Metroid Dread (Nintendo Switch) Review
Hardcore Metroid, For Metroid Fans
One of the most underutilized character designs in the Nintendo pantheon is Samus Aran of Metroid. She is one of the first major heroines in gaming, striking a strong female presence in her games where the focus has, mostly, been her exceptional abilities as a bounty hunter. There has been a lot of interest in adding more character traits to Samus but the last major attempt found in Metroid: Other M saw a gross misuse of the character to the point of being offensive. Of course, now with the Switch being one of the most popular systems from Nintendo, all eyes were on the Metroid franchise to get as much effort as the others. Metroid Dread from Mercury Steam (who also developed Metroid: Samus Returns as well as the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series) is the first original Metroid game in years and thankfully the game hits all the marks of what longtime fans were hoping to see. Unfortunately, creating a game for such a specific niche and ignoring the inclusion of basic options has resulted in one of the most inaccessible Metroid games ever made.
First, I’ll tackle Metroid Dread from the perspective of a longtime fan, and let me preface this with my history with these games. I started playing Metroid after a friend loaned me a cartridge of Super Metroid and the loneliness of facing space as a sole bounty hunter has captivated me ever since. I loved that I was steadily uncovering the secrets of the planet Zebes through gameplay. By my hands, I found the beams and the missiles, not through some parade through a game’s events. Even the game could be played out of order for those with enough skill; those mechanics were carefully crafted for player expression, mechanics that begged to be mastered. Where I really fell in love with Samus as a character (mostly a design, though I do like her lone wolf personality) was on the Game Boy Advance in Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission. I feel these linear adventures streamlined the game’s mechanics so well that I think making a game with these parameters and using level-design alone could result in a perfect Metroid game. After various dry spells in the series, I found joy in the Metroidvania genre and I am frequently playing through games just to see what’s been done with design tropes and see how far the limits of these ideas can be pushed. All of this to say, I like Metroid games and I’m fairly good at them.
As I was playing Metroid Dread, there were so many little flourishes that had me elated, feeling absolutely blessed by Chozo energy. I was enraptured in every line on Samus’ armor, the ancient Chozo architecture, the monstrous beasts that stood at titanic opposition to the mission. The game felt incredible to learn, even with a stack of fairly complex inputs. Increasing my skills in Metroid Dread felt like learning a new martial art. Moves were steadily unlocked and I intuitively started weaving them together. I was getting faster, more efficient. Playing Metroid Dread steadily transformed me, the player, into a better bounty hunter and that sort of mechanical and narrative parity is the type of thing that takes an incredible understanding of this medium to pull off.
Metroid Dread is an amazing game.
Yet, the more I played, the more I started to feel resistance. Boss fights became increasingly more demanding of perfection. There were several times where I would struggle to finish a fight only to then fight two of the same foe in a single room less than an hour later. Some of the encounters in Metroid Dread are some of the best this series has ever seen but then there are two or three fights that are recycled far too often. Another aspect where the game almost creates sheer brilliance is the EMMIs (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) that stalk the halls of specific sections of the map.
These segments are always properly conveyed, meaning that running into an EMMI is never a surprise but there is still a horror-game level of tension through how one is pushed into navigating these spaces. An EMMI unit can sort of hear Samus’ footsteps, so she must properly use her Phantom Cloak which enables temporary invisibility. Watching as an EMMI shifts through small gaps while Samus hangs invisible from above feels scary because of how powerful the robot is at taking Samus down. Yet, because an EMMI can instantly kill Samus it usually results in a lot of brute force trial and error. Running through one of these zones just took less time and was overall less stressful than the intended method. Compare this to the SA-X in Metroid Fusion, which only appears in scripted moments but does appear when the player might not suspect it to. I would have loved to have seen at least one EMMI break out of its zone prison to chase Samus through a bigger space but I also would have allowed for more options to combat an EMMI.
Being that it is Metroid, there are a few missteps in visual signposting such as one section after getting the Spider Magnet. These little design missteps could have easily been addressed with minor tweaking but a quick search online can usually help a stuck player find their way. Honestly, when I stopped looking at all of the various rooms on the map and instead just chased after whatever door I could open after getting a power-up, I never got lost again. Using this method puts the player on the critical path, even though the back and forth nature of using trams and elevators between zones feels like it shouldn’t work. The way the critical path is laid out actively prevents the player from creating mental maps and it makes the visual designs of each area matter less and less as the game goes on. It would have been far more engaging to go through each zone and have the option to double back to find new items or access something new.
Speaking of backtracking, I rarely feel the need to go for additional items in this franchise but I really didn’t have any pull to do so here. Most boss fights push the player into landing parry attacks rather than utilizing their ammo reserves so just learning the timing and the pattern almost always results in a victory regardless of resources. Still, after hundreds of games in this style have offered interesting and fun optional items, Metroid refuses to do so. The game can be beaten without certain beams or upgrades but I really want to see more unlockable costumes or weapons that deal different types of damage or a new character. This is why I find indies more appealing though I do kind of commend the reservation held for Metroid. Thankfully, there are super tough puzzles that are satisfying to figure out and perform. I just wish the reward for getting items was more substantial. Luckily, there were plenty of intriguing bits of lore added to the mysterious soup of Metroid storytelling to keep me fully invested.
Undoubtedly, Metroid Dread will be remembered as an important game in the story of Samus Aran. This game explores her relationship with the Chozo race, hinges on the events of her past, and ultimately pushes her character forward into potentially exciting futures. There were so many moments in this game where I audibly shouted, “Cool!” in a room by myself. Taking down the super challenging final boss and seeing those last moments left me slack-jawed, pulsing with pure, game-fueled adrenaline. I fully admit though, that this feeling was propelled by the fact that this was a new Metroid on an HD console in a style of gaming that I adore.
Again, as a Metroid fan, I was mostly blown away by Metroid Dread. The visual design was often stunning. The music and sound design were exciting with just a touch of nostalgia. The combat was fast and demanding to the point that by the end I felt like an unstoppable hunter. Unfortunately, there was always something bothering me during my playthrough.
The more I learn about games and the people that play them, the more acutely aware I am in the absence of basic options that some rely on to play at all. At launch, there were no difficulty options in Metroid Dread, nor was there even the ability to remap buttons. No visual filters, no extra tips, nothing in the wake of decades of advancements in accessibility. For a major release from a publisher as big as Nintendo, this is unacceptable. I would imagine that these options will eventually be patched in but there hasn’t been much discussion about that happening. Currently, it feels like this is a game made specifically for physically capable, talented Metroid players. Just a handful of simple options could make this game more playable for millions of people. Even Nintendo’s legacy titles suffer from a lack of button remapping which is beyond strange.
Despite my criticisms, Metroid Dread is a good Metroid game and will likely be a favorite among fans of this series. I still think that Metroid Dread could have benefited from taking more pages out of that of contemporaries but the parry mechanic blended with the extra movement options does make for an engaging action game that is worth overcoming. I can only hope that this release leads to more unique offerings in Samus’ story and there’s still Metroid Prime 4 to be excited about. All in all, it just feels like Nintendo is starting to realize the massive potential available in the Metroid universe and whether or not they ever capitalize on that is up to them. Either way, Mercury Steam gave new life to Samus and that’s worth praise.
SCORES
GAMEPLAY - 8/10
VISUALS - 8/10
SOUND - 8/10
CONTROLS - 6/10
REPLAY VALUE - 6/10
OVERALL - 7.2/10
Learn more about Metroid Dread on the official website. A physical Switch copy was purchased by the reviewer. Screenshots were captured through the native features of the Switch.
For more Metroid-related content, be sure to listen to our discussion on how Nintendo and the developers of AM2R interpreted Metroid II: Return of Samus which is a remake of a Game Boy game. We also recently enjoyed the playfully Gothic world of Death’s Door on Steam. For those looking for more retro-inspired design, read our review of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 which we played on Switch.
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