A near-perfect, adrenaline-filled return to my favourite franchise of all time. Metroid Dread deserves the title of a Metroid game and MercurySteam went above and beyond to create one of the most exhilarating experiences I've had with the medium.
Where Samus Returns struggled with living up to the hype and of remaking a classic game, Metroid Dread has no need for that. By making a completely original game, MercurySteam's chains that were dragging them down are completely released, and damn does it pay off. This game is an unbelievable, blood-pumping experience from start to finish. The parry is still here, but it's improved by it being able to be utilised while moving, allowing for some fast movement, instead of having to pause the entire game to do on, ruining the flow of the game. This is exactly what Metroid Dread excels at, flow and movement, the entire game is built around moving you at a solid speed, whether that be through powerups or aeion abilities, sliding underneath obstacles or just blazing through enemies with a shine-spark.
For the actual gameplay, most powerups return, your typical beam, space jump, suits etc but what stands out are the Aeion abilities, and god damn are they some of the coolest things in the franchise. Firstly, the Phantom Cloak, while it doesn't necessarily help against EMMI's at times, it is still awesome to see Samus turn completely invisible, my only problem with it is that charging it back up is a pain as you have to be moving for some reason, which completely negates the power it has. Next, the Storm Missiles, what an amazing idea, being able to lock onto multiple targets, not only does it have some really cool ways to obtain hidden secrets, but it helps a lot in boss fights. And finally, the Flash Shift, by far my favourite and dare I say one of the best "powerups" in the entire franchise, using this is so damn fun. Zipping around the entire map effortlessly and evading attacks is so exciting, the game just has such a good idea of what makes movement fun.
As I mentioned in my Super Metroid Review the core element to a Metroid game is exploration. Dread breaks quite a few of the rules but it does so subtly, instead of giving you complete freedom like in Super Metroid, Dread restricts you but not in the way Fusion does. The game isn't innately linear, yet it will block off areas you're not supposed to access "naturally", and so your way forward is always clear (except for a few moments). I find this method to be a great idea, it loses the factor of being frustrated at not knowing where to go while not giving you completely clear instructions. And god damn, is exploration here an absolute blast, the environments crafted are so fucking gorgeous, every individual sector has its own atmosphere. Lava lurks beneath your feet in Cataris, when you first arrive at Dairon, the power is out, robots and monsters are being revived or built in the background, a storm rages outside Burenia, ancient architecture makes up most of Ferenia, and my personal favourite area, Ghavoran. As soon as you are transported there, a jungle ecosystem is shown, animals move in the background, you confront spiders and other insects. There's such a wide variety of areas that it feels very similar to Fusion, just amplified tenfold.
"Dread" is the atmosphere that encompasses the entire game. The EMMI are practically an unstoppable force even when you learn how to defeat them. As soon as you enter one of their "areas" the tension immediately rises. Mechanical noises loop in the background, the room is enshrouded in mist, the EMMI tracks you through sound so your movement must be more precise. If you're caught then you must dash towards safety, if you fail then you're practically dead, parrying the EMMI is meant to be a lucky chance. The game makes you confront the EMMI indirectly before you're powerful enough, a great way of raising the pressure.
However, this also creates a steep difficulty curve, the last 2 EMMI's are pretty unfair and being able to freeze the player from across the map is frustrating, especially when a lot of the time your Aeoin abilities don't even work properly. I died around 100+ times on my playthrough, and even excluding the EMMI's, this game is way more difficult than its predecessors, enemies hit you like a truck and boss fights are a lot more challenging and require a lot of skill and understanding of the mechanics for the player, which culminates perfectly in the final fight (which I won't spoil). Another part which has increased difficulty is in obtaining the extras, damn do some of these require a strong comprehension in everything, and a shit ton of them are really difficult to obtain, something I appreciate a lot. The only other gripe I have with the game is the lengthy loading screens, they tend to break the immersion.
Apart from that, holy fucking shit is this one of the best returns to form I could have ever asked for. Metroid Dread is ultimately a must-play that completely wipes the floor with many new games and lives up to the standard of a Metroid title, a resounding masterpiece that I will go back to experience again sooner or later.
9/10
Where Samus Returns struggled with living up to the hype and of remaking a classic game, Metroid Dread has no need for that. By making a completely original game, MercurySteam's chains that were dragging them down are completely released, and damn does it pay off. This game is an unbelievable, blood-pumping experience from start to finish. The parry is still here, but it's improved by it being able to be utilised while moving, allowing for some fast movement, instead of having to pause the entire game to do on, ruining the flow of the game. This is exactly what Metroid Dread excels at, flow and movement, the entire game is built around moving you at a solid speed, whether that be through powerups or aeion abilities, sliding underneath obstacles or just blazing through enemies with a shine-spark.
For the actual gameplay, most powerups return, your typical beam, space jump, suits etc but what stands out are the Aeion abilities, and god damn are they some of the coolest things in the franchise. Firstly, the Phantom Cloak, while it doesn't necessarily help against EMMI's at times, it is still awesome to see Samus turn completely invisible, my only problem with it is that charging it back up is a pain as you have to be moving for some reason, which completely negates the power it has. Next, the Storm Missiles, what an amazing idea, being able to lock onto multiple targets, not only does it have some really cool ways to obtain hidden secrets, but it helps a lot in boss fights. And finally, the Flash Shift, by far my favourite and dare I say one of the best "powerups" in the entire franchise, using this is so damn fun. Zipping around the entire map effortlessly and evading attacks is so exciting, the game just has such a good idea of what makes movement fun.
As I mentioned in my Super Metroid Review the core element to a Metroid game is exploration. Dread breaks quite a few of the rules but it does so subtly, instead of giving you complete freedom like in Super Metroid, Dread restricts you but not in the way Fusion does. The game isn't innately linear, yet it will block off areas you're not supposed to access "naturally", and so your way forward is always clear (except for a few moments). I find this method to be a great idea, it loses the factor of being frustrated at not knowing where to go while not giving you completely clear instructions. And god damn, is exploration here an absolute blast, the environments crafted are so fucking gorgeous, every individual sector has its own atmosphere. Lava lurks beneath your feet in Cataris, when you first arrive at Dairon, the power is out, robots and monsters are being revived or built in the background, a storm rages outside Burenia, ancient architecture makes up most of Ferenia, and my personal favourite area, Ghavoran. As soon as you are transported there, a jungle ecosystem is shown, animals move in the background, you confront spiders and other insects. There's such a wide variety of areas that it feels very similar to Fusion, just amplified tenfold.
"Dread" is the atmosphere that encompasses the entire game. The EMMI are practically an unstoppable force even when you learn how to defeat them. As soon as you enter one of their "areas" the tension immediately rises. Mechanical noises loop in the background, the room is enshrouded in mist, the EMMI tracks you through sound so your movement must be more precise. If you're caught then you must dash towards safety, if you fail then you're practically dead, parrying the EMMI is meant to be a lucky chance. The game makes you confront the EMMI indirectly before you're powerful enough, a great way of raising the pressure.
However, this also creates a steep difficulty curve, the last 2 EMMI's are pretty unfair and being able to freeze the player from across the map is frustrating, especially when a lot of the time your Aeoin abilities don't even work properly. I died around 100+ times on my playthrough, and even excluding the EMMI's, this game is way more difficult than its predecessors, enemies hit you like a truck and boss fights are a lot more challenging and require a lot of skill and understanding of the mechanics for the player, which culminates perfectly in the final fight (which I won't spoil). Another part which has increased difficulty is in obtaining the extras, damn do some of these require a strong comprehension in everything, and a shit ton of them are really difficult to obtain, something I appreciate a lot. The only other gripe I have with the game is the lengthy loading screens, they tend to break the immersion.
Apart from that, holy fucking shit is this one of the best returns to form I could have ever asked for. Metroid Dread is ultimately a must-play that completely wipes the floor with many new games and lives up to the standard of a Metroid title, a resounding masterpiece that I will go back to experience again sooner or later.
9/10
Yureza
7 months ago