You might have read Jess’s post on Metroid: Other M, now you get my take on the game. I bought into the Metroid: Other M hype like everyone else did here at SMASHWORX HQ. I was pretty sick of the Prime titles. I had not enjoyed any of them past the first. So I was looking forward to a more traditional Metroid title with a Team Ninja spin.

The only Metroid titles that I’ve beaten are Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime. I am not a hardcore or long time fan of the series. I’ve played Super Metroid but it was too much for me at the time. I’m not sure how old I was but, it was a small number. I may have actually beaten it with the help of the Official Nintendo Strategy Guide but, I’m not sure so we won’t count that one. That’s cheating anyway.

Fast forward to 2010, I was excited by the flashy cinematics and action packed game play that Team Ninja would be bringing to the Metroid franchise. I had also not played a Wii game for months–that poor tiny console was sitting there collecting dust. The last Wii title I dabbled in was Mario Galaxy and I never finished it. Any game out of Nintendo that targeted the more mature audience would have had me drooling.

Like a drug addict who hasn’t had his fix for a while, I was dying to give Nintendo some hard earned cash.

I pre-ordered the game from Amazon a day before it’s release. I only did this because Amazon was running a deal for $20 Amazon credit towards a future video game purchase if you pre-ordered Other M. I was sure I was going to buy Other M anyway so why not get $20 out of it? The $20 has gone towards Halo Reach if anyone is curious.

The wonderful folks at Amazon got the game to me incredibly fast. It took me much longer to get through the roughly 10 – 12 hours of gameplay.

Likes, Dislikes, and Thoughts

Generally speaking, I was not a big fan of all the talking. Samus talked too much and the other characters talked too much. I don’t recall any other Metroid title having this much dialogue. While I don’t think it had an immensely negative impact on the game, it did make the game feel less Metroidy. Here’s to hoping that the next Metroid title goes back to being quiet and desolate.

I did like the linearity of the game. I often find myself lost and confused in Metroid games. Other M told you where to go. No guessing or head-scratching to figure out what to do next. I know that this goes against the Metroid tradition but, I am rarely in the mood to play a game where I spend hours with it only to make snail paced progress. Let’s get the show on the road!

I think I’m the only one at SMASHWORX who didn’t find the switching from third-person to first-person jarring. It also didn’t bother me that I couldn’t fire missiles in third-person view. It was like Metal Gear Solid; I’ve played them all and I love them. The pointing mechanism with the Wii remote didn’t make me feel more like Samus. I haven’t bought into the “greater immersion” theory with motion controls yet. I look at it as just another means of control and I was fine with how it was used in Other M.

If nothing else, I applaud Nintendo and Team Ninja for trying this hybrid control system and making it a pretty painless experience. This little experiment might give birth to a truly fantastic control scheme a few years down the road. Who knows?

What really shocked me the most was how graphically gorgeous the game was. I’m not even talking about the cut scenes. Those looked great but, they were all pre-rendered and it is 2010 so I expect that. Standard definition didn’t seem to deter Team Ninja from producing stunning visuals that could compete with some XBOX 360 and PS3 titles.

Bottom Line

Metroid: Other M isn’t going to get Game of the Year from any gaming publication. I’m not even sure if it will spawn a sequel. Team Ninja added their own flavor to the Metroid universe and that flavor might be too foreign for most fans. This was an enjoyable experiment and if there was a sequel, I’d probably get it–I have a “giving Nintendo cash” problem. But, this game won’t blow your mind and likely won’t become your favorite Metroid game of all time. At the very least I’d rent, borrow, or get it when it falls in price and there’s an unforeseen shortage of games.

After all my smack talk about the demystifying of Samus and Kratos it seems only fair that I discuss what I think works and doesn’t work in the use of silent protagonists in video games. I will discuss three types of silent protagonist: mute, secretive and reactive. On Giantbomb.com, these three types have been summed up thusly, “Mutes are characters who are recognized within the game world as people who are incapable of or unwilling to speak;…Secretive silent protagonists are a step up from mutes in complexity, in that they are essentially predefined, but are left with space for the player to insert his or her own thoughts and motivations, simply left unsaid and thus “secret”;…Reactive silent protagonists are protagonists whose actions are assumed by the game’s scripting, in spite of having no lines or dialog options.” (http://www.giantbomb.com/silent-protagonist/92-54/)

Famous mute protagonists include Jack Ryan from Bioshock and Isaac Clarke from Dead Space. The main difference between these unlucky gents is that there is or conceivably can be a reason why Jack is silent as opposed to Isaac, who is just a regular chap beset by very irregular circumstances. Jack’s head has been severely messed with by an egotistical/bug nuts crazy father figure and a shady (severe understatement) scientist. Although, Jack does give the initial voice over, he does not speak a word of audible language through out the game. In a somewhat ironic twist, Jack does not get a voice until he puts on the Big Daddy suit (and that voice is more of a moan than anything). Furthermore, when Jack dons the Big Daddy suit he must go through the voice modification process which, I believe, is a complete severing of the vocal chords. While odd that Jack can speak the game’s opening lines and nothing more, it is not out of the realm of possibilities in a submerged city, surreal alternate universe type of way. I am not bothered by Jack’s silence mainly because I have already been clued into the fact that this is a game that is not tethered to reality.  Jack is being controlled by so many different forces: Fontaine, Suchong, Ryan, Tenenbaum and the player, that is acceptable that he doesn’t have a voice or a choice.

Isaac Clarke’s silence is another matter.  Dead Space takes place in the year 2508 in this (yours and mine, reader friends) universe. Earth has chugged along to its assumed fate of 500 years in the future bereft of natural resources. Isaac’s universe is presented as the player’s universe and that is where his silence becomes a bit unrealistic and frustrating. If Isaac is just a regular human on a regular day, why doesn’t he ever tell Kendra to shut up and stop freaking out? I sure would have if I was in his gravity boots.  Why doesn’t he ever voice his opinion on Hammond’s knowledge of what was on the Ishimura? Are we saying that in 500 years humans will not feel the necessity to express themselves during periods of heightened periods of stress? How come Kendra and Hammond can yammer on but Isaac is committed to his monk-like vow of silence? In contradiction to Bioshock where the player can understand why Jack is not completely under player control, in Dead Space there is no reason why Isaac shouldn’t be thinking, speaking and reacting through player directives.

As it was Samus that started this discussion, I will use her silent ways to explore the secretive protagonist. Samus is a woman of action and, until recently, little words. The difference between Samus and the previously described mute protagonist is that her character is presented with choices inherent to the non-linear nature of the Metroid series. Samus gets a directive and either immediately follows it or goes off to explore another section in search of upgrades and newly accessible pathways.  Yes, Samus will eventually have to return to the directive but it’s not a “jump and how high” situation as in Dead Space and Bioshock. This is not to say that all Metroid players are not directed towards the same end goals but the paths may be different from player to player. In this manner, players can begin to connect to their own “Samus.” The player and Samus tangentially explore and discover the world together.  There isn’t the thought that there is someone in the universe that knows more about Samus then the player.

To that ends, it should be said that as opposed to Isaac and Jack, Samus seems to always be in control of her situation.  This sense of control, however, delineates between a survival game (everything is happening to you) from an adventure game (you are causing things to happen).  I wonder if there is a correlation there between the mute protagonist and horror/survival games.  Perhaps one day I will do some research but that’s another day and another huge blog post.

The last silent protagonist is the reactive type.  Link from the venerable Legend of Zelda series is the epitome of the silent, reactive protagonist.  In Windwaker, Tetra reacts to Link as if he makes statements but the little sound that does come out of our reticent hero adds up to a couple of grunts, sighs and yips. I have read in multiple places that Nintendo says it doesn’t want to make Link talk because it would “contradict players’ individual interpretations of the character,” but none of these quote users include citation so I don’t know how reliable the information is.  I do agree, however, with the sentiment.  Without hearing Link’s side conversations, the player is allowed to come to a spectrum of conclusions.

Players don’t have a chance to mentally change Link’s overall personality because the Zelda universe keeps him on track.  For example, it’s fairly hard to imagine Link dropping f-bombs and pushing drugs on them yeti guys.  He’s just not that guy and never will be.  Even in Twilight Princess where Hyrule gets a bit more dangerous and adult, Link still sticks to the script.  We know he is loyal, so he is not going to respond disingenuously.  We know he is heroic, so of course he is going to help the lonely lady find her rabbit-loving husband. In this manner, we can gleam the tone and type of response Link will give in almost every situation.

Others might argue that the main characters in Dragon Age are reactive, silent protagonists but I disagree.  It is true that the characters do not audibly speak, but the player chooses dialogue that translates through the secondary character reactions.  Where Dragon Age differs from other games is that the player gets to mold the personality type of their character, which seems related to the silent character in that the player imprints their own personality onto the game avatar.

Although I think the Bioshock silent protagonist is more enjoyable / understandable than the Dead Space version, I’d have to say that where both games fail is in the protagonist character development.  Both heroes take orders without missing a beat. Both heroes put themselves in immense danger for strangers and unknown loyalties. Why? As a player, I do not feel connected enough to imprint my own emotions or attitudes on the avatar. These two dumb jerks just do whatever there told and never discernibly question their directives or the outcomes of said directives. It does not surprise me that both sequels for these titles will let the protagonist speak.  I want to not that I enjoyed both games and the mute protagonist in both games seemed to lend to their cinematic quality.  In fact, I would go so far to say that both game’s sets where a bigger character than the protagonists themselves.  I look forward to both sequels.

It does not surprise me that the two other protagonists I chose to explore are Nintendo creations.  Their ability to create entire nuanced universes with minimalist tools would seem to support the use of a silent protagonist.  It does not surprise me that there are generations of gamers that identify with such tight-lipped heroes as Link, Samus and, even, Mario.  These characters “play” along with the gamer and are very effective in endearing themselves to the public.  Thus, the public responds poorly if some developers come along and mess with a player’s imagined bond with a character.

Silent protagonists can and are as effective as the speaking protagonist.  I do not have a preference between the two, as long as the protagonist type serves the experience and not the other way around.

Unfortunately, none of us were at E3 this week. We were all busy working. That didn’t stop me from tuning into the press conferences on GameTrailers, GameSpot, and other places. I wasn’t surprised by any of the big announcements as I knew that they were coming: Nintendo 3DS, Kinect, PSN Plus.

Surprised or not, I am still excited for some of the new hardware and games!

Nintendo 3DS

Being that I wasn’t at the show, I couldn’t get a first hand experience of 3D portable gaming without glasses. In fact, there’s really no way to demonstrate the 3D except to play with a 3DS so I am excited purely on the speculation that it will be awesome. It is a Nintendo product so unless it’s another Virtual Boy, it should be pretty awesome. Can’t wait to experience the 3DS this Fall.

I’m not a big Kid Icarus fan but, if that’s the flagship title to show off the 3DS, I will have to get it. There’s a whole slew of N64 remakes at E3 showing off the 3DS. I wouldn’t mind some updated StarFox 64! Loved that game.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Even though the presentation of Skyward Sword looked horrendous due to wireless interference, I am still excited by the trust I have in Nintendo that they wouldn’t release a Zelda game that doesn’t control well. Again, my excitement for this Zelda game is purely speculation that it will be awesome because Nintendo is behind it.

As you can see, I have great trust in Nintendo to make great games–9 times out of 10 I am right.

I was expecting something different for this new Zelda but, if the sword controls are as good as I am expecting, it should still be incredibly fun. I would have liked to see some departure from the Ocarina of Time model that we’ve seen for over 10 years.

Crysis 2

I have not played Crysis or was ever interested in it. However, I saw the gameplay demo of Crysis 2 and was in awe. I have a soft spot for games that take place in NYC and who doesn’t love super soldiers? The movie alone has me excited about the prospects of this game!

Metal Gear Solid Rising

I love the Metal Gear Solid series and didn’t think much of Rising until I saw the demo from E3. The ability to cut things every which way looks really cool. A lot of people didn’t like Raiden from MGS2. I’m not one of those people. I thought Raiden was pretty cool. I have no problem with a MGS game that features Raiden–he’s kinda badass.

Kinect

It might be shocking but, I’m not interested in Kinect for it’s games. I’m interested in Kinect for what it can do for interface interaction. I would love to voice control my XBOX when watching Netflix and scroll through my queue with my hands. The video chat also looks awesome.

However, the games aren’t that interesting to me. The rumored $149 price tag doesn’t make me want it more either.

Metroid: Other M

I am quite excited about this game even before E3 and Nintendo only showed a small clip of it. This is on the list simply because I haven’t powered on my Wii in a very long time. In fact, I gave it to my brother so I’ll have to buy the shiny new black Wii to play Other M.

I have changed all my computer’s wallpapers to be Metroid themed. Just sayin’.

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I haven’t mentioned PlayStation Move because it didn’t really interest me. I am interested in the highly accurate wands but, there aren’t any games that are particularly attention grabbing. Sorry Sony! If I see a great title for Move, I will get it. I’ve been using my PS3 the most as of late. None of the 3D games that require me to wear glasses were remotely interesting to me. I don’t want to wear glasses.

And that’s my favorite of E3 2010!