zero mission feels neither here nor there to me, trapped in the dead center of two schools of design that are constantly capitulating to the other. it structurally reminds of fusion in its suggestive design but lacks the exploratory atmosphere of super. everything in zero mission feels sterile; it is not a culmination of but rather a reminder of what came before it. the spritework of fusion, perfectly attuned to that titles cold and impersonal circuitry running rampant alongside a biomechanical nightmare, cannot hope to replicate the uncanny loneliness of the original metroids subterranean freedive. and the decision to backpedal on the comic book art style, remnants of which still remain in the game, does away with the opportunity to mythologize samus' original fearless adventure, which could have lended a differing yet nonetheless genuine weight to the proceedings. instead it's a story retold, a greatest hits remix of a game with awkward and needless additions to the affair. neither a game about regaining control nor a dread inducing descent, all that's left is for zero mission to succeed on the merits of its systems. it can, but that's largely besides the point
5 Comments
"a greatest hits remix of a game with awkward and needless additions to the affair."
Thank you so much. All the reception I've seen to this game is positive somehow, when in reality it's one of my least favorite video game remakes.
Thank you so much. All the reception I've seen to this game is positive somehow, when in reality it's one of my least favorite video game remakes.
@archagent I'd argue the exact opposite, I'm playing it now and it improves on absolutely everything from the original
@Lot0 well put
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@NOWITSREYNTIME17 Thanks! By the way, a correction: "It's a game where you really can stop holding the hand [that grabs you]* if you know the tools to do so."
Lot0
2 years ago
Zero Mission can't tell the same story: you alredy know you're controlling a woman. But that's not about the gameplay. What ZM takes from the original and expands upon it is the brittleness of the architecture to make you make your own ways. There's a lot of places of potential brittleness if you use the right weapon.
It's a game where you really can stop holding the hand if you know the tools to do so. There are points where making your way up to something, even if you achieve it, could be futile. Doesn't that look like the dead ends of Metroid 2? But when it's not, it's not, like reaching the cocoon boss beforehand buuut without the ice missiles. But it can be done. These aspects are what ZM means to me.