KingBroly wrote:In a generation, people will most likely claim that it was never art, and tried to hard to be art, and that's ultimately why it doesn't hold up over time. Good art holds up over time.
You forgot that is has an omg amazingly deep and philosophical story. Regardless, I agree. Team Ico's rather overrated for what they've done. In more than a decade, all they've developed are two mechanically flawed games and a mechanically flawed port of said games. A good storyteller is one thing, a good game developer is another. Team Ico's the former, but they've yet to prove their worth in the latter.
I haven't played much of Other M, but I manage to get in a hour or so of playtime every couple of weeks. So far I'm at the snowy/cold/frozen area. Right now, I think I'm nearing the end of this area. I've met MB and fought the yellow monster machine. I'm kinda tired of this area, though, because it feels like I've fought the same enemies and traversed the same rooms dozens of times. The tree monster encounters are the worst. When I first fought it, sure the actual fight wasn't that great, but the creature itself, in accord with the music and speedy action, was the scariest and most harrowing enemy encounter. Now I've fought the same creature like three of four times in less than an hour. Hopefully the next area is coming up soon cause I'm cold and tired.
Mechanics - Dodging sucks. Like really, really, really sucks. I died a number of times because I couldn't dodge when I wanted to. First-person also sucks. Particularly during those "detective" sequences. Other M is an action game, and like any good action game, developers shouldn't be frugal with the number of buttons used. The devs should have gone with a Wiimote + Nunchuck setup. Anyway, I like the speed. Auto-aiming isn't bad either, especially when combined with speed to make some incredibly entertaining combat sequences. Blasting away enemies is pretty tight. Flawed but tight. Despite, the action-packed combat with common enemies, boss fights have somehow managed to blow. The fight with that purple lizard was particularly underwhelming.
Story - Maybe it gets worse later, but as of my current experience with the game, the wars concerning story and cutscenes are blowing things way out of proportion. With the way people slaughter each other in message borads, I was expecting Metroid Gear Solid 4, but there really aren't that many cutscenes and neither of the ones I've seen have been that long.
The whole Samus taking orders from a man thing is sexist is also ridiculous. People are arguing about it without any context. Biso- I mean Adam's an army commander. It's rather bloody obvious that he's gonna go around giving orders to
everyone who's working
with, and therefore
under, him. With that said, the item equipping is dumb, particularly since he only give it to you at later times when you could have been using it as an advantage at the beginning of the level. I do have some complaints with the story, though. There have been some lapses in logic and I absolutely can't stand stuff like that. In sector 2 I think, where you fought the cyborg Zebes creatures, the entire time you were alone. But once you fight those creatures and defeat them, the doors open and the entire platoon of soldiers comes walking in as if they were right behind you. Yeah, uh, where the hell were they the whole time I spent taking down swarms of alien creatures? There are others, but I don't remember at this time.
Presentation - The atmosphere is great. The loneliness and isolation is perfect and gave me quite a few chills since I was playing at night, all alone. The subtle details such as glowing eyes and background sounds add quite nicely to the overall feeling. The slow-motion sequences such as running from the lava creature are also pretty nice. One of my favorite aspects of the game. Visuals polish is decent, but it could have been better. I haven't had a chance to sit down with the soundtrack, but the music I've heard definitely fits the in-game experience. Overall, the general presentation of the game is probably it's biggest advantage. I'm always on the edge of my seat, expecting things to pop out of every corner.
All in all, Other M's an okay game that has some decent, and even great, moments. I'd love a sequel that irons out all the wrinkles.
by coffeewithchess » 02 Oct 2011 17:59 
