Why you should play....

So, Metroid Other M, a bit of an odd choice for why you should play, what with it only being released last year. I suppose really I should have gone for Zero Mission or Fuison or Prime but I feel that Other M gets a bit of an unfair kicking which is why I selected it for this post.

Yes, by all means Other M is not a perfect game and it does has its faults but it's far from the bad game that people make it out to be.

I'll get what I would consider the faults out of the way first which for me are not that many. I'll start with what tends to get the biggest criticism which is the story. The graphics are gorgeous for the cut scenes but unfortunately the majority of the back story in which the cut scenes are based around are to put to it bluntly a bit ridiculous. It's one thing to give Samus a back story but to give her one that basically turns her into a petulant whiny love struck teenager is a step too far. This is the mysterious, lonesome, hard-hitting bounty hunter that we have known for nine games previously. It's like if someone made a back story to Darth Vader that showed hime to be a whiny, petulant love struck teenager.......

Another 'fault' for me is also related to the story which is that Samus switches off all of her weapons at the beginning of the game as one of the characters deems them to be too dangerous and will only allow her to activate them if she obeys every command. Again it just seems to go against everything that Samus is and unlike Prime which had an explosion to knock out her suit and weapons just seems like a very lame way to go about it.

The final thing I have to say about the 'faults' and this one will be on more of a personal level is that the game is a bit too easy for my liking, partly due to the fact that there are a lot more save points then previous games and also you don't need to kill enemies to collect missiles and energy as shaking the Wii remote will refill both. This however is rectified if you collect all 100% of the missiles etc as you open up a harder version of the game which is a lot harder as the collectables are removed meaning that you pretty much play the entire game with what you started with, fine by me.

But enough about that, the post is called why you should play, not why you shouldn't play and the main reason is because once you look past all of the above Other M is actually a really good game and is definitely worth playing.

Lots of people criticise the game for the control scheme as to switch between first-person and third-person mode you need to swap the way that you hold the Wii remote and also in first-person mode Samus does not move meaning that you are more vunerable to being hit. Well in all honesty this didn't cause any problem at all for me and for people to criticise and talk negatively about the game because of it is just absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. It's defnitely not a reason to not play the game.

If you can handle the control scheme what you will find is a fast paced, enjoyable and fun game that is worth taking the time to play. The graphics in both the game play and cut scenes are brilliant, the sound is great, the melee attacks add a new element to the series as does the switching between first and third-person mode which is great when fighting the bosses (which as per usual are interesting and great to fight.

Metroid: Other M whilst not the best game in the series is definitely a worthy entry so ignore the criticisms, pick it up for cheap and be prepared for a thoroughly enjoyable game. Any game that recreates the ending of Super Metroid is definitely worth a play.