My 2 Cents: Killing Samus
By devosion 16 Comments
Im omitting some sleep to write this down, but after reading this article I can't help but feel the need to add my 2 cents. Before I begin though I want to add that I have not played, nor own, Metroid: Other M.
Other M was on my preorder list for awhile there, but close to the last minute I decided not to purchase the game. This decision is primarily based on financial, and time reasons, but there is another factor that has always weighed heavily on my mind with this game. Ever since the game was announced I've had a strong apprehension towards this game. Watching a young blond haired Samus with a melancholic voice, and emotional feel to her felt so alien to me. Watching the cinematics from the game do nothing to remove this feeling. And after reading this article this sense of apprehension has grown into a full blown disdain for the character that is being portrayed in this game.
Far be it from silly for someone who has grown up with a video game character over the course of many years, and games, and seen her retain a resolute and powerful demeanor, to be concerned about a sudden change in what originally made the character memorable, unique, and iconic. I completely understand where the author of this article is coming from. I now understand fully why I have have felt such a strong sense of apprehension and disdain. This game does not exemplify the character that I knew and grew up with.
While there might be some concern over attachment with a game character, this is not completely unfounded. In much the same manner gamers become attached to their favorite hardware manufacturer. Be it Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, even Sega, and Atari. The gamer feels a sense of attachment in this case to a quality of game, or a brand of games. The attachment to a video game character is something far more consequential though. As hardware changes though, the fundamental form of a character should remain consistent throughout releases if only not to alienate fans. This is obvious for such popular characters as Mario, or Link. If Mario suddenly becoming a depressive plumber who can't get himself out of bed to save the Princess, and requires Luigi's assistance to even go about menial tasks any fan will immediately come to the conclusion that it is not Mario. Fundamentally Mario is an energetic character, and Nintendo wouldn't change this form for the life of them. Link traditionally is also an energetic character, but he combines this with a wide-eyed veneer and stoic heroism that makes him representational of a child who is naive to the world, but is willing to overcome impossible odds to save it and those around him. Samus, or what she used to be, was a lone silent protagonist that spanned the galaxies in search of terrible foes that destroyed her childhood, impossible odds to overcome, and all while remaining a powerful and imposing figure on her own. Samus is not Samus anymore, at least in Other M.
Just a brief cursory play through of the Metroid games is evidence of this. And it doesn't even take an observant eye to notice this. In nearly every game she is a lone protagonist, this changes in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for brief cinematic segments but even these are respectful to the character as she has traditionally been. In Other M she is constantly checking in with her commander, she seems to exhume a necessity to constantly narrate how she is feeling at any given moment, and is completely out of character. It is as if the developers of this game decided all existing games, and their portrayal of Samus, were not only wrong, but also out-dated and unneeded. This bothers me greatly.
Samus is one of my favorite characters in gaming history. She exemplifies the powerful heroine that needs no excuse to do what is right, and is capable and intelligent to know when to use her best judgment. Whoever this character is in Other M is not Samus. So what it really comes down to is that Other M may play like a Metroid game, but it's missing the most important aspect of a Metroid game. And that is Samus.