Metroid: Other M

Metroid: Other M should have been a much better game than it actually is, and ends up appearing like a sloppy update of one of Nintendo's most beloved series. It lacks the understanding and admiration of the original 2D games that the Metroid Prime series just oozed, and could just as well be any other action game. The last couple of hours do a lot to help the overall impression, but the question is whether you have the patience to actually reach them.

Other M divides its attention among too many viewpoints and gameplay styles to nail any one of them. Thankfully, the entire game soars so high in the closing moments that it ends up a must play for franchise followers.

Ultimately, Other M doesn't get good until you slog through the over-baked story; if you can handle that, you'll be in for a real treat of a game.

For this new episode, the Team Ninja dare to start from scratch or almost to eventually offer a new gameplay, switching brilliantly between action/exploration and story... The game stays very much advised to the fans of Samus who'll find her more powerful – and fragile – than ever.

A fascinating, unique take on the action genre bogged down by vapid soliloquising and a stuttering flow. A game that cultivates the past of a series while looking to the future, but perhaps doesn't know when to shut up.

Samus is back for an intense ride through hectic battles and intriguing exploration. The combat system is phenomenal, but the controls are jarring at times. This is still a worthwhile trip to the Metroid-universe.

But that's Other M: occasionally nonsensical (and always extraneous) story elements wrapped around generally excellent action and fun abilities. When you introduce more plot, you introduce more room for plot holes.

Metroid enthusiasts won't want to miss this, and nothing I could write could encourage them to take a pass. But to put it bluntly, Other M simply doesn't meet the high-quality standards fans have come to expect from not only the franchise, but from Nintendo's routinely-spectacular first-party line-up.

Metroid: Other M is the most disappointing Nintendo release in quite some time and a blemish that isn't likely to be forgotten on an otherwise superb franchise.

The innovations are few, and the unskippable story is outright destructive of the series' heritage.

Other M is a sum of imperfect parts and compromised ideas.

Why they've decided to take one of their hallowed intellectual properties and tamper with it – to make it ape the games of two upstream platforms that are just now trying to slink downstream – is anyone's guess.

It would be easy to write Metroid Other M off on the basis of the few things it gets wrong but the combat and exploration elements are strong enough to overcome these limitations. The combat is intense, if a bit uneven in terms of the overall challenge, and the exploration elements are enjoyable.

While Metroid: Other M is infused with a dose of style and flare the series has been lacking, the horrible control scheme and overly emotional story ruins the whole experience, making the game extremely aggravating to play.

Ham-fisted controls and storytelling turn Samus into a clumsy blabbermouth, with a game that squanders all the series' best tricks and adds none of its own.