The return to the third person, 2D platforming is anything but a return to form for this beloved bounty hunter.

The Metroid franchise has continually been successful throwing it’s silent and stoic protagonist alone in hostile territory. Minimal story, timely action, and the sense of discovery have long been hallmarks in the series and somehow Other M manages to miss in every way.

The game starts with a truly beautiful cinematic recapping the end of Super Metroid, but however breathtaking the scene, this was our first clue that we were in for a different Metroid experience. Samus’ monologue throughout sounds more like a high school diary than a hardened bounty hunter. The toughest woman in video game history is reduced to a blubbering, vulnerable brat and we don’t even get deep gameplay to make up for it.

After escaping the exploding planet Zebes, Samus picks up a distress call from a Galactic Federation vessel, the Bottle Ship. It doesn’t take long to sense something is amiss and discover that some old allies are also on board. Adam Malkovich (think: computer from Metroid Fusion) and his team have also responded to the distress call and this stirs a slew of teenage emotions in Samus. Then, as expected, she is stripped of her power ups by a strange explosion, right? Or, maybe some parasite? No. She can’t use power bombs or the wave beam because Adam SAID so. Oh, Samus, what have they done to you?

Other M is played in two perspectives and control schemes. The Super Metroid-esque third person perspective is controlled by the Wiimote held sideways. 1 jumps, 2 shoots. There is a dodge function and with a full charge beam you can unleash a mildly satisfying melee attack. It’s that simple. The game even aims for you. The beam upgrades are the same we’ve seen before but they are the only real additions to the combat. After a couple of hours it gets to be so dull and repetitive that you’d rather run past enemies than kill them.

The other perspective can be entered at anytime by pointing the Wiimote at the screen. This switches to a Prime-esque first person mode. You can shoot enemies with your arm cannon, scan (in a very limited capacity, and mostly only when prompted) and fire missiles from this mode, and that’s it. You can’t even move, which is the major drawback with this perspective. Missiles are essential to many boss battles and it’s incredibly frustrating to be kicked out of the first person mode whenever you’re hit.

This time around, rather than pick up missiles from downed aliens, Samus simply has to concentrate to replenish them. You read that right: concentrate. This blows most of the strategy of missile conservation out of the water and concentration can even be used to... replenish health. When energy is low all you have yo do is point the Wiimote to the sky and hold A.

The exploration of characteristic of the Metroid series is also sorely missed as Other M favors a Fusion style objective system. Beyond that, missile power ups show up on the map when a room is cleared of enemies giving little sense that you actually discovered anything.

The boss battles are actually quite varied and uniquely challenging. They are just as epic as you would expect from the series and the multi-tiered battle with Samus’ old foe Ridley is especially exhilarating. When you reach the end of the final boss battle it’s one of those “that’s it?” moments, because you really can’t believe you beat the game that fast and the final fight was that anticlimactic, both firsts for the series.

Some beautiful environments and the classic Metroid soundtrack help save they game from itself as the paper thin gameplay, mildly engaging plot, and awful (awful!) voice acting mar this title. The boss battles and last quarter of the game when Samus is fully powered are the only indications that you are the ruthless bounty hunter we’ve come to know and love, but somehow that’s almost enough to make this a good game. Other M has it’s moments but I give it a 6.75/10.