I don’t see why people aren’t clammoring; VA just adds more oomph and character to.. well… the characters. I imagine the only reason they’ve never added any VA until now to a Nintendo title is simply because it costs more to make. And Nintendo’s been all about the $$$.

First off the story is pretty decent, and while awkward at times, does a good job overall of trying to bring together the classic metroid stuff (manga/comics/games) and keep the story fresh and new. basically its trying to bring it to the new generation of players (those who’ve never played any of the original NES/game boy/SNES stuff or explored the content outside the games)…. and try to give a little bit of background into samus (from the manga) along the way

But one cannot mention plot with out mentioning the cut scenes and voice acting as well…
Unfortunately the dialog either lost something in translation or didn’t quite have it to begin with, while i will agree that the voice actors they have are decent enough the emotion they put into it is lacking at best, it feels like a phoned in job and the hooky dialog had me rolling around the floor laughing or wanting to be able to skip the long scenes that they have inter-spaced throughout. (but i’m a fan and a patient gamer when trying to judge a game so while my friends sitting with me were making fun of the whole thing i sat though, and by the time the plot actually starts developing you’ll be hooked enough to overlook the fact that dialog is a little off)

However, the redeeming fact for this is that they do a beautiful job on the graphics (the cut scenes are gorgeous) and while in first person mode it seems a little lacking in depth and detail being in the third person mode gives you nice full corridors where you can just catch sight of something looming off ‘stage’ and nicely captures the multitude of smaller enemies you face running from location to location. And the way the bad guys change over time (to try and offset a little bit your overpowering weapons) is a really nice touch, however they’re usually so small and you kill them so fast that other then noticing they’ve been giving a color change you don’t catch much else from they’re new looks. It also needs to be mentioned the spot the pixel sections are the worst part of this game because it usually gives no indication of what your looking for, has points that you need to put your cursor over that almost feel too small, and doesn’t tell you you’ve got it until you’ve either perfectly placed it onto of the point or hover over it for a few seconds. be prepared to be frustrated while you slowly (5-10 min) comb though a full 360 degree view looking for the single spot that will move you forward.

Unfortunately, for me this goes hand and hand with the stationary camera. Sometimes when you need to backtrack or looking for that special entrance to get the power up/next area the stationary camera is just a pain (causing you to develop the strategy of shoot first look later when running around) or having to awkwardly stand around in first person mode shooting while you try to spot your next step.

finally as for game play i agree, the controls feel a little wonky at first, but after awhile (and getting the space jump/screw atk) its becomes much easier to play, however with the more powerful guns it sometimes feels like your running and gunning to get between boss battles without much pause, and while its a little frustrating at first to only be able to stand still when it first person mode it quickly becomes necessary to use when taking down the bosses, so you adjust fast. speaking of, i found myself only dying once on any boss if that, they’re moves are predictable, and the doge minouver (sp? also should add this tactic works against any normal enemy) makes it so if you just keep tapping a directional button when being atked you will essentially be invincible (think of the ‘perfect’ block ability from ‘ninja gaiden’ (sp?)) along with it giving you full power if you holding down your charge button it almost feels like most of the bigger battles are reflexive rather then active. and finally in game play while the points at which you ‘unlock’ new abilities (weapons ect.) feels a little odd, the whole getting permission from adam was an interesting change for me because instead of having her suit get damaged in an odd way at the beginning of the game you technically have all your abilities from the start (i.e. as Samus should be; she’s a total bad ass)

So if you want to explore this new style of game and are willing to be patient with it despite its minor downfalls, you should pick it up (although i agree with the earlier post that it should have a lower price tag but its hard to find decent pricing in any game now a-days) but really i feel like (or at least hope) this is just the first step into making a REALLY good Metriod game for the wii
If you just want the joy of samus games and have a passion for fps, the wii remake of the prime series (all three on one disk) is a good way to go (being able to aim with the wii mote instead of having to use a joy stick is fun and innovative (compared to most other console fps) and having the nun-chuck for movement makes it a lot easier to get into then the sidewise wii mote for ‘other m’)…
Otherwise, if you want a throw back to the classic platformer feel any of the GBA games are good.
I personally would recomend you stay away from metriod hunters for the DS, a early experimental game for the ds, which they did a few of, trying to figure out how to fully use the ds touch screen and d-pad at the same time(if you wanted to see a really good game that does that decently well is ‘the world ends with you’ DS) its ok but nothing great

So, given all these factors it no wonder that the grades are so wildly different from each other, it seems like so far no one has told you not to pick it up, but depending on what parts of a game you enjoy it can detract from your overall experience. (and possibly make you put down the game *gasp*)

and completely unrelated to the rest of my long long post… i really like your webcomic!

A true return to form for the series after the deviationt hat was the prime series.

And honestly, I never thought the prime series was so much of a deviation (I thought it was the closest you could possibly get in 3d) until other M brought the EXACT play of the 2d metroids into 3d.

The digital controls are sharp fast and completely consistant, giving controls the likes of which I havent had since, well, gaming went 3d. I can do the kind of crap I used to do in games like Megaman, 2d marios, or well, the 2d metroids. The kind of sharp platforming that puts even the best controlled 3d platformers with analog sticks to complete and absolute shame.

Combats a blast, and has a fantastic create your own combo system. One of my favourites is jumping through an attack, like a bullet spray, over the baddies head, firing in mid air, going back into a spin jump, jumping off the wall, landing on the head, jamming the arm canon against its skull, firing a point blank fully charged shot, the force of which blows samus back into the air, pointing at the screen (Which gives a cool bullet time bonus…) and firing a missile and blowing its purple/green/orange/ whatever fruit juicy alien colored guts they have all over the visor…. All before touching the ground.

Bosses are back to being classic metroid epic arcade battlefests, thank god. I loved the primes, but man, every release the bosses got less and less fights and more and more rinse and repeat puzzles.

Speaking of puzzles, thats another thing the primes put into metroid that were never really a part of the series that began to get a little overbearing. I loved the spider ball tower in the first one…. But by the end of the trilogy you couldnt go anywhere without a time consuming puzzle in your way. Thats all gone in other M. The ‘puzzles’ are back to the way they have always been. Finding out how to traverse the environment using your powerups to get to that suspicious spot.

The cutscenes are top notch, and the action ones are visually entertaining enough to watch over again. The story ones and background ones and monolouge ones are interesting enough, But Im glad I can skip them on my second runt through, I love games like that. I dont care HOW much I love the story, sometimes, I just want to run through the game.

The stoy continues the characterization provided for samus back in 2003 with the comic book that launched as a promo for metroid fusion.

Metroid fans who actually liked the series enough to seek out the story as it developed all seem pleased.

Mainstream players who claim to be ‘huge metroid fans’ are pooping in their hands and throwing it. Typically erroneously blaming team ninja for ruining the story, completely unaware that series creator Yoshio Sakamoto ‘ruined’ the story nearly a decade ago. At least blame the right guy and uh, time period folks. Makes one wonder if this would have changed if team ninjas involvement was never announced and remained unknown until the credits rolled.

Ironically They are still clamoring for VA in Zelda. I think I can see confused and pissed off Nintendo execs ripping out their hair in frustration. hose poor bald Japanese men.