Dread is right! (Metroid Dread in review)

     The Metroid series has been neglected by Nintendo for a long time. I don't think that's news to anyone, as the original 2D series was dormant from 2002 until 2021, but thankfully that long hiatus is over. Now that I've finished the game after a relatively short experience, I'm happy to present some of my findings! This game is pretty wild, and it's great to see the return of one of the architects of the "Metroidvania" genre so many years after the indie scene exploded with it. Does this game hold its own against the onslaught of indie titles? Let's dive into it. We're headed to planet ZDR for a little bit of spoiler-free fun!

Samus goes up against quite a few E.M.M.I.s as you can see!

The Bounty Hunter Returns!

    After nearly 35 years, Samus's saga with the Metroids finally comes to an end in this game. Metroid Dread begins with a short scene, recapping how Samus got to this point in the story, mostly focusing on how Metroid Fusion ended, as this story largely focuses on the X Parasite, a virus that plagued planet SR388 and nearly killed Samus at the beginning of that game. An X parasite was recorded on Planet ZDR, and the Galactic Federation sent in seven supposedly unstoppable robots, called E.M.M.I.s to investigate. I say "supposedly" because soon after they touched down on the planet surface, the Federation lost contact with the mechs. Samus is sent in to check on the situation because she is the only one who received the Metroid vaccine, and therefore can take down the potential X threat, as Metroids are the predators of the X, and Samus killed all of them. Samus lands on the planet and takes an elevator down to the core of the planet where she's met with a Chozo warrior who beats her pretty badly and gets her in a chokehold where she blacks out. She wakes up in a pretty basic power suit, with only her normal beam and missiles to get her out of scrapes. I won't spoil any more of the story because this is literally all given to you before you take control of any of the gameplay. It's a really cool set up, and leads to a pretty cool mystery, trying to figure out who this character is, as well as what is going on with the E.M.M.I.s and how Samus lost her powers this time, as it's really not clear. It's up to you to help Samus get out of this predicament, finding all of her lost powers and traversing planet ZDR as she takes on all of the new threats of this sometimes terrifying new world.

Stealth has never been so satisfying!

    One of the first things that was shown about Metroid Dread was a small stealth segment where you have to hide and escape from an E.M.M.I. which was shown to be an enemy that can kill you in one hit. This immediately worried me, because I'm really not great at stealth games, but after playing this, honestly I loved the stealth segments in this game. This game is called "Dread" for a reason, and the tension is insane in these little cat-and-mouse segments. All of the E.M.M.I.s function slightly differently, with the first one really only able to travel in a straight line as a tutorial of types, whereas the final ones are able to pull off some pretty nasty tricks against the heroine. These sections are tough, don't get me wrong, but they're typically short enough and mixed together with Metroid's typical exploration in such a cool way that it's a really satisfying addition to the gameplay loop. I feel like this is a big victory for the team at Mercurysteam since this element could have easily been one of those things that is in the game, but no one really likes it, akin to the Werehog segments of Sonic Unleashed. This game just gets these segments right, though they can get frustrating at times when trying to figure out the safest path to get where they need to go, but it makes it even more satisfying to beat them because of it. Once you've taken out an E.M.M.I., it feels fantastic to see their stupid robotic corpse dissolve and give Samus a new power-up. Metroid games really wouldn't be the same without the new technology for Samus to find, and this game is certainly no exception to that.

Playing the favorites!

    This game has all of the classic Metroid upgrades that you know and love, plus a few new upgrades that feel fantastic to use. I have come to terms with the fact that the Grapple Beam will always be difficult for me to use in the 2D space (though it's much easier in Metroid Prime with 3D), but these new inclusions feel so natural, it's wild to think that almost the entirety of the series run has been done without them. Hold the 'A' Button down and move to the left or right for a dash move, making it easier to evade attacks as well as getting over certain platforms. It's a simple addition, but it's so fluid, and really goes into making these boss fights feel even more epic than they already are. Honestly if you've played a Metroid game before, you know what you're expecting in terms of the upgrades, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I've played quite a few of these games now, but it just feels good to get the Gravity Suit and to see Samus wearing Purple, in addition to helping to traverse water and cool areas more easily. That also goes for the returning beams, missiles, Morph Balls, and bombs that we all cherish so much. This game does something really cool with the Morph Ball actually, I think pretty much every game in the series gives you this power-up right away, but Metroid Dread really makes you wait for it, which makes the little crevices much more obvious since you can't get into them immediately, and I definitely cheered when I was finally able to get the ability, which was certainly a different reaction to how I reacted in every other game in the series.

    This game controls so much more smoothly than any other game in the series, I have to say, and that's obviously because the console is much newer and the controller is more modern. The movement and feeling of momentum in this game is nothing short of spectacular, and it feels so good to pull off a well executed parry that it really never got old! While I loved Super Metroid and Samus Returns (which were the last two games that I played in this franchise), they certainly had some clunkiness to them. Granted, Samus Returns was really only clunky because I had to play it on my 3DS, which made for a less-than-comfortable experience given all of the maneuvers that had to be pulled off at pretty high speed. The Switch Pro Controller that I used was a much better fit for a game like Metroid Dread, and though the Grapple Beam can still be a little weird to use, the free-aim mechanic made it much easier. The boss fights in this game are amazing, and I don't know if I've ever played a game that felt more satisfying to master a boss fight after a few attempts. They're all excellently designed, and I can honestly say that the final boss fight has to be one of the most hardcore fights that I've experienced in some time.

    Nintendo and Mercurysteam have made a fantastic game in Metroid Dread, and I would honestly recommend it to anyone, even if you're not familiar with the series. This game is a welcome return to everyone's favorite bounty hunter, Samus Aran, and even though they've talked at length about this being the last game in Samus's Metroid Saga, I can't help but hope that there's more in store for this awesome character somewhere out in space. Yes, we do know that Metroid Prime 4 is on the horizon, but that's a different beast entirely. I'm certainly not saying that I'm not excited for that game, but I think there's room for a 2D and 3D Metroid series at the same time. The best compliment that I can pay to this game is that I beat it, and then immediately came back to it and started again, just because I wanted more.

    Thanks so much for reading this post, friends! I really hope you enjoy Metroid Dread if you give it a try. It's a challenging game, and it's not always apparent as to where you're supposed to go, but I feel like it does a better job of guiding a player without handholding than any of the previous games in the franchise. I've heard a lot of people say that this game doesn't have as good of a soundtrack as the other games, but it still nails the "Dread-ful" tone of the overall package to a huge degree. Thanks again for all of your support, and I hope that you've had a good first week of the new year! I'm Jonathan, your Self-Proclaimed Space Explorer, and I'll talk to you all again next week!