Metroid Dead

Metroid Dread follows the path of its predecessors in the Game Boy Advance: Zero Mission and Fusion. I mention these, and not Super Metroid, because of the intent of turning the movement of the protagonist, Samus, into an action figure. Up to Super Metroid there still was the purpose simulating a journey on an unknown planet through discovery of secrets and the simulation of low gravity. However, from Fusion onwards, this would disappear by reducing aerial maneuverability and softening the feeling of Samus attacking and facing enemies. The readjustment of the Melee Counter mechanic that was introduced in Samus Returns to be able to be executed during movement instead of having to stop first in order to transition smoothly between counterattacks and running manifests this understanding of what Metroid means to Mercury Steam.

However, the developers show serious problems when creating an action game due to the negligent design of its obstacles. The biggest issue comes from the generic enemies, which lack an aggressive behavior that poses a challenge. From the very first instant one can perceive, even though the game insists otherwise, that Samus's power is too high for the fauna, and this repercutes in Metroid Dread being uncapable of taking advantage of its possibilities in movement or interaction with the enemies to defend from or overcome them. Only shooting them repeatedly (later with a charged shot) is necessary to advance through the world, instead of having to use the Melee Counter to avoid being defeated, or using Samus's agility to find spaces and avoid attacks accordingly, and the more mechanics the game adds, such as invisibility, or a quick dodge mechanic, the more this discrepancy accentuates. This basic design pales in comparison to the action of the original game from 1986, where mastering the low gravity in the jump mechanic, the low health and the low might of basic resources encouraged the player to control the aerial space to avoid waves of enemies that actively reacted to your position on the screen, and to attack with precision with the missiles to preserve ammunition, thus resulting in a higher attention to the scenery to perform better in combat, which the new game lacks.

The sections where the player will probably be defeated are limited to boss battles and the E.M.M.I. zones, which are areas guarded by robots that chase after the protagonist and eliminate her if the player fails at quick-time events. However, both sections have disadvantages that undermine their impact on the player. Even though boss fights allow the player to unfold Samus's abilities, which was lacking in usual combat, there's a basic schematization of the bosses' behavior that turn the action sequences in less reaction, and more following patterns. In most cases, battles are reduced to avoid telegraphed attacks until the weak point is revealed or reached. Avoid Kraid's spheres and attack him once you can reach his mouth. Reduce the water level to expose Drogyga's weak point in order to attack them. Wait until the Chozo Soldier comes close and jump over them to attack from behind. Avoid the final boss's attacks until you can use the Melee Counter on him. Repeatedly. The result is that the player has a clear idea that the boss is an already intuitively solved puzzle, and what remains is merely executing the appropriate commands, which reduces their impact as an imposing menace and turns them into one task to follow, not very different to the limited, artificial boss design in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

As for the E.M.M.I., Mercury Steam appropriately decided to give the robots the capability to follow Samus through rooms and detect her at distance, and their presence force the player to keep moving to get out of the robot's detection range. However, the method that the developers chose to make the E.M.M.I. intimidating is the instant defeat of the player, a simple addition to generate tension. The problem is that developers seem to fear that it is a source of frustration, and the solution they apply destroy its communicative capability: The robots are only active on pre-established, easily recognizable areas, which limit their potential to keep the player at unease through the whole game because they're predictable, and the portion of the game that they are relevant on is reduced. Furthermore, the game even includes checkpoints at the entrance of these areas to avoid losing progress whenever the player is instantly defeated. Such implementation feels underwhelming in comparison to Clock Tower, a 1995 game for the Super Famicom, which is an horror game where the murderer can immediately defeat the female protagonist, but the possibility of the stalker appearing at every part of the house, as well as being able to follow the player everywhere they could hide at offers a minimal incentive to act carefully through the whole playthrough to avoid being detected. By counterpart, it does not matter in Metroid Dread if Samus enters into the E.M.M.I.'s radar because the player can get out of the area, and it does not matter if the protagonist is caught because she respawns two screens behind to try again. The "dread" that the title professes is nothing more than a slap in the wrist.

The game's apologists will suggest that Metroid Dread is nothing about what I mentioned, but rather an exploration game where action is secondary to present a new world. Leaving aside that such an affirmation ignores the evidence of Mercury Steam's intent and previous involvement in the Lords of Shadow linear action games, it is difficult to talk about exploration and discovery when the game guides Samus through a defined sequence and gives her the ability to see hidden blocks, and it is hard to think of a convincing world when everything, from upgrades to new paths or enemies to be defeated with the new weapon are conveniently placed in the player's way. The idea that Metroid Dread's developers seem to have of alternate paths is merely blocking the path behind that the player just went through, and forcing them to go through the place from another side to reach a new opening through a door available with the new upgrade as a convenient excuse to use it. This decision reveals the intention to keep the illusion of non-linear progress through a circular structure in order to appease the fans, but a camouflaged hallway is still a hallway.

Maybe the best aspect in Metroid Dread has nothing to do with dread, exploration, or action, but rather a very small element that is not talked about in publicity stunts, and that is the varied amount of warp points. Usually in this genre, whenever the player finds access to a new area, there is a small sense of anticipation and curiosity for the new localization ahead. How will it be? What will I do there? What will I find? In Metroid Dread there are numerous points to teleport Samus to different points on different areas, which usually lead to places that were hidden before, and these are not merely limited to the corners of each area but could be on any part of the map. Through this the game manages, at least during these instants, to create an actual sense of uncertainty on how this discovery will change the player's understanding of places that they have seen before, and this detail puts this game above the condescendence of the Game Boy Advance games, which deprived the player of these feelings by indicating them exactly where to go or even what they are going to find. Interconnecting the world in this way probably is an already explored idea in fangames, but it is a concept that deserves to be further explored in the genre.

A lot has been commented about the circumstances behind the development of the game, particularly not crediting workers that stopped participating during production, but perhaps the most ignominious aspect of this situation is that even in consciousness of what Mercury Steam did, and with full conviction on how bad it was, there is a lack of audacity in games criticism to give a rigorous perspective on Metroid Dread in order to act as fanatics of a brand instead.