M Commercial 1 (Japanese)
 * Metroid: Other M Commercial 2 (Japanese)
 * Metroid: Other M UK Commercial 1
 * Metroid: Other M UK Commercial 2
 * Metroid: Other M US Live Action Commercial
 * "Metroid and Me" Retrospective
 * Metroid Other M Begining
 * Metroid Other M Ending

Gallery
For concept art, see Metroid: Other M's Gallery.