Super Metroid is one of my favorite games of all time, so I was excited when Metroid Dread ($59.99) was announced for the Nintendo Switch as “Metroid 5.” Then I learned that MercurySteam was handling the development duties, and got a bit nervous. The company’s 3DS remake of Metroid 2, Samus Returns, is technically proficient, but it railroads you down certain paths, and features questionable combat mechanics. And before that, MercurySteam’s Castlevania games, particularly Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, were less than impressive.
I’ve now played through Metroid Dread, and I’m ecstatic to be proven wrong. Its sprawling world begs you to explore every inch of it, and while it keeps Samus Returns’ control elements, they feel much better on the Switch. This is a proper Metroid 5, and that’s more than enough to make it an Editors’ Choice pick for Switch games.
ZDR, the Planet That Doesn’t Stand for Anything
Metroid Dread takes place after Metroid Fusion, with both the dangerous Metroids and the even more dangerous X parasites seemingly eradicated by Samus Aran’s hand. Both were galaxy-threatening organisms, and everyone is safer without them. So, when evidence is found of X existing on the uncharted planet ZDR, this is a cause for concern. The Galactic Federation sends a group of advanced research robots called EMMIs to ZDR, and quickly lose contact with them. So, naturally, they send Samus to investigate the situation.
Shortly after landing, Samus encounters an armored warrior who appears to be a Chozo, the alien race that raised her. The warrior attacks and easily beats Samus, who wakes up hours later in ZDR’s depths, with most of her power suit’s armor and weapons literally torn off and disabled. This is how Metroid Dread starts, with Samus in the bowls of an alien planet, wildly underpowered for the threats she’s going to face.
It’s a good explanation for why Samus, nearly invincible after gaining the Fusion suit in Metroid Fusion, is once again reduced to a vulnerable target with a single energy tank and weak arm cannon to her name. It’s a common premise for Metroid games, often barely explained, and it’s necessary for the series’ formula to function. After all, the entire appeal of the “search action” genre (read: Metroidvanias) is to explore a world that slowly opens itself up to you as you get more tools to overcome obstacles. Beginning the game with Space Jump and Screw Attack would just feel wrong.
Classic, Robust Controls
At its heart, Metroid Dead is a side-scrolling platformer game that focuses on exploration and shooting. The core controls start off with simple Metroid series inputs: Run with the left analog stick, jump with the B button, and fire with the Y button. MercurySteam then layers on several more controls, adding elements from its 3DS remake of Metroid II, Samus Returns. You can aim in 360 degrees with the right analog stick, stand in place for precision aiming with the L button, and perform a melee counter attack by pressing X when an enemy flashes yellow. You can also slide under objects by holding left or right and pressing ZL (important, considering you don’t get the Morph Ball until a good way into the game). That’s just when you start.
As you unlock more tools, more inputs activate them. Holding the R button lets you shoot missiles, ZR fires the Grappling Beam, and holding the Y button under various situations charges your shots in different ways. Of course, when you eventually get it, pressing down rolls you up into the Morph Ball for getting through even more cramped spaces. Then there are the Aeion abilities, also carried over from Samus Returns, that give you even more tricks. They let you cloak by clicking the right analog stick and dash-teleport short distances by holding the A button and tilting the left analog stick in a direction.
It can seem a bit complicated compared with earlier side-scrolling Metroid games besides Samus Returns, but it quickly felt natural. I wasn’t a huge fan of Samus Return’s precision aiming and melee counters, feeling that they threw off the combat-heavy game’s pacing. The full-size right analog stick makes aiming feel much smoother in Metroid Dread, though, and the melee counter feels less necessary and more convenient because enemies generally feel less like bullet sponges that require using it. Metroid Dread’s size and pacing helps, too. Its exploration is a much bigger part of the game than in Samus Returns (which was originally designed for the Game Boy), giving the title better balance in the overall flow.
Metroid Dread’s Exploration
Metroid Dread’s core gameplay is the same as any other Metroid game: You explore the surroundings, and receive gentle guidance through certain routes by the presence of obstacles you can’t get past. You find new weapons and abilities that overcome those obstacles, and let you run around a wider area. You find even more tools that expand the gameplay areas. Repeat.
ZDR is an ideal setting for this game, because it’s a massive planet with multiple regions, some close to the size of Super Metroid’s entire map. These regions are crisscrossed by elevators, trams, and teleporters that take you between them, giving ZDR the impression of a huge, interconnected world instead of a series of locations linked by single elevators. This is easily the biggest side-scrolling Metroid world yet (possibly the biggest in all of the Metroid series, but the areas of the 3D Metroid Prime games are very hard to directly compare with the 2D ones).
Metroid Dread’s map is useful for exploring the world, and doesn’t railroad you with bright, flashing objectives to rush to like Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission, and Samus Returns’ maps. It expects you to keep track of where you should go and what you haven’t seen yet, and gives you the tools to manage them. The map displays items and obstacles as you find them, and whether you already collected the former and overcame the latter. Doors and barriers are labeled by type, and clearly show whether you opened them yet. If you haven’t gotten the relevant upgrade yet, they will be identified with a “???,” signaling that you can’t pass them. These are incredibly handy features that let you figure out where you should go on your own without holding your hand throughout the game.
Run From the Robots
You’ll do more than explore caves and fight monsters, though. The biggest addition to Metroid Dread is the EMMI robots that have been programmed to hunt Samus. They chase down Samus as soon as they detect her, and getting caught by them is an instant game over unless you manage a very difficult timed counter. In fact, they’re effectively indestructible except under very specific conditions.
All is not hopeless, though. EMMI only patrol their assigned zones, and you won’t be hunted as long as the screen doesn’t show a slight static effect indicating you’re in one of those zones. These areas are built with playing cat-and-mouse in mind, so running from an EMMI feels more like a challenge of skill and planning than simply being chased by an unstoppable monster. You can also destroy each EMMI as you progress by receiving an Omega Energy charge that penetrates their armor (but dissipates as soon as the EMMI is defeated). This is immensely satisfying, and opens up their zones to wider and more relaxed exploration.
I was prepared to hate the EMMI because I generally don’t like being chased by enemies that can kill me in one hit, but I was pleasantly surprised. Encounters with them feel tense and exciting, but they aren’t a constant, stressful threat thanks to the clearly delineated areas they stalk. Oh, and if you were worried about Samus’ characterization from Metroid: Other M carrying over into this game, have no fear. The Samus Aran in Metroid Dread doesn’t freeze or panic. Ever.
A Pretty Game
Metroid Dread’s action is 2D, but the graphics are fully 3D and look fantastic. The backgrounds are varied and colorful, both between different regions of ZDR and different areas in those regions. Most locations feel unique, with set pieces and layouts that distinguish them from nearby rooms and prevents the feeling that any part of the game was simply copied and pasted to make ZDR seem bigger. The ongoing action is consistently smooth, and loaded with flashy effects for different weapons and enemies that pop out without obscuring the view. Cutscenes that show Samus and bosses up close are filled with detail, and breathe plenty of personality into the few characters in the game.
Short, But Satisfying
I reached the end of Metroid Dread in just under six hours, which is a respectable amount of time for a first playthrough of a Metroid game. There isn’t any content beyond the main game, outside of some hidden Chozo records and the different end graphics you can get based on how long it takes you to beat the game and how thorough you are in doing it. There’s no multiplayer mode.
This is all standard for a side-scrolling Metroid game. The lasting appeal is finding every last collectible, and replaying the game repeatedly to get faster at it. I’m not a speedrunner, but the open design of ZDR seems to offer plenty of potential to optimize and exploit the game. I look forward to seeing what sequence breaking and advanced techniques speedrunners can get out of Metroid Dread. Although I’m not one to rush through a game, I can certainly see myself occasionally replaying Metroid Dread. I started a new save file to get more screenshots after reaching the end (to avoid spoilers), and I started enjoying those tense early sections all over again.
Samus Truly Returns
Metroid Dread is excellent, and a worthy game to carry the title of “Metroid 5.” Building a huge, open world from scratch has let MercurySteam create a much more engaging and well-paced Metroid experience than Samus Returns, and the developer has clearly shaken the jankiness associated with its Castlevania days. It looks great, controls well, and is satisfying to play.
It presents the same jump in technological prowess over the SNES and Game Boy Advance Metroid games that The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds did over The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The comparison isn’t quite as direct because the two Zelda games had very similar settings and scopes, so I can’t honestly say Metroid Dread is equal to or superior to Super Metroid. I can say that Metroid Dread is dripping with polish and quality, and it easily earns our Editors’ Choice designation. This is yet another Nintendo Switch game that should be in your collection.
For more recommended Nintendo Switch titles, check out The Best Nintendo Switch Games and The Best Nintendo Switch Games for Kids. And for in-depth video game talk, visit PCMag’s Pop-Off YouTube channel.
