Metroid; it has two sets of fans, really. The ones that played it back on the NES and enjoyed the 2D platforming mixed with exploring the alien worlds if the universe, and the ones that were first brought into the universe with Metroid Prime. No matter how many people say "it's not a shooter," it's definitly very shooter-like . Well, Metroid: Other M sees us combine the two aspects of this great franchise, and I'm please to say that it works.

 

The 2D aspect of the game is the main section. You control this by holding the Wiimote sideways. Move with the D-pad, shoot with 1 and jump with 2. You can also switch into the morph-ball by pressing A. To enter the first-person view, all you need to do is point the Wiimote at the screen, the transition is quick and painless. Then, you can freely aim around allowing you to target areas on the large bosses or quickly clear a room of annoying creatures. Press A to

shoot again, and if you manage to get a lock on a section of an enemy you can fire off a missile also by pressing A. You're rooted to the spot in this mode, though, so while you're more deadly, you're also open to attack from all the directions your not looking.  

 

The demo has the training wheels on, as we travel through a set of corridors. Simple platforming is the order of the day, and the game makes use of 2.5D. You can move into the background and foreground, allowing for some interesting gameplay as you move back and forth to get to new areas. So it's not simply a 2D Mario-like game, as there is a lot of depth and twists to provide those people that love exploring something to do. The level I played was very linear, but it promises to open up later in the game.

 

Clearing a room of wimpy creature in 2D is a breeze.  As you're firing away, Samus auto aims at the closest enemy you're facing at the time, so you still need to point in the enemy's general direction. To clear areas with tougher opponents, though, or those that are hard to kill while running, you'll enter the first person mode. One point saw a group of skrees on the roof of a corridor (fans of the series will aready loath these bat-like creatures), and just blindly firing in the 2D mode will only hit them when they're attacking or just after they've attacked...not ideal.  Switch to first-person, though, and you'll be able to take them out without any problem. Sadly, I got the game taken away from me before I managed to fight against some tougher standard enemies, but other luckier players saw fights against cloaking enemies and tough lizard-like enemies, which involved a mixture of dodging their attacks in the standard mode and then quickly switching to first-person.

 

The demo boss required a similar strategy. A large purple creature with elongated arms would swing them around, forcing Samus to dodge. After its attack, it would leave itself vunerable, and you had to aim at it's eye and unleash a missile attack. At this point, your useless allies freeze a section of the boss, and you have to destroy that with a missile. Repeat this three times as you blow the limbs off this creature, and the boss is defeated.

 

You'll notice that I said you had allies in the boss battle. Well, they don't really affect the battle, but at set points, the boss would grab one of the red-shirts and then fling it around. It looked very impressive. The reason why they were there is all part of the new plot that's taking place. Samus is at odds with her ex-commanding officer Adam, and through the cut scenes, Samus provides monologues and actually converses with the other characters. The script was hardly brilliant, and I'm not a fan of Samus' voice, but you're not really playing this game for the plot.

 

As it's shaping up, this game is one you should be looking forward to. It should be out at the end of August in North America, and in September everywhere else.