Metroid Dread

released on Oct 07, 2021

Join intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran in her first new 2D Metroid story in 19 years. Samus’ story continues after the events of the Metroid Fusion game when she descends upon planet ZDR to investigate a mysterious transmission sent to the Galactic Federation. The remote planet has become overrun by vicious alien lifeforms and chilling mechanical menaces. Samus is more agile and capable than ever, but can she overcome the inhuman threat stalking the depths of ZDR?


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

opened the game for the first time in a year and hated it. i love the artstyle but everything else isn't for me.

I would have to say that Metroid Dread has become my personal greatest game I played in the last 10 or 15 years. It's setting, the movements, the boss fights, the ambience, everything is tied together so well that I don't know how they can top Dread with a sequel.
First the Gameplay and Controls, It's standard Metroid fare here, but what you have is a control scheme that not only uses about every button on the controller, but it does so in a non-complicated way, it's almost seemless! Traversing though planet ZDR felt so damn smooth it was like cutting through butter!
Planet ZDR also has some interesting baddies waiting for you that will have you killing through them, both old and new are here. The biggest addition is the E.M.M.I. They are truly terrifying, thankfully they are in their designated areas otherwise this game would be alot more stressful. They search for you and can see through walls or even hear you...they're super scary! And the boss fights here also make you feel like a genuine badass as you fight through them with a crazy aresenal.
I can't say much more without spoiling it, and it shouldn't spoil it if you haven't played it yet. If you are a fan or Metroidvanias this has to be on the top of your list and should be respected!

Ever since dropping this a month ago I've tried figuring out what didn't work for me this time around, I still don't fully know! On paper Dread is a really great time- movement and combat feel nice, the EMMI zones genuinely scare me (especially after hitting the pen...), the art direction is pleasant and the sound is fantastic. And yet almost all my enthusiasm vanished towards the end of my playthrough, after forcing myself to continue for a bit I realized the joy wasn't coming back and cut my losses.

I feel that Dread is hindered by two key elements. The exploration can be hyper-linear at points; after a while a lot of your time spent with the game will be trekking from one teleportal to another, almost every path that strays will be gated off by an ability you don't have yet or an environmental hazard that prevents progress. It doesn't help that you don't spend much time in any of the areas either, the game hurries you from set piece to set piece which reduces the environment’s impact to “the ice place” and “the big water room.” My other point of contention is with the EMMI zones. I like the EMMI's! I think they're scary and do a good job of keeping you on your toes. The zones however aren't fun after the first few, I came to loathe being forced to halt all progress so you can repeat the same start-and-stop "stealth" segments that you did with all the previous ones. I hate to engage in armchair game design but I think it would’ve been way more interesting (and scarier!) to have 3 or 4 EMMI’s lurking around the map at all times. I’ve never played RE2 but this is what I understand the Mr X stalking mechanic to be, imagining what Dread could’ve been with this approach makes me sad at the lost potential. It probably would’ve resulted in a completely different experience, but it’s not like we’d be losing anything exceptional. If only…

Aside from these specific gripes I still found a lot of the initial charm missing, it’s a bummer to have so many of Dread’s strengths rely solely on being novel. After feeling tepid on Zero Mission and finding Super Metroid’s traversal too stiff to enjoy I’m questioning if I even like the 2D series that much anymore. Wouldn’t call Dread bad, I had a great time playing it upon release, but it’s certainly misguided. Still stoked we got a new 2D title though, let’s just hope the next entry (if we even get one) learns more from its genre contemporaries.

Probably the pinnacle of the genre, excellent combat, visuals, bosses and level design. Soundtrack still lacking here but the ending was so phenomenal I'm not docking points

My first metroidvania game was Hollow Knight which is now my all time favourite game. So when a new Metroid game got announced I was very interested. This game is a blast, the world is super cool and finally playing such an influential game franchise was great.