Metroid Dread - Review
In the world of videogames, new Metroid titles are like Unicorns, very rare, but usually when you see one its an amazing experience and while the last game was only back in 2017, that was a remake, but now it is time for an all-new experience. Has the wait since 2010’s Other M been worth the wait, or is it nothing but a drain energy by this point?
The story of Metroid has been told out of order, but Dread picks up after the events of Fusion, the galaxy no longer has any Metroids and no more X-Parasites, meaning things are smooth from this point out, until a video comes to the Galactic Federation showing that an X-Parasite is alive on the planet ZDR. Quick to stamp out this new threat, the federation sends in a fleet of autonomous robots known as E.M.M.I, but soon after their arrival, all radio signals are lost, so as the only being in the galaxy immune to the parasitic effects of the X, Samus Aran is sent down to find out what is going on and eliminate any threats found. However, her arrival is not as calm as expected, because within moments of arriving, she encounters an unknown Chozo, the folks that gave Samus her suit and abilities, and though she puts up a valiant fight, she is overwhelmed and then wakens somewhere deep within the planet. Her mission is simple, escape back to the surface and avoid the now rouge E.M.M.I that will stop at nothing to hunt her down and kill her, simple right?
While I can go into more detail, about who the mysterious Chozo is, why the E.M.M.I are hunting Samus down, where that singular X-Parasite came from, the problem is that explaining anything actually spoils the story. The issues I have with it, can’t be explained either, because again they spoil elements that are crucial to the exploration and while the story itself is fine, there are some gaps in it that make things feel off. One thing I can say is that the exposition is mostly delivered by the AI of your ship, which is the same AI that guides Samus during Metroid Fusion, the 4th mainline game in the series, this time though it speaks. Though speaks is a bit of a hard sell to make, as an AI it speaks in a robotic voice, which can be quite grating to the ears, so getting direction on what to do, or as aforementioned, exposition with that can be rough.
Something that is the exact opposite is the ultrasmooth gameplay, which in and of itself is a more refined version of what was delivered in Samus Returns on the Nintendo 3DS. As the years have gone by Samus no longer feels like she controls like a tank and even Super Metroid, the title in the series that many voice as the best, feels sluggish when compared to Dread and a lot of that can be attributed to the slide function. Over the years, Samus has gotten around with a few constant movement abilities, the more well know the morph ball, but the slide makes that seem like a tire rolling through syrup. While running, if you press the LZ, Samus will drop to the ground and slide, a perfect ability to get into smaller spaces, something that is perfect when you are trying to get a powerup or something else. But the slide can also be used in combat, allowing for you to get under enemies, be they airborne foes or large ones on the ground and it seriously cannot be understated, just how marvellous the feeling of sliding under an enemy really is.
Returning from Samus, uh Returns, is the counter ability, which lets you quickly stun foes, letting you get in an instant kill shot, at least on anything that is not a boss and when you are being bombarded by a lot of enemies, it can really be a life saver. The catch is that you need to wait until a special little flash appears on the enemy, press to soon and you left yourself open to take a hit, too late and well you already took the hit. The timing is different for each foe and given that there are dozens of them, it will take you a while to get them all down, but it isn’t just little bugs or such that can be hurt by this, the E.M.M.I can also be countered, giving you a precious few moments to get away from them.
Speaking of them, along with the various bosses, both large and small, the game still has the same issue that Samus Returns did, in that you need to counter some attacks, if you want to deal out some big damage, but if you miss, you take the hit. The problem is that sometimes those windows are so small it is near impossible to get them right all the time, meaning once you miss, you get punished and you need to beat them up some more to trigger it again. This wouldn’t be an issue if the combat was fair, but sadly it is not and that hurts the game far more than anything else it does, please believe me when I say that the bosses can be beaten, that is not the issue. The issue is that you can take only a few hits from any enemy, before your health starts dwindling down and it isn’t just a chunk here or there, some enemies in one hit, can clear two bars of your energy off, meaning if you don’t have a lot, a few hits is all it takes for you to die. The flip side of those same bosses is that they are damage sponges, meaning that while they can take you out with a few good hits, it takes you just thousands to take them down, it really is unbalanced.
Which is a shame, because exploring the planet of ZDR is a joy, there are of course some areas and items you can’t get until later in the game, but for everything you can’t get right away, there are things you can and even just trying can be fun. While the planet is broken up into zones, much like all the other games in the series, each of them, bar two are quite massive and feature a lot to discover and the two smaller ones, well one is near the top of the planet and one is best left for you to discover. While the load times when you travel between each zone are a little on the longer side, there is almost no load whilst you are in each zone itself, except when you are going into a boss fight, which is your way to know one is coming. The speed of Samus moving in these zones, with her slide, counter and other abilities later one, simply cannot be understated, you can zip around from one side to the other with nary anything to get in your way.
The speed of Samus can also be enhanced with the games presentation, it is stunning, not perfect, but still a visual treat for the eyes. Of course, I played a bunch of the game in handheld mode, on the new Switch (OLED model), which certainly helped the games visuals stand out, but more than that, it is some smaller touches, like how when you charge your beam up, the light that it creates bounces off the walls around Samus, or when you shoot a missile or drop a bomb, how it can leave scorch marks on the wall. The locales with ZDR are also wonderfully designed, a lot of rooms are very mechanical in nature, so lots of steel and such all over the place, so when you run into a room and its filled with lava or ice, or even better rocks and water, it can be quite a shock, a welcome one though.
The same graphical surprise also happens to Samus as the adventure proceeds, perhaps none more than the final form she takes, but it isn’t just her suit designs that stand out. For me the first time I had her enter an elevator to transition into a new zone, I was stunned by seeing Samus walk up the steps to it and then turn around, for the first time ever, I really felt like she had weight to her. Of course, having her spin jump all around the place breaks that, but it still doesn’t hurt it, such is the attention to detail here that a videogame character that I have known for some 30 years, felt real for the first time ever.
There are some issues to talk about though, the game runs really smooth almost all the time, it does stutter in the cutscene videos, which can be easily spotted, but as you are not in control then, it matters little. The problem arise when you are in some of the later boss fights, the mid-bosses and the big ones, when you have to unleash constant barrages of missiles, while they are blasting their own attacks at you, the game can struggle to keep up with the action. The moments are few and far between, but it is enough at times to stop your moving of Samus, which can lead you to get hit, so just be aware of that happening.
On the musical side of things, the game still manages to keep those same underlying themes going, but with new life to them, that make them feel all new again, but for each returning theme there are countless new ones. The highlight for me are the times when I entered into the E.M.M.I Zones, which apart from meaning you could easily be killed, are almost devoid of music and instead highlight the sounds of the killer robot and the world around you, amping up the tension something wicked. As I said earlier, the AI speaks to you in a robotic style voice when you check in and it is not a fine voice to listen too, so much so, that I went looking to see if there was anyway in which to turn it off in the settings, I don’t know why they insisted on it. The other spoken roles are again something I can’t talk about, due to spoilers, but I will say there is an otherworldly nature to them, that suits the alien setting of Metroid.
What it comes down to is that Metroid Dread is the most polished, fluid and fun Metroid game in the 30 or so years since the first sounds echoed out of the NES. Samus Aran moves like butter in a world that is so rich with detail, it feels almost decadent and while some boss fights are a little rough at times, it still doesn’t detract from the joy that you will have playing it. The game has some balancing issues and the occasional frame rate stutter, along with a reliance on a counter that some players may not get, but should you persevere, the climb to the top is well worth the effort.
The Score
8.5
Review code provided by Nintendo
The Pros
+Samus moves so well, she really feels like she is an intergalactic badass
+There are countless secrets to discover, that even if you just power through, you will still be surprised
The Cons
-Bosses are not fair, a single hit from them can take massive amount of your health away
-They are also damage sponges, which slows down the overall speed at which the rest of the game moves at
