Metroid Dread review
Our Verdict
Metroid Dread meets — and arguably surpasses — its lofty expectations, with demanding gameplay, clever level design and an ambitious story.
For
- Tight, challenging gameplay
- Varied, atmospheric world
- Story ties together past Metroid games
- Fantabulous showcase for Switch OLED
Against
- Punishing boss fights
- Certain upgrades feel frustrating to find
Tom's Guide Verdict
Metroid Dread meets — and arguably surpasses — its lofty expectations, with demanding gameplay, clever level design and an aggressive story.
Pros
- +
Tight, challenging gameplay
- +
Varied, atmospheric world
- +
Story ties together by Metroid games
- +
Excellent showcase for Switch OLED
Cons
- -
Punishing dominate fights
- -
Certain upgrades feel frustrating to find
Metroid Dread: Specs
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Price: $60
Release Date: October eight, 2021
Genre: Action/adventure
Metroid Dread is a game that'southward almost xv years belatedly, and withal it feels timelier than ever. Just equally The Legend of Zelda: Jiff of the Wild stripped a well-worn formula down to its fundamentals and delivered something fresh, so besides does Metroid Dread show united states that when it comes to side-scrolling action games, less tin be more than.
Metroid Dread is light on story, calorie-free on dialogue, light on tutorials, calorie-free on direction and light on helpful hints. In the very first level, y'all'll hitting the footing running, and have to conquer almost every inch of the deadly Planet ZDR using simply your own wits, and a series of vague directives. But rather than constraining, this stripped-down arroyo feels liberating. There's nothing to do in Metroid Dread except to explore the gorgeous earth, puzzling your manner by each obstacle y'all encounter. It's the Metroidvania formula at its purest — which is no surprise, when you call back that Nintendo pioneered the genre.
For the well-nigh office, playing Metroid Dread is like revisiting a dear old friend. And, like many old friends, some of Metroid'south bad habits are nonetheless intact. Boss fights are still incredibly punishing, and demand a level of twitch-reflex perfection that the residuum of the game only doesn't. And, much like previous games, some of Samus Aran's upgrades are hidden then well, they're nearly incommunicable to collect without a guide.
Otherwise, though, we've waited a long fourth dimension for this game, and gratifyingly, it's worth the await. Read on for our total Metroid Dread review — and if you lot've already finished playing, check out our list of the 10 best games to play after Metroid Dread.
Metroid Dread review: Gameplay
The Metroid series is 35 years former, and spearheaded a whole game genre named in its honor. However, if you lot have never played a Metroid game earlier, and so Metroid Dread is as good an introduction as any. You play as intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, who has explored all sorts of hostile planets and infinite stations, fighting off a multifariousness of predatory native animate being, space pirates and bioengineered killing machines along the manner.
Similar most Metroid games (relieve for the outset-person Metroid Prime number spinoffs), Metroid Dread is a side-scrolling action game with a large focus on exploration. At outset, Samus can run, shoot, fire missiles, parry melee attacks and not much else. It's worth pointing out that Metroid Dread gives Samus the power to slide nether obstacles for the first time. Information technology'due south a worthwhile improver to her arsenal, and helps facilitate a few exciting escapes throughout the game.
As she explores the viii different areas of the expansive Planet ZDR, nevertheless, Samus picks up a variety of new abilities. Past the terminate of the game, she'll exist able to charge her beam cannon, fire multiple shots at in one case, curl upwards into a tiny Morph Ball, double-spring, turn invisible, grapple across chasms and even constitute devastating bombs that destroy just about everything onscreen.
Virtually of these upgrades are familiar from previous games. In terms of new moves, some additions are meliorate than others. An instantaneous dodge and a wall-climbing magnet open upwardly new gameplay opportunities in almost every level. A personal cloaking device, on the other paw, opens upwards a handful of locked doors, and doesn't do much else.
What struck me most near Metroid Dread equally I played was but how little the game holds your hand — and only how intuitive navigation feels, anyway. Your suit'south built-in computer, ADAM, will sometimes give you lot vague objectives, simply it doesn't dispense hints or strength you down a certain path. The game is a master form in game blueprint that subtly leads y'all to your side by side objective without ever telling you lot explicitly where to become.
Each new power tin get you by a different kind of obstacle, which almost invariably leads to a room you oasis't explored earlier. There's no "wrong" path to have — sooner or later, yous'll get where you're going, find some other unlockable ability, and repeat the whole virtuous cycle again. Metroid Dread is a repose, atmospheric game that's like shooting fish in a barrel to get lost in for hours on terminate.
The only downside here is that sure hidden upgrades — for health, missile capacity and so forth — are ridiculously unintuitive. Most upgrades ask you to solve a simple puzzle or two, but a handful of items crave pitch-perfect platforming, exploring seemingly unconnected areas or just bombing every nearby surface in the hopes that something clicks. It's a potentially frustrating, time-consuming process for completionists.
Metroid Dread: E.M.M.I. sections and dominate fights
Another new improver in Metroid Dread are the East.M.Chiliad.I. robots: scientific research automatons that have gone amok and started hunting Samus. Every bit you lot explore Planet ZDR, you lot'll occasionally come across an area where the screen goes a flake gray and grainy, and a scarlet dot will show up at a distant point on your map. In these crucibles, Samus must evade an E.1000.M.I. and chase down a special resource called Omega to have them downwards.
The E.M.Grand.I. sections tin be both exhilarating and frustrating. Narrowly escaping an E.Thou.Thousand.I.'s clutches or setting up the perfect ambush as one closes in on you lot are some of the near exciting moments in Metroid Dread. But more than often, yous'll corrigendum into an Due east.M.Chiliad.I., find yourself unable to escape, and have to start the whole section over. What's intense and terrifying the first time can get dull by the tenth.
Similarly, while virtually of Metroid Dread has a arctic-but-challenging vibe, that all changes when you meet one of the game's dozen or so bosses. These adversaries, which range from enormous body of water creatures to agile robotic soldiers, tin can all obliterate Samus's health bar in merely a few hits, and require carve up-second perfection to dodge attacks and exploit weaknesses. They're satisfying to defeat, but they're also punishing in a way that feels at-odds with the rest of the game.
Metroid Dread review: Story
Metroid Dread is i of the more narrative-driven games in the serial, but never in a mode that conflicts with the lonely, minimalistic ambiance. After wiping out both the milky way-threatening Metroids and Parasite X in previous games, Samus finds herself bound for the remote Planet ZDR, where a lone Parasite 10 may even so exist. In that location, she encounters the impossible: a warrior from the supposedly extinct Chozo race, who seems to want her dead.
Metroid Dread weaves in a ton of series backstory, from Samus' struggles against the Metroids, to her own personal history of being raised by the Chozo. Newcomers may not grasp the effectively points of the plot, but the broad strokes are pretty comprehensible: Planet ZDR is dangerous, and Samus has to escape before her pursuer hunts her downwards. Afterward in the game, there are some pretty dramatic twists, but past then, even Metroid neophytes should feel sufficiently invested in Samus' survival.
Metroid Dread review: Visuals and sound
While the Nintendo Switch is starting to prove its age adjacent to competitors like the PS5 and Xbox Series Ten, Metroid Dread's art style goes a long way. Planet ZDR has a variety of gorgeous environments to explore, from the foreboding caverns of Artaria, to the lava-filled passageways of Cataris. Before her gamble is out, Samus will explore frozen wastelands, underground forests and ruined fortresses, each one with a different color scheme, level pattern and ready of enemies. Metroid Dread is difficult to put downwards, if only because yous never know what y'all'll come across next.
The music is also an agreeable mix of ambient background tunes for exploration, with more urgent techno beats for big battles and chases. In that location'southward not much voice acting to speak of, but the sound effects work well, from the ping of a single arm cannon shot, to the roar of a deadly scorpion fauna.
It's worth mentioning that one way to have advantage of Metroid Dread's strong visuals and sound is to play the game on a Switch OLED. Metroid Dread and Nintendo's newest panel variant both launch on the same day, and it's easy to come across why. An OLED screen accentuates the game's deep blacks and bright reds, while the console'south improved speakers can keep yous immersed without headphones.
To exist clear, I don't think the Switch OLED is necessarily worth buying if you have a base-model Switch. But if you're going to become a Switch OLED anyway, Metroid Dread is the game you should become with it.
Metroid Dread review: Verdict
In a style, it's remarkable that information technology took Metroid Dread and then long to come out. Later on a few minutes with the game, I felt all the former habits coming back — running and free-aiming at the same time, checking every nook and cranny for hidden upgrades and obsessively checking the map to see if in that location was a tiny doorway somewhere that I'd left unopened.
As Metroid games go, I'm not quite sure where Dread fits in the hierarchy yet. In terms of gameplay, information technology'due south most similar to Samus Returns on the 3DS; in terms of story, it owes a lot to Fusion. In terms of telescopic, it takes cues from Super Metroid. Merely i thing is clear: information technology's been as well long since we had an original side-scrolling Metroid game, and Dread fills that niche nicely.
If you lot've been waiting for the series' triumphant render, this is it. And if you haven't tried Metroid before, now'due south the fourth dimension to join Samus Aran on her latest risk.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/metroid-dread
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