| Metroid: Other M | |
|---|---|
North American, Australian and European box art |
|
| Developer(s) | Nintendo Team Ninja D-Rockets |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto Yosuke Hayashi Takehiko Hosokawa |
| Producer(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto Yosuke Hayashi |
| Writer(s) | Yoshio Sakamoto |
| Composer(s) | Kuniaki Haishima |
| Series | Metroid |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | |
Metroid: Other M (メトロイド アザーエム Metoroido Azā Emu) is an action-adventure video game for the Wii developed by "Project M", a team which consists of staff members from Nintendo, Team Ninja, and D-Rockets. A part of the Metroid series, it features gameplay in both first- and third-person perspectives, and is the first installment of the franchise to feature melee attacks. Other M was released in North America on August 31, 2010, Japan and Australia on September 2, 2010, and in Europe on September 3, 2010.
Impressed with the 2004 action game Ninja Gaiden, series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto approached Team Ninja to develop Other M, while D-Rockets was brought in to handle the in-game cutscenes. The development team employed a simple control scheme to make the game more intuitive and attractive, and gave significant focus on plot and characterization, with extensive usage of cinematics and voice acting. Chronologically, Other M takes place next-to-last in the Metroid universe. The events of the game take place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The story follows bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates a derelict space station along with a Galactic Federation platoon, which includes her commanding officer, Adam Malkovich.
Other M has met with positive reviews, and received an aggregate score of 79% on both GameRankings and Metacritic, with much praise to its gameplay, graphics and overall atmosphere. Criticism was raised on its script, dialogue, and cutscene length, with Samus' portrayal considered a deviation from the character. Other M received an Editors' Choice Award and the award for "Coolest Atmosphere" of 2010 from IGN, was nominated for Best Wii Game of the 2010 by GameTrailers and picked by Wired as one of the best games of the year, but was also chosen as one of the worst games of the year by Entertainment Weekly and Attack of the Show!. It was the third best-selling video game in Japan during its week of release, and it was the ninth best-selling game in North America during September 2010; though the long-term sales numbers were considered disappointing by Nintendo.
Contents |
As in previous Metroid games,[3] Metroid: Other M is set in a large open-ended world with elevators that connect regions. Each elevator contains rooms separated by doors, which mostly open automatically, but sometimes need a special action to be unlocked.[2] Other M unfolds in a more linear manner due to its focus on storyline; Navigation Booths, similar to the Navigation Rooms from Metroid Fusion, tell the player where to go, and the in-game map highlights the next objective.[4] The gameplay revolves around solving puzzles to uncover secrets, platform jumping, and shooting enemies. While there are power-ups scattered around the Bottle Ship, a few items are already equipped by Samus, but she cannot use them until commanding officer Adam Malkovich authorizes her to do so.[5] Unlike other games in the series, enemies do not drop items, with the restoration of health and ammo occurring either by using the Navigation Booths, or employing of the Concentration technique, where Samus rests and replenishes missiles and health.[2][6]
The regular gameplay features a third person perspective, where players hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Samus can jump, fire the arm cannon, and turn into a morph ball, which can roll into narrow passages and drop energy bombs.[2] While gameplay is similar to early Metroid titles, the game's environments are three-dimensional and movement is not limited to a two-dimensional plane.[7] Other M is the first in the series to feature a melee combat system.[1] With well-timed button presses, players can use special techniques such as the Sense Move, which allows them to dodge enemy attacks, and the Overblast, where Samus jumps on the enemy and fires a charged shot at point-blank range.[8]
When the Wii Remote is pointed towards the screen, the angle switches to a first-person view, where players can lock onto targets and fire missiles; however, players cannot move in this perspective.[2] There are several instances where players will have to constantly switch between play modes; for example, fighting off a horde of flying enemies in third person, while switching to first person to destroy their spawn points.[9] Additionally, the first-person mode is also used in exploration, such as locating hidden items.[6]
Metroid: Other M mostly takes place in several locales around the Galactic Federation Bottle Ship. The main environment is the vessel interior, known as the Main Sector, along with the other environments that are contained in "sectors" or gigantic spheres within the ship.[10] The ship is later revealed to be a secret facility which contains many different lifeforms with the purpose of turning them into bioweapons,[11] and is also breeding an army modeled after the Zebesian Pirate forces. The facility eventually abandoned them after the crew managed to breed a Queen Metroid and propagate Metroids in Sector Zero and interfaced with them via an artificial intelligence in an android body named MB.[12] It is modeled after Mother Brain and is able to communicate with Metroids through telepathy.[13] The story takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion,[10] and the opening cutscene of Other M is a flashback of the climactic battle with Mother Brain at the conclusion of Super Metroid.
The player takes on the role of bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates the Bottle Ship after receiving a "Baby's Cry"-type distress signal.[14] Upon docking, she encountered the squad she had been a part of when she had been enrolled in the Galactic Federation Army, the 07th Platoon, consisting of several soldiers: Adam Malkovich, the commanding officer to Samus during her time in the Federation; Anthony Higgs, the point man of the 07th Platoon and Samus's past colleague;[15] Lyle Smithsonian, a special forces trooper in charge of demolition assignments and who suffers from entomophobia;[16] K.G. Misawa, the recon scout; Maurice Favreau, the engineer; and James Pierce, a communications expert.[17] Midpoint in the game, Samus learns that the Federation soldiers are mysteriously killed by a secret assassin among their ranks, who she calls "the Deleter", and whose identity is never explicitly revealed in the story.[18] Other characters include Dr. Madeline Bergman, the site manager and development director of the Bottle Ship's secret projects; and MB, nicknamed Melissa Bergman, an android created to replicate Mother Brain's artificial intelligence.
|
Metroid series |
|---|
|
Metroid (Zero Mission) |
A few weeks have passed since the destruction of Zebes. Samus Aran receives a distress signal from a dormant "Bottle Ship", which floats a short distance away from a Federation vessel.[14] Upon stepping into the ship, Samus encounters the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon, which has some soldiers who fought alongside her in the GF military, such as point man Anthony Higgs, and Adam Malkovich, her commanding officer in the Federation Army. Adam treats her very harshly due to the circumstances of her departure from the army, calling Samus an "outsider" and ordering his team not to reveal any details of their mission to her.[19] He eventually accepts her after she saves them from monsters, and from then on starts authorizing different items for Samus to use, on the condition of her completely obeying his orders. Adam also assigns the 07th Platoon to go on solo searches to investigate the Bottle Ship.[15][20] As Adam orders everyone to regroup at the Exam Center of Sector 1, the Biosphere,[21] Samus and the platoon discovers that the ship's director, Dr. Madeline Bergman, had conducted research on illegal bioweapons for the Federation.[11] Samus is ambushed by cybernetically enhanced Zebesians during the investigation, separating her from the others.[22] She then finds the platoon under attack by a large lizard-like creature, who viciously singles out Samus as a target upon her arrival. After the attack, Samus discovers Lyle's shredded corpse and the molted shell of the bird-like creature nearby, and is ordered to follow the creature to Sector 3, the Pyrosphere.[23]
After reaching a dead end, Samus is ordered to go to Sector 2, the Cryosphere.[24] While there, she finds a survivor and tries to convince her that she is here to rescue her. However, a soldier from the 07th Platoon attacks her and the survivor.[25] Samus then learns that the soldiers are mysteriously killed by a traitor, who she calls him "the Deleter".[18] Returning to the Pyrosphere, Samus saves Anthony from a Anomalocaris-like creature and, possessing conflicting feelings about Adam, remembers the events leading to death of his younger brother, Ian Malkovich.[26] During her investigation in the Geothermal Power Plant, Samus encounters the dragon-like Ridley. Overcome with shock and unable to respond, Adam tries to get through to Samus, though he is suddenly attacked. Anthony draws Ridley's attention and challenges him, but is struck by the creature's tail and knocked off the ledge into the lava below. Samus' anger empowers her to battle Ridley.[27] When reaching the Bioweapon Research Center, Samus again finds the mysterious woman, who claims that she is Madeline Bergman. She informs Samus that Sector Zero, a recreation of the Space Pirates' base in Zebes, was used to breed the seemingly extinct Metroids, and there they are controlled by an AI named "MB", modeled after Mother Brain.[12] Samus sets out to destroy the sector. However, Adam stops Samus from entering and tells her that the Metroids on board cannot be frozen. He orders her to locate a survivor in Room MW toward the rear of the Bioweapon Research Center and to defeat Ridley. Despite her pleas for him to stop, Adam leaves Samus for Sector Zero, sacrificing himself by destroying the sector.[28]
Following Adam's orders, Samus returns to the research center, where she finds the body of James Pierce, as well as the drained, mummified remains of Ridley in another room. She later discovers the survivor Adam mentioned, who opens a large, dark room,[29] where Samus discovers that the room is filled with Metroid Eggs, and battles a Queen Metroid occupying the area.[30] Samus then finds the survivor, who reveals herself as Madeline Bergman. Bergman tells Samus the woman she met before was MB, dubbed as Melissa Bergman, who took an android body to build an ideal relationship with the Metroids. After developing emotions, MB revolted and developed a personality similar to Mother Brain, telepathically ordering the cloned Zebesian life forms on the ship to attack. Samus and Madeline are then confronted by MB herself, pointing a Freeze Gun at them. Despite Samus' objections, Madeline attempts to negotiate with MB, who insists that all humans should be "judged". She is frozen by a group of Federation Marines, but quickly thaws off, summoning the Bottle Ship's most dangerous creatures to attack everyone.[13] On the Federation colonel's orders, MB is killed by the Marines. The colonel praises Samus for her involvement in the mission, but orders a Marine to escort her back to her ship, as she is no longer part of the Federation unit due to everyone in the platoon dying. However, the Marine reveals himself as Anthony, stating that his orders, under the chairman of the Galactic Federation, are to ensure the "safety of any survivors". The three of them leave for Galactic Federation Headquarters, with Samus questioning whether MB was truly evil all along, or if she was a mere android who had a consciousness awaken in her, only to be driven mad by the greed of humans. At Galactic Federation Headquarters, Samus resolves not to grieve Adam's death.[31]
Days after the incident, the Galactic Federation has decided to destroy the Bottle Ship by using its self-destruct mechanism. Before that happens, Samus flies back to recover "something irreplaceable".[32] After battling a Phantoon, a monster Samus had also fought in Zebes, she arrives at the control center and discovers Adam's platoon helmet. The Bottle Ship's self-destruct sequence is remotely activated, and the game ends with Samus clutching Adam's helmet as she escapes from the Bottle Ship before it is destroyed.[33][34]
Metroid: Other M was developed by "Project M", a team of over 100 people which includes staff from Nintendo, Team Ninja, and D-Rockets,[35][36] with production lasting for three years.[37] When the Wii console released in 2006, Nintendo producer and chief Metroid designer Yoshio Sakamoto decided to create a new Metroid game for it, but opted to work with an outside company, as his usual development team "didn't actually have the know-how to produce something that was 3D".[38] Eventually, Sakamoto approached Yosuke Hayashi of Team Ninja to discuss the incorporation of the flashy Ninja Gaiden engine into a new engine to encompass his new vision of a 3D Metroid game. Sakamoto served as producer and scenario designer, and main design was done by three designers from the Game Boy Advance titles of the series, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission. Team Ninja took charge of the programming and 3D modeling, and D-Rockets handled the CG cutscenes.[39][40] Hayashi described the work on the game as "a great honour" since he was a fan of the series, and stated Team Ninja tried to include as many creatures seen in previous games as possible.[41]
While Retro Studios tried to create "the ultimate first-person experience" with the Metroid Prime series, Sakamoto's approach with gameplay was different, particularly for the story Other M intended to tell.[42] When Sakamoto met Team Ninja, he said his intent was a game with "controls as simple as those of a NES game", so it would appeal to modern players. Team Ninja agreed with that approach, as they felt control schemes with excessive buttons were possibly turning players off the action genre, and tried to make the game employ only the Wii Remote, without resorting to the Nunchuk expansion.[37] The development team also tried to use the simpler controls to provide flashy action, with varied special attacks that would need few button inputs to be executed.[43] Sakamoto focused on 2D-like gameplay because he considered it more "comfortable" for audiences, particularly during shifts from gameplay to cutscenes, as he thought 2D "[doesn't] have the same distractions when you want to give them story sequences".[44] While the developers felt no need to integrate everything from the Prime series as they were games with different concepts, a few of the elements that "made those games unique" were implemented into Other M, such as the "immersive sight" of the first-person mode.[45] When questioned if Other M would be too similar to Ninja Gaiden, Yosuke Hayashi responded that while the new game will feature heavy action-based sequences, there will still be the exploration-based sequences characteristic of other Metroid games. Yoshio Sakamoto said that Other M's story progression was in the same manner as Metroid Fusion, and stated that the collaboration between Nintendo and Team Ninja is "unlike anything that's ever been done at Nintendo; it's more than just a collaborative effort — it's one group working toward a common goal".[40]
Before Other M's development, Sakamoto did not think too much about "what kind of person Samus Aran was and how she thinks and her personality", particularly because the games tried to depict Samus as a mysterious person.[42] Sakamoto and Team Ninja put much focus on backstory in the game to present Samus as an "appealing human character",[39] something important for future installments, as players would get further interest in Samus' adventures.[42] Hayashi said that one of the development team's goals was to have the player "connect with Samus as the story and action develops".[43] Sakamoto also said the game would "bring everyone up to the same level of understanding in the Metroid universe", and would not only introduce the series to new players but also create new challenges for fans.[44] The chronological setting between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion was chosen because Sakamoto considered the period "so critical that without addressing it, we wouldn't be able to make new games that show Samus' adventures that take place after the events of Metroid Fusion".[46]
D-Rockets, a company specialized in CG animation for video games and commercials, was brought into the project for its in-game cinematics on Team Ninja productions. Director Ryuji Kitaura said when Nintendo gave him the instructions, he considered the work "overwhelming" - most of D-Rockets work only involved high-quality CG, while Nintendo aimed to "make the parts of the game that the player controls the same quality as the cinematics, in order to make them seamless" and Sakamoto intended to cutscenes to give emotional depth to Samus.[37] Team Ninja and D-Rockets worked separately most of the time, and only started to collaborate about a year into production, to make sure the in-game action and the cutscenes had the same style.[43] Over 300 storyboards which took six months to be completed, and ten teams were employed on the development of cutscenes. For increased realism, professional camera operators helped with the motion capture, and Samus' face had a more detailed frame to make expressions more lifelike.[37] Kitaura tried to include more scenes with Samus outside her powered armor, to illustrate "the human, weak side of Samus, her expressions and gesture", but Sakamoto convinced him otherwise with a declaration that the Power Suit acts as a shield for both enemy attacks and the reveal of her emotions.[43] Other M uses a dual-layer disc due to "the amount of cinematics".[47][48] In a September 2011 interview with G4 TV, Hayashi explained that the game's story was "definitely the product of Mr. Sakamoto at Nintendo. We definitely worked with them on the project, but that was all him."[49][50] As a special feature, players can unlock "Theater Mode", a two-hour film presentation, upon completion of the game. Divided into chapters, this film contains every cut-scene of the game, along with several clips of gameplay footage recorded by the developers.[51]
The soundtrack of Other M was composed by Kuniaki Haishima. The team was hired Haishima to write the music because the producers felt he could "tell the story with melodies" and "powerfully [helped] us depict Samus's feelings and emotions".[37] Part of the soundtrack were recorded and performed by Arigat-Orchestra in Tokyo and Asian Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing.[52] For the game's voice acting, Jessica Martin was cast to play Samus in the English version, and said that recording sessions took over a year which resulted in the voice cast being required to record lines with storyboards and unfinished cutscenes as basis.[53] Adam Malkovich was voiced by Dave Elvin; and Mike McGillicuty provided the voice of Anthony Higgs.[52] In Japanese, seiyūs Ai Kobayashi, Rikiya Koyama, Kenji Nomura and Shizuka Itō provided the voices of Samus, Adam, Anthony and MB respectively.[43][52] Seattle-based Bad Animals Studio and Ginza-based Onkio Haus respectively recorded voice-overs in English and Japanese languages.[52]
Metroid: Other M was reported to have a game-breaking bug shortly after the game's release. Due to a coding error, backtracking to a room "where the Ice Beam was obtained" in the Pyrosphere causes a normally unlocked door found later on to be permanently locked and impassable, rendering the player unable to complete the game without starting over or using an old game save taken before the bug occurred. Nintendo has set up a program that allows players affected by the bug to send in a SD card or their Wii console with their save files to be repaired.[54][55][56][57][58]
Since Other M uses a dual-layer disc,[47] Nintendo has admitted that some Wii consoles may have difficulty reading the high-density software due to a contaminated laser lens. Nintendo is offering retail lens cleaning kits and free console repairs for owners who experience this issue.[59]
The game was first announced by Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime and a trailer was briefly shown during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009.[60] Fils-Aime stated that Metroid: Other M would "take you deeper into Samus' story",[61] and also noted that the game would be a return to the style of the traditional series as opposed to the Metroid Prime series, though the game would have a "harder edge".[62] On E3 2010, the game had a playable demo, which GameTrailers picked as Best Wii Game and Action/Adventure Game of the expo, and was nominated for Game of the Show.[63][64] Previews of Other M were also featured in the 2010 editions of Game Developers Conference and Nintendo Media Summit.[15][65] Fils-Aime declared interest in global sales between 1.5 and 2 million units.[62]
Metroid: Other M had an original release date of June 27, 2010, but it was postponed by two months; it reached North America on August 31, as the high standards of the development team got them behind the completion schedule.[66] In other territories, Other M was released on September 2 in Japan and Australia,[67][68] and one day later in Europe, where its release was preceded by a big marketing campaign with television spots, trailers at theaters, and online ads.[69] Prior to the game's release, an "Art Folio" was offered by GameStop to players who preordered Metroid: Other M either online or in store, containing 16 individual high-quality cards with concept artwork, in-game screenshots, and a description from Samus' perspective.[70][71]
Other M was the third best-selling video game in Japan during its week of release with 45,398 copies sold.[72] It sold an additional 11,239 copies the following week.[73] It placed twelfth in the United Kingdom during its first week, but failed to chart the following week before it had fallen out of the top 40.[74] It was also the ninth best-selling game in North America during September 2010,[75] selling 173,000 units.[76] By November 2010, Other M had yet to sell a "half a million" units in the United States, far below Nintendo's expectations.[77]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 78.55%[78] |
| Metacritic | 79 out of 100[79] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B-[80] |
| Edge | 8 out of 10[3] |
| Eurogamer | 8 out of 10[81] |
| Famitsu | 35 out of 40[82] |
| G4 | 2 out of 5[83] |
| Game Informer | US 6.5 out of 10 [84] AUS 8.0 out of 10 [85] |
| GamePro | 4 out of 5[86] |
| GameSpot | 8.5 out of 10[4] |
| GameSpy | 3 out of 5[5] |
| GamesRadar | 7 out of 10[87] |
| GameTrailers | 8.6 out of 10[88] |
| IGN | 8.5 out of 10[89] |
| Official Nintendo Magazine | 91%[90] |
| The Daily Telegraph | 7 out of 10[91] |
| The A.V. Club | B[92] |
| Wired | 9 out of 10[93] |
Reviews for Other M were divided but generally positive. The game has received an average score of 79 out of 100 at both Metacritic and GameRankings, based on 71 and 52 reviews respectively.[79][78] Critics' reception of the title's gameplay was positive. GameSpot praised the control scheme, combat system, and the search for secrets; they wrote that the former two were "unique and responsive" and the latter was "very rewarding".[4] Famitsu reveiwers complimented the Sense Move technique as "by far the best", and the switch between perspectives, which "works surprisingly well".[82] IGN called the gameplay "a really impressive evolution of the old-school Metroid design",[89] and GameTrailers described it as "a nice compromise between satisfying fans and opening up the series for a wider audience".[88] Bob Chipman of ScrewAttack described the use of the directional pad for 3D controls as "innovative".[94] Good Game's two presenters "enjoyed the atmosphere of it [...] and was quite hooked to keep making progress".[95] The game's graphics were also well-received, garnering some acclaim. Eurogamer exclaimed that Other M bears graphical similarities to Metroid Prime which "tend to come across as nicely-built video game levels at best".[81] IGN claimed that despite the graphics was not on the same standard as the Prime series, it was still regarded as "one of the best looking games on Wii".[89] The Daily Telegraph described the environments as "lush and detailed", and said they helped "capturing the ethos of old-school Metroid".[91] IGN also praised the game's "storytelling with motion-captured acting and voice-over",[89] and Wired applauded cutscenes "with slick graphic effects".[93] The music was praised as atmospheric and faithful to the franchise,[84][88][96] though GameSpot felt they were "more like outtakes from older entries than a moody new soundtrack".[4]
Complaints were raised on the first person perspective. The A.V. Club's David Wolinsky felt that the "Where's Waldo?-like sequences" were irritating.[92] Similarly, Ryan Scott of GameSpy complained that they were "oh-god-I'm-going-to-snap-the-disc-in-half frustrating" and considered the perspective a "weird forced handicap",[5] while Official Nintendo Magazine commented that "[t]hese bits are atrocious" and took "20 frustrating minutes trying to figure out what we were supposed to look at during one scene, only to realise there was a tiny green patch of liquid on the grass".[90] Game Informer expressed disappointment that "[it] also takes away your ability to move [while in first person view]".[84] Critics responded poorly to the mechanic of power-up restriction; they derided it as a deviation from the series' tradition of item discovery,[86] and even more strongly criticized it as nonsensical and condescending in terms of story.[97] GamesRadar derided the game's linearity in comparison with Metroid Fusion, a game which took a similar approach.[87] The website also found the enemies to be a "a largely unimpressive collection",[87] a gripe which Edge also had; it wrote that "truly testing enemies are only found in the last stretch".[3] Other M's short length was criticized by reviewers,[4][86] by critics such as GameTrailers, which writes that the bonuses such as art galleries were not stimulating enough to entice replay value.[88]
Major criticism focused on the script, dialogue,[98] and cutscene length.[97] GameSpot felt that the "unskippable" cutscenes and "the overabundance of story in Other M were a negative deviation from Metroid tradition".[4] Game Informer states that they "often run as long as 15 minutes, exhausting players with repetition of obvious plot points and overwrought dialogue as mature and interesting as a teenager’s diary" and declared Samus as "[t]he biggest culprit in the bad storytelling".[84] 1UP.com complained that as the game progresses "instead of getting more of the things that work [combat], you get more of the things you don't care about [overwrought story]".[80] Reviewers described the dialogue as "sounding like they came from a tween drama"[83] and cited the plot as "the future's dumbest soap opera".[81] Wolinsky echoes the misgivings about Samus's immaturity, petulant behavior, and misguided loyalty.[92] GamePro writes that while the story and Samus' monologues did not compel them, "it helped contextualize her entire existence" which developed the character to "an actual human being who's using the vastness of space to try and put some distance between herself and the past".[86] Chipman applauded the elaboration on Samus's character. He argues that her breakdown is an accurate depiction of posttraumatic stress disorder and that she is portrayed as a three-dimensional character, a step up from the fans' long-standing misconceptions of Samus as "pathologically emotionless man-hating ice queen".[94] Contrarily, Justin Haywald of 1UP.com found the portrayal "lifeless and boring" and "nonsensical".[80] G4 TV's Abbie Heppe considered a portrayal of Samus as "sexist"; she wrote that she "cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man", and found that her anxiety attack cannot be reconciled with her previous portrayals.[83] However, Chipman feels that "supposedly enlightened gamers and game commentators" are making gender assumptions that are "all in [their heads]."[94] Luke Plunkett of Kotaku felt that may fans have "[blamed] the game's developers, Team Ninja for [the game's story], but that's not very fair. You need to blame [Sakamoto] instead."[50]
In IGN's Best of 2010 Awards, Other M received the award for Coolest Atmosphere.[96] It was also nominated for Best Story award, but lost to Epic Mickey.[99] IGN also gave the game an 'Editor's Choice' award.[89] GameTrailers nominated Other M for Best Wii Game of 2010; however, it ultimately lost to Super Mario Galaxy 2,[100] while Wired listed it 12th on its list of the twenty best games of the year.[101] On the other hand, X-Play chose Other M as "Game That Gave Us The Biggest Headache"; they wrote that it was a "morass of bad decisions", from the controls to Samus' portrayal.[102] Another G4 program, Attack of the Show!, named Other M one of the worst games of the year.[103] Entertainment Weekly chose the game as the second worst of 2010.[104] GamesRadar chose Other M as the "Mangled Makeover" of 2010; they wrote that it painted Samus, widely considered a strong female lead character, as "an unsure, insecure woman who desperately wants the approval of her former [male] commanding officer".[105] GameTrailers additionally nominated the game for the Most Disappointing Game of 2010, but also praised the game for its wonderful graphics and gameplay.[106] Ben Croshaw of The Escapist ranked Other M as the second-worst game on his list of "Top 5 of 2010." He likened it to "mistaking a deep fat fryer for an eyewash station," saying that her portrayal in the game was a "desecration of classics" comparable to "farting the Moonlight Sonata," given how powerful she had been portrayed in earlier games.[107] Game Informer listed Samus first on their list of the "Top 10 Dorks of 2010" due to her "lame backstory"[108] and placed Other M third on their "Top 10 Disappointments of 2010" list, ranking behind "studio closures, layoffs, [and] restructurings" and the "Infinity Ward debacle".[109]
|
|||||||||||||||||