advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

A Dread review from a Metroid newbie

Despite spending a disproportionate amount of my life playing videogames there’s only so much time in every day and certain big franchises fall by the wayside with one of them being Metroid.

Despite this I’m still very familiar with the series thanks to it seeping into popular culture and being one half of the Metroidvania formula.

I know all about the Samus Aran reveal which happened before I was born, the titular Metroid aliens, the Arm Cannon, Morph Ball, Space Pirates, Ridley, Chozos and all the rest.

I’m also very familiar with the blueprint most of these games follows where Samus responds to some kind of signal, something happens resulting in her losing her powers and the player then spending the next few hours recovering and gaining those powers back all before a final boss fight and the need to hightail it out of some secretive location before it blows up.

To me the Metroid franchise is like a distant cousin I’ve never met but whose exploits I keep up with through family gossip at every gathering.

If all of this annoys you, you probably won’t like my opinion on sequels either. I’ve long held the believe that sequels need to do two things: improve on previous games and act as an entry point for new fans.

Even if purists tell you to dig up a decades-old consoles and play any given series from the beginning, the reality is that new fans are usually created when a kid gets a new sequel that is in stock when their family or friends goes to buy them a gift.

So with all of that in mind, what did I think of Metroid Dread?

Before I can even play the game there’s some time to take in the visuals thanks to a short cutscene and the trailers released before launch.

I won’t get into the abyss which is the discussion around this game being a sidescroller demanding $60. I’ve discussed the bonkers world of game pricing before so listen to this if you’re so inclined.

Back to Metroid Dread and everything is pleasing to the eye and nicely presented. Despite being a 2D sidescroller both the character models and environment are 3D allowing for a lot of cool stuff to happen in the background.

Areas with wild aliens roam in and fly far away and dangerous parts with high or low temperatures achieve that convincing affect with a lot of impressive artistry.

Said environments with extreme temperatures hurt Samus without upgrades so there’s little touches to prevent you taking chip damage such as doors to those areas having slight particle effects.

It’s all rather lovely, really, and it’s difficult to complain about how things look, but let’s try.

Metroid Dread’s art design has more of a subjective problem in the lack of unifying theme. All the areas and characters don’t mesh as well as they should.

While you can argue that aliens and mismatched symbiosis are central themes of the series and thus the art, I’m not buying it.

It’s no secret that Metroid is heavily inspired by the James Cameron Alien franchise. Watch any movie or play any game created in that universe and it has a strong unified theme in its visual presentation which makes it immediately recognisable.

If you dropped certain aspects of Metroid Dread into another generic sci-fi game it wouldn’t look out of place, which dampens the overall world building.

Again this is nit-picky but worth mentioning.

Actually playing the game is smooth as can be and once you start collecting some upgrades you can start pulling off some impressive feats of acrobatics.

While Metroid Dread is portioned off into maps and those divided further by doors (which need to be opened with specific upgrades), YouTube has become awash with videos of sequence breaks and unintended consequences afforded by the movement.

Shooting too is a joy even if you’re underpowered at the start. The classic Arm Cannon still feels fun to shoot and finding upgrades to make it deadlier is a nice feedback loop that encourages more exploration.

Again my problems here are smaller but dampened the experience when looked at as a whole.

Some parts of the experience are a bit too finicky for their own good. For example certain traversal puzzles require the combination of several upgrades, but those upgrades can only be tapped into with long button combinations.

This is fine enough when attempting puzzles but in the middle of a boss fight it can be annoying when, for example, the pressing in of the famously bad Nintendo Switch joysticks doesn’t register.

Sure I could just get good but I think the overall control layout could have had a second or even a third pass over by some game designers to tighten things up.

Without spoiling anything the story is, much like the weapon upgrades, something you will be chasing with players thinking “let me just play to the next cutscene” when they’ve already been playing for a few hours and should put the game down.

It’s in moments like that where Metroid Dread shines. It has a built-in momentum where players can get into a flow state of using the tools they have to find new tools and access more of the game.

The problems come in when that momentum is stopped, which happens a lot. Players will be funnelled into situations and areas where they can’t progress and they will need to backtrack or retry to solve the game’s logic.

This is, of course, a hallmark of the Metroidvania genre, but it does get a bit old here.

That seems to be the recurring theme of this game – paying it a compliment followed promptly by “but…” and a small blemish.

This game also doesn’t impress me in certain areas compared to games that were inspired by its predecessors. Metroid Dread doesn’t have the masterwork presentation of Hollow Knight, it lacks the dumb fun of Guacamelee and it doesn’t have the refreshing approach of Dead Cells.

I can see why so many critics and members of the public rate Metroid Dread so high and how it has been racking up perfect scores, but free of nostalgia and personal baggage I’m left with a game that’s good, great even, but doesn’t end up as a landmark title.

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

Subscribe to
our newsletters

[mailpoet_form id=”1″]