I usually try not to comment on other websites' reviews, but I've found X-Play to have been pretty baffling in their coverage of games. In this case, Other M received a 2/5, but what I found most puzzling is the complaints of the way Samus is portrayed. In this case, both the written and video review go off on a rant that there is a sexist portrayal of the character. Now, from other reviews I have read, I have heard no such complaints being brought up. Do you guys feel that it might be because most critics are male? I haven't played the game, but is it really THAT offensive and degrading to women as X-Play made it sound? 
  
Here's what I don't get: is seeing Samus as a vulnerable little girl any different than how emotional Bruce Wayne was as a child in Batman Begins? 
 
EDIT:  This thread is still going on? 
 
Okay, I'm just going to clarify a couple things. This Metroid review was written by   Abbie Heppe, not Morgan Webb. But, since the review was READ by Morgan I can see why there would be confusion. Also, many people are saying that the reason the game is sexist is that Team Ninja was involved with the game's story. I haven't confirmed this myself, but many people in this thread are saying that the story was written by Metroid's creator. So, just like the Wind Waker controversy, people are objecting to a portrayal of a character that the creator originally intended.  
 
You can see more discussion on the game here, and if you do, you'll see  that Abbie Heppe says she would have given the game a higher score if she wasn't as offended with the story. 
 
  

9/3/10 Update:  

On Starcraft 2

 I also want to mention a more personal problem with the game. I take issue with the holographic stripper in the background of every shot in the cantina. There are normal female characters in the game, but every time you go to one area of your ship, the only thing moving is an undulating hologram of what looks like a blood elf with a boob job. Maybe they didn’t expect women to ever play this game, but they’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy. She’s distracting, completely unnecessary to the story or atmosphere, and makes me think that Blizzard needs to hire more women.    
   

GOTTA KEEP IT CONTROVERSIAL.

Truly, apathy is the strongest way to disagree with something.
 
So, X-Play.. I don't give a shit. :D

I haven't played the game myself but from I gather from screenshots, the quicklook and word of mouth I've heard nothing about sexism in this game until now. Nintendo generally consider Samus Aran to be a strong female character so I'm sure they hope to keep it like this in Other M. Also, this is Morgan Webb were talking about, who seems to look for these type of things and then blow it up to massive proportions. Plus her voice is incredibly irritating.

I haven't played metroid other m but the starcraft 2 complaint is ridiculous, it's in a space truckers bar, and i don't see many women on board either. It's not like the gamer is wacking off to a little red lady in the top corner of the bar, or she's just there for the gamers enjoyment, it's there because it's perfectly sensible for it to be in that setting. 
 
Does she expect there to be a library of books there instead?

" I haven't played the game myself but from I gather from screenshots, the quicklook and word of mouth I've heard nothing about sexism in this game until now. Nintendo generally consider Samus Aran to be a strong female character so I'm sure they hope to keep it like this in Other M. Also, this is Morgan Webb were talking about, who seems to look for these type of things and then blow it up to massive proportions. Plus her voice is incredibly irritating. "

She mustve hated the club in Mass Effect 2 then if she found Starcraft distasteful.
And seriously? Metroid is sexist? The game with the strong female character who rarely has back up and other than her zero suit parades around in a hulking piece of armor with no hint of sexualisation? Wow.
If anything find fault with Mario. It has a helpless woman get kidnapped by a man every single game.
 
I hate that we're now in an age where people are offended by games. Sure some are explicit but in this case, it seems like shes digging a bit too hard for controversy.

" @eroticfishcake said:

" I haven't played the game myself but from I gather from screenshots, the quicklook and word of mouth I've heard nothing about sexism in this game until now. Nintendo generally consider Samus Aran to be a strong female character so I'm sure they hope to keep it like this in Other M. Also, this is Morgan Webb were talking about, who seems to look for these type of things and then blow it up to massive proportions. Plus her voice is incredibly irritating. "

To be fair, Morgan Webb wrote the Starcraft 2 review, but not this one. This review was written by some woman I'm not familiar with, but has written for X-Play in the past.  "

I wish we were back in the days where you only knew Samus was a woman if you'd beaten Metroid yourself.

None of the other reviews I've read have talked about sexism in the game. I believe the 1up one did mention that it sorta ruined Samus as a character, but nothing about sexism.
 
Also, I haven't even played Starcraft 2 but the quoted section sounds pretty fucking stupid.
 
It's a holographic projection.
 
In a cantina.
 
Who cares? Really?

" I wish we were back in the days where you only knew Samus was a woman if you'd beaten Metroid yourself. "

I hate when women don't like a game because it has a good looking protagonist or there are strippers in the game. YOU DON'T SEE ME BITCHING WHEN I'M PLAYING A GUY WITH PERFECT FEATURES, A SIX PACK, AND IS A SMOOTH TALKER WITH THE LADIES. It's a video game and it's supposed to take you to a fantasy world that you enjoy be it cutting aliens in half or hanging out in a cantina with some holographic ladies. I hope I don't come of sexist but that's just my gut reaction to these type of things. 

I'm just going to keep on ignoring X-Play
Although the sexism criticism was just stupid and silly

This review makes me want fucking barf, almost every goddamn character in today's video game world is sexist. Most men has a 6 pack and a huge upper body while the females are petite with huge tits, WHOOP DEE FUCKING DO.
 
Fuck you Morgan Webb and your abnormally small nose.

" I hate when women don't like a game because it has a good looking protagonist or there are strippers in the game. YOU DON'T SEE ME BITCHING WHEN I'M PLAYING A GUY WITH PERFECT FEATURES, A SIX PACK, AND IS A SMOOTH TALKER WITH THE LADIES. It's a video game and it's supposed to take you to a fantasy world that you enjoy be it cutting aliens in half or hanging out in a cantina with some holographic ladies. I hope I don't come of sexist but that's just my gut reaction to these type of things.  "

" @pectoral: Yeah, four other people already said that, dude.  As for this, I haven't played it, but I feel like these story elements might be taken out of context. I just have that feeling by the way it was explained. "

"2/5 cause sexist" 
 
lolwut how about you tell us more about why you didn't like the actual game and less about how the story might be offensive to feminists .

lol. When 50% of a video game review is spent talking about sexism, you know the reviewer has nothing of actual value to say about the game.

"It seems like it struck a personal chord of some kind that completely tainted her view of the game itself. "

" lol. When 50% of a video game review is spent talking about sexism, you know the reviewer has nothing of actual value to say about the game. "

" @RE_Player92 said:

" I hate when women don't like a game because it has a good looking protagonist or there are strippers in the game. YOU DON'T SEE ME BITCHING WHEN I'M PLAYING A GUY WITH PERFECT FEATURES, A SIX PACK, AND IS A SMOOTH TALKER WITH THE LADIES. It's a video game and it's supposed to take you to a fantasy world that you enjoy be it cutting aliens in half or hanging out in a cantina with some holographic ladies. I hope I don't come of sexist but that's just my gut reaction to these type of things.  "

While a lot of this crap is blown out of proportion, I wouldn't suggest comparing the portrayal of men in video games to that of women in video games. When it comes to presenting non-stereotyped, nuanced characters that don't fall into the "norm" (or what designers see as the norm), video games lag far behind most other media.  There is a far different stigma attached to a man who sleeps around than there is to women who do the same. Yes, you could say that this points to deeper sexual imbalances embedded in our society, but at the same time, video games, as a media, try the least to fight such stereotyping. "

Samus is a woman, therefore she is sexist.

I agree with X-play on this

man, just realize that X-play is pretty crazy.
 
that said I do love sessler

So strong female lead = sexism?

I have never played a metroid game and from what I read and saw, she does make a lot of salient points, curious to check and see of any other reviews mention it.

" @FateOfNever said:

"It seems like it struck a personal chord of some kind that completely tainted her view of the game itself. "

@Icemael said:

" lol. When 50% of a video game review is spent talking about sexism, you know the reviewer has nothing of actual value to say about the game. "

My thoughts exactly. "

" @jukezypoo said:

" @RE_Player92 said:

" I hate when women don't like a game because it has a good looking protagonist or there are strippers in the game. YOU DON'T SEE ME BITCHING WHEN I'M PLAYING A GUY WITH PERFECT FEATURES, A SIX PACK, AND IS A SMOOTH TALKER WITH THE LADIES. It's a video game and it's supposed to take you to a fantasy world that you enjoy be it cutting aliens in half or hanging out in a cantina with some holographic ladies. I hope I don't come of sexist but that's just my gut reaction to these type of things.  "

While a lot of this crap is blown out of proportion, I wouldn't suggest comparing the portrayal of men in video games to that of women in video games. When it comes to presenting non-stereotyped, nuanced characters that don't fall into the "norm" (or what designers see as the norm), video games lag far behind most other media.  There is a far different stigma attached to a man who sleeps around than there is to women who do the same. Yes, you could say that this points to deeper sexual imbalances embedded in our society, but at the same time, video games, as a media, try the least to fight such stereotyping. "

Yes I agree with you on the sleeping around example as society does frown upon women who have lots of sexual encounters but for this case Metroid is probably one of the few series that actually portrays female protagonist right right. The first Metroid game broke new ground because the entire time you played it you thought you were some kick ass space marine guy but in fact you were woman, showing that women can have action roles in video games. The reviewers main problem in this case was that she looks too good... I, along with other people might I add, would also look good my job was as physical and intense as hers, taking down monsters is no easy task.  "

I'd have to agree with her in her review, though I think she made too much of a deal of being sexist.
 
The plot seems to remove all the mystery that made Samus an interesting yet badass character, and made her into an insecure girl that needs guidance and acceptance from her male superiors.
 
Essentially the story is there to make Samus look vulnerable like one would expect a stereotypical girl to be like, rather than humanizing her in interesting ways.
 
There are clearly ways to make her more human-like, with the whole baby Metroid thing, showing her emotional side. But the whole melodrama with some male superior just seems dumb.

" I'd have to agree with her in her review, though I think she made too much of a deal of being sexist.  The plot seems to remove all the mystery that made Samus an interesting yet badass character, and made her into an insecure girl that needs guidance and acceptance from her male superiors.  Essentially the story is there to make Samus look vulnerable like one would expect a stereotypical girl to be like, rather than humanizing her in interesting ways.  There are clearly ways to make her more human-like, with the whole baby Metroid thing, showing her emotional side. But the whole melodrama with some male superior just seems dumb. "

Wonder why there aren't more female protagonists in games?  The fact that the most minute detail of a female character's portrayal can be misconstrued and interpreted as sexist probably has some input on a developer's decision to make their hero a male.  It only serves to perpetuate stereotypes.

" I'd have to agree with her in her review, though I think she made too much of a deal of being sexist.  The plot seems to remove all the mystery that made Samus an interesting yet badass character, and made her into an insecure girl that needs guidance and acceptance from her male superiors.  Essentially the story is there to make Samus look vulnerable like one would expect a stereotypical girl to be like, rather than humanizing her in interesting ways.  There are clearly ways to make her more human-like, with the whole baby Metroid thing, showing her emotional side. But the whole melodrama with some male superior just seems dumb. "

" Wonder why there aren't more female protagonists in games?  The fact that the most minute detail of a female character's portrayal can be misconstrued and interpreted as sexist probably has some input on a developer's decision to make their hero a male.  It only serves to perpetuate stereotypes. "

The reviewer is completely wrong.  I don't know why any of you would think Team Ninja would make anything even close to a sexist game.  That's just not their style.
 
Seriously though, you can call this sexism, but I would think it more accurate to say that it's typical Japanese melodramatic bullshit that has NO PLACE in a Metroid game.  Either way, it sucks.  *rolls up newspaper*  No Japan!  That's Bad!  Bad Japan! 

I'm pretty sure that the fact she follows orders is because a higher ranked offical is calling the shots.
 
and she's also not an idiot.
 
I want to play this game and deduce further. but I think this chick tried a little too hard, writing her review.

G4 tech tv is fucking trash.

I don't doubt it's not the best game out there, BUT for one samus has ALWAYS been portrayed as a strong woman with a soft hart (srsly, anyone who played super metroid or metroid fusion will agree with me). There's been no overt characterizations of her before, so why is it suddenly an issue that she gets a PERSONALITY??
 
Edit: my bad It's metroid 2 not super metroid.

I just started to play Metroid Other M and so far it's a good game. So far I'm beginning to think that these reviews are just copy and paste just like news stories. Once one person has a complaint, everyone else says the same thing. I have no problems with the controls at all and the fact she concentrates to regain her HP and missiles is because she gained powers from the Metroid. I mean so I think it's a Metroid, but I know she gains powers. Samus literally talks about it in the beginning. And so what if she doesn't want to use bombs and missiles in the beginning. If she wants to keep from having problems with the Federation Army then that's what she has to do. 
 
I'm telling you, you guys will like this game if you like Metroid games. So far I'm liking it.

" This review makes me want fucking barf, almost every goddamn character in today's video game world is sexist. Most men has a 6 pack and a huge upper body while the females are petite with huge tits, WHOOP DEE FUCKING DO.  Fuck you Morgan Webb and your abnormally small nose. "

"So strong female lead = sexism? "

I watched the Gametrailers review and saw some of that.  That Samus wanted to be called a 'lady' by her superior really does weaken the character substantially.  "Tee hee, I'm a girl and I just want guys to like me!"