Metroid Dread Review
A sequel 16 years in the making, by complete surprise we finally got a new Metroid game and it was all worth the wait.
Developer: Mercury Steam, Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Release Date: 8th October 2021
Platform: Nintendo Switch
19 years ago was when we last had a mainline Metroid game. We had the remarkable Metroid remake Zero Mission in 2004 and the Metroid Prime series was carrying on strong from 2002 to 2007. We had Other M in 2010 to try to add more to the series though that was found divisive by fans for its story (as a game it’s perfectly fine). We also had Federation Force in 2016 which… the less said about the better. Either way it was seven years of nothing until we saw another Metroid game again with the Metroid 2 remake Samus Returns by Mecury Steam which recieved rave reviews. Its positive reception and sales showed that demand and want for a new Metroid game was high and the years appreciation of the series was growing stronger. That same year the Switch came out and immediately demand for a new Metroid game was very much vocal. E3 2017 we got word of Metroid Prime 4 and five years later it’s… well, we’re still waiting.
But then in 2021 in the midst of one of our most bleakest times while the world outside was collapsing came hope! E3 2021 during Nintendo Direct by complete surprise came a new trailer. Eerie music came in then THUMP! Samus drops down into a steamy corridor in a lovely new blue and white suit. Cut to black and scrawling across the screen reads “Metroid 5” Oh, Metroid fi— METROID 5?!!? Samus investigates around and is then chased by a curious robot, pins her down and jabs her with a horrific giant needle. Then up pops the Metroid logo and glitching in red “DREAD”. METROID DREAD! A game that had been in development hell since 2005 and considered more myth than anything was finally coming out by complete surprise! It had somehow been made to completion in total secre. Nothing had been leaked about it, no mention on it over the years, nothing! Oh, and it was coming out in 4 months time… WHAT!
Its announcement came completely blindsided for everyone. They just dumped this on us, showed us a new suit for Samus, a new adventure, new enemies, new locations— a living Chozo?! And said it was coming out way sooner than we could expect? To say that it had the internet and Metroid fans up in arms ecstatically would be putting it mildly. Pre-orders for the game sold out in minutes, amiibos just as quickly and by its release Dread had become Metroid’s highest and fastest selling game ever.
So after 19 long years we finally have a new entry in the Metroid series continuing on Samus’s adventures and oh boy does it deliver on the name and make all the waiting worthwhile.
In Metroid Dread, the Galactic Federation have found that the X parasites from Fusion have survived and were sighted on the planet ZDR. They sent in their robots known as EM.M.I.’s (an Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) to take a look but something soon hijacks them by something else on the planet. So Samus is brought in to save their asses and the day, again, see what’s wrong, recover the E.M.M.I.’s and get out of there. But once she reaches the planet’s surface she discovers more than she anticipated. Like a goddamn Chozo warrior slapping her shit about until she passes out in his grasp and wakes up to find she’s been mugged. Fucking typical. All her abilities, weapons, energy tanks and her varia suit all gone leaving her down to her bare basics. But what good would a Metroid game be if it didn’t take away all your toys at first and make you work hard to get them all back again? And I like the method they chose to implement this because it fits nicely contextually within the story they’re setting up and Samus’ motivation and it doesn’t feel lazy or mandatory. It’s not a surprise but it has given you a reason to be curious to why Samus wasn’t offed already, who this Chozo warrior was and what’s his connection to the E.M.M.I.’s?
Throughout the game you visit 9 different areas of ZDR; Artaria, Burenia, Cataris, Dairon, Elun, Ferenia, Ghavoran, Hanubia, and Itorash (notice something with the names there?) Starting off in Artaria, your goal is to work your way up through to the planet’s surface and reach your ship. A nice change from other Metroid games where you start on the surface and work your way down deeper.
On your way you encounter these E.M.M.I.s, Terminator-like robots you gotta sneak around and avoid because once you’re caught by them that’s it. Unless you can counter their attacks. A little like encountering the SA-X in Fusion except here you stand some chance against them. Eventually you’ll find a method to defeat these E.M.M.I.s, by obtaining an omega cannon temporarily, a weapon powerful enough to not just melt away their faceplates with a rapid fire but completely blow their heads off with a charged shot. It’s a delightful weapon that shares its name with the omega cannon from Metroid Prime Hunters but not the same weapon. For each E.M.M.I. you defeat you gain back another ability be it your morphball, speed booster and shinespark, spider magnet, ice missiles, wave beam and power bomb. Facing off against the E.M.M.I.’s are exhilirating, terrifying, and frustrating. Gradually they get more difficult given what item of Samus they’re using (the blue one that gives you ice missiles can freeze you solid with its tracking beam) and on your first run through while learning not just how these robots work but also how Samus moves and controls and getting the hang of your new aeon abilities— like going invisible for example— facing these terminator robots can be difficult. But they’re never totally unfair in difficulty. If you get caught by an E.M..M.I. you get two chances to parry its attack to escape. Mess up both times and one hit you’re dead. The difficulty here is for each E.M.M.I. and for each instance you get caught the timing on parrying their attacks differs. Some might be quicker than others and some longer, so at first you’re not going to get succesful counters on the robots. You’d counter too soon on a drawn out attack and too late on a quick attack right as you think you know the timing of their attacks. It takes a little time and observation to learn each E.M.M.I.’s attack speeds and for that you’d best develop some patience. Your best bet is to learn your way around the environment so you don’t have to ever come face to face with an E.M.M.I. Using your Phanton Cloak to hide right in front of an E.M.M.I. in your morph ball in a crevice is fun though, it has a lot of anticipation to it. Once you’ve learned how these E.M.M.I.’s work and especially their environments and what routes to take to quickly avoid them you can handle them no problem.
You’re not totally alone through your quest in Dread. Same as in Fusion, you’re aided by the A.I. Adam who guides you to finding your way up to the surface of the planet while constantly reminding you that all hope is lost and there’s no way you can face the Chozo warrior without getting fucking murked. Sounds a whole lot alike what he recommended with the SA-X in Fusion… He’s not entirely the most optimistic of A.I.’s, but one difference between this and Fusion is Adam isn’t barking orders at you as often, just simply guiding you along. Once you reach Ferenia after encountering another E.M.M.I., however, Samus makes a new friend and this is where the story gets even more exciting. After inspecting some Chozo hieroglyphs depicting the Chozo who attacked her, a wild E.M.M.I. bursts through to attack then stops all of a sudden by the command of another Chozo on the planet called Quiet Robe. Finally a living breathing Chozo that’s a friend! Quiet Robe tells Samus that the Chozo Warrior who attacked Samus and hijacked the E.M.M.I.’s is a Chozo of the Mawkin tribe called Raven Beak, the new big bad of the Metroid series. Raven Beak hijacked the E.M.M.I.’s so that he can extract the Metroid DNA from Samus so that he may create a new tribe of ultimate warriors for galactic conquest. If there’s one thing that seems to be a little apparent is there’s a lot of retreading old ground for character motivations in this. Everyone seems to want to get a hold of Metroids to create a bioweapon to take over the universe. I called this right from the first trailer this would happen!
But here is the really exciting bit about this scene. Quiet Robe breaks the news that Raven Beak has sent the E.M.M.I.’s to extract the Metroid DNA from Samus and it all goes quiet… then Samus’s theme steadily rumbles in and for the first time ever in a mainline Metroid game Samus speaks! And in the Chozo language!!! Yes, Samus has spoken before but this isn’t including Jennifer Hale’s wonderful work as Samus in the Prime series or Jessica Erin Martin in Other M, those are other seperate things. In Fusion Samus spoke narrating her experience throughout in text and the opening text in Super Metroid is more from Samus’ perspective, but in a main Metroid game we’ve never heard Samus speak. For someone in her 35 years of games she’s always been a silent protagonist and to then finally say something that encapsulates all of her character in one sentence was so exciting. I beamed a stupid smile when she suddenly spoke, I was not expecting that at all. Samus is voiced by Spanish actress Nikki García making her the third english speaking voice actress to voice Samus… Although rather the first Chozo speaking voice actress to be more precise and third western voice actress.
Here’s where things get more interesting for Samus. There are different tribes of Chozo; the Mawkin, the warrior tribe Raven Beak is a part of, and the Thoha, the scientist tribe that Quiet Robe is a part of who have the ability to control Metroids. It can be believed that Old Bird and Grey Voice who saved and raised Samus as a child could also be a part of the Thoha tribe. Raven Beak is also one of the Chozo responsible for donating his Chozo DNA to Samus to help her survive Zebes making him retrospectively another father of Samus. How can one girl have so many dads? Rodney Aran, Old Bird, Grey Voice, Adam Malkovich and now Raven Beak?
So anyway, while the story seems to be following old beats it’s still adding new twists and surprises and developments to Samus and the Metroid lore and it all works so wonderfully well. I love it. One of this game’s greatest strengths is the story.
Continuing on, I should really get to the gameplay and its bosses. The game plays lovely and perfectly. Samus moves so swiftly and nimbly she’s never felt better to play as. She plays a lot like how she controlled in Samus Returns but now with more buttons on the Switch to use there’s a few more abilities to use. You have your standard running, jumping, shinesparking, shooting and missile blasting. Manual aiming is back again and with it a new ability in the seeker missiles brought from the Prime series. Hold down L and aim at specific green targets to home in five missiles at once. Outside of puzzle boxes and one boss it’s not entirely used a lot, not even against Raven Beak at the end. You can run to a slide and shoot, very satisfying to do. Aeion abilities are back giving you flash shift for a quick dash that is super handy in fights, phantom cloak for invisibility and pulse radar to help find hidden blocks which come in very handy for item hunting later on. Wall jumping is back again and is much more refined than how it was in previous Metroids. There’s now a designated morph ball button in ZL to instantaneously switch forms which comes in very handy with shinespark puzzles later on and boss fights. The spider magnet helps you cling onto specific blue walls and crawl along to new areas (guess she can crawl now). And of course you have your grapple beam, power bomb, morph ball bombs, charge, plasma and wave beams, super missiles and ice missiles. I’ve said before in Zero Mission at the end you feel like a super hero with how overpowered you become blasting through the Space Pirate ship. Here throughout, even at the beginning when you’re stripped down, Samus still feels like an incredibly capable and agile super hero and it feels totally appropriate to her.
With great mobility must also come great challenge. Or something. Right before the final battle against Raven Beak you have a chance to go back throughout ZDR to gather all other energy tanks, missile tanks and power bomb tanks. Quite a few of these require rather complicated shinespark puzzles and oh man can some of them require a lot of your patience to get them right! Ferenia and Burenia probably have the two most complicated ones out of the whole lot but once you finally manage to get it right and get that item at the end it is so satisfying. One thing that I found really interesting in watching other player’s attempts at the same puzzle is there is no one set way to do these. Everyone has found different approaches to get the same result in dashing down these halls with the speedboost, chaining a couple more together to keep it going and speeding off in your morph ball, which yeah that’s a thing you can do now. Just super pinball your way across the stage, fantastic.
The music of Metroid has always been its second greatest strength. Throughout all of its games there have been countless memorable tracks from its boss themes to Samus’ heroic march. With Dread it’s a little hard to judge its soundtrack at the moment. It isn’t a bad soundtrack, far from. It’s incredible as well with different themes for each areas at different times you explore them as the environment changes. Artaria’s second theme and some boss themes take heavy inspiration from Prime’s soundtrack and the E.M.M.I. tracks are haunting and anxiety inducing, Raven Beak’s themes get stuck in my head the more I listen to them. I think with Dread’s soundtrack some time needs to pass to see how well it ages, see how memorable it becomes and see which themes stand out more amongst the others. On a first playthrough not many of these themes seem to strike you as hard and fast as say Ridley’s theme does, to me at least. Despite that it’s still a very good soundtrack which the more I listen to the more I enjoy. I think it’s the longest soundtrack of all the Metroid games too going on for a little over 3 hours on YouTube.
The game as a whole looks incredible too. I love the new model for Samus, her new suits with more white implemented into them and the gradual changes that come with the Varia and Gravity suit seeing a natural evolution to them. The character animations are so well done, the design of the Chozo warriors and Raven Beak are astounding and a nice payoff to see some Chozos finally after years of teases, and the levels and backgrounds themselves are finely crafted with great depth put into these 2D scapes to not make them feel so flat. Not to mention some areas have passive wildlife to them. On occasion you see particular details in the backgrounds adding more visual storytelling to the game, like Corpious skulking around while invisible before you eventually face off against him, sea creatures slamming into windows, a beast trying to bash through a steel door, I love these little details. Some areas will pull back on the camera to give a bigger scope on where you’re delving into deeper and in some cases push in a little closer. Some areas you’ll have to traverse in the dark and get the power back on, leaving only red backup lights and the green of your suit to light the way making a lovely atmosphere. You’ll travel from the fiery furnace that is Cataris over to the watery depths of Burenia to the intricate Chozo architecture of Ferenia and Itorash. Hidden blocks of old aren’t too difficult to spot even without the pulse radar at hand if you shoot and bomb everything you see. One thing I realise with Dread is it seems all feeling of isolation the series is known for feels absent in this game and replaced more with the aptly titular dread. Not just from confidence in Samus in her experience or confidence in the player knowing these games well, or from always having Adam to talk to at the end of the hallway, but also from every foe that walks this planet from the Chozo to the cannon fodder you come across, the X Parasites and especially the bosses hiding away in their caverns waiting for you to fall in. The planet is littered with life and everything wants to kill you.
The bosses themselves have never been better. Each one is wonderfully challenging and come with their own frustrations. But same as ever, take your time, learn what they do, be patient, and before you know it you’ll have their behaviours and patterns down and be able to slap them around faster than you know it by your third playthrough. You’ll get mad at them at first for beating you but it’s not in Samus to just give up and quit so easily and neither should it be for you. So you try and try again and you’ll get it. Each boss is really well designed and their fights are smartly made. You’ll hate them for the right reasons but it would be interesting to see how well these bosses will be appreicated in time. The absolute highlight of the bosses has to be Kraid early on. The final battle with Raven Beak is totally something else but I’ll get to that in a moment. It is so nice to see Kraid back again after last seeing him in Super Metroid (Zero Mission technically). He was planned to appear in Metroid Prime but due to size and time he was cut, so it was wholly welcoming to see him all chained up in a lava pit ready for you to abuse all over again!
If there’s one thing I noticed with how this game portrays Samus through her gameplay and through her cutscenes and boss encounters is she’s a woman who is so unbothered by all this nonsense around her now after dealing with the years of experiences she’s gone through that nothing fazes her anymore. She’ll nonchalantly charge up her arm cannon as a boss struggles to its feet or Kraid will scream right up in her face until he’s blue in his face and all I can hear is Samus going “Yeah, yeah, yeah, ‘rarr’. Shut the fuck up already.” And then shoot him in the mouth to silence him. I love it! Samus is so cool…
So you beat all the bosses, got all your items back and made it all the way to the top in Hanubia. With how things are going you’re ready to face Raven Beak up in Itorash and end things once and for all. You go up to his ship, confront Adam and the wall falls revealing Raven Beak ready for you to begin the final tenacious battle. And what a tricky bastard he is. But again like all the other bosses, once you learn how he behaves through his three phases you’re alright and I guarantee you can beat him in one attempt one day. He’s not so hard. But this final battle is where things all start to pay off and pay off spectacularly. On your way to Hanubia in this final build up Samus notices a particular change within her… The more X Parasites she’s absorbing the more she can just absorb the E.M.M.I. and Chozo warriors with just one hand without really having to fight them. This is a result of her Metroid DNA getting stronger, mutating her further and strengthening her Metroid powers. She’s becoming much too powerful… The battle against Raven Beak himself is shocking. First phase you shoot him with missiles, power bomb his black holes and melee counter his attacks when prompted. Eventually he’ll go “You know what? Fuck this” spread his wings and fly high. Now he’s an aerial nuisance you gotta take care of. Jump around him as he sprays you with an assault of laser beams, powerbomb more black holes of his and dodge his swoop attacks. Assault him enough with ice missiles then Samus will shoot off one of his wings grounding him. Without a care Raven Beak will just tear off his remaining wing like “Pfft. Alright. Don’t need no fucking wings to take care of you anyway.” And then you fight to the death! But whose…?
This is where things pay off to an immensely satisfying end. Raven Beak didn’t kill Samus at the beginning because he saw in Samus her Metroid powers awakening, so he let her go to see them develop, and develop they have. That’s why at the beginning there was that bizarre flash before it cut to black and she woke up after passing out. So Raven Beak has Samus by the throat, tells her to let go and just die because he doesn’t need her alive. He can just clone her and create the perfect army of ultimate warriors. “Power is everything…” he remarks in Chozo… Samus struggles and fights back in his grasp to her last breath, her eyes flicker and her visor dims dead.
…
Then a flash, her hand glows but something is different to her. Then she screams bloody fucking murder, eyes flare furiously, her suit changes completely and gouges at Raven Beaks eye tenaciously and starts to absorb him and everything around them. She wrestles around with him, he’s trying to get her off him but the ship gets drained of its energy and crashes down to the ground below.
Samus pops up completely unharmed and looking mighty different. Her Metroid DNA and powers have taken a complete hold on her now giving her a new Metroid power suit. Raven Beak struggles to his feet, gets absorbed by an X Parasite and turns in to a nasty Kraid/Raven Beak hybrid. So you gotta defend yourself and how else but with a mighty fuck off beam of death obliterating Raven Beak and the last X Parasite. Then in traditional Metroid fashion you gotta run like fuck back to your ship, blasting everything in your path with your mega beam of fuck you all, and get the hell out of there before the whole planet exlodes. But you can’t use your ship in this condition because you’ll absorb the ship and then you’ll be fucked! But by surprise an X Parasite controlled Quiet Robe comes up behind Samus and seemingly in control of the X, Quite Robe becomes absorbed by Samus and thanks to his Thoha DNA can get better control over the Metroid powers. Then she bolts in the last second and mission accomplished.
I hadn’t been so hooked on an ending of a game like this in so long. I was so excited by what was going on. It had me concerned for Samus if she was ok, her bloody furious shouting, and the twists and surprises completely caught me off. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. And how it’s ended it’s left things open ended for the next Metroid game. It’s left it open for whatever new threat Samus will have to face and left a lot of questions. What will happen with her now that she is the last Metroid? THE Metroid? And now that she has super saiyan powers what is the extent of those powers? Can she control them now? What is with this Exelion Corp who made the E.M.M.I.? Are there still other Chozo out there she can find and help or get help from? Could we even see Old Bird and Grey voice again?!
Yoshio Sakamoto intended this to be the final chapter on what was started with Metroid 35 years ago, so there is absolutely potential for something new with Samus and a whole new arc for her. This is far from the last we’re seeing of Samus and Metroid and it would be silly to not get anymore.
As for completion bonuses you get 16 unlockable artworks. For getting 100% of all items in each area unlocks a new piece of artwork detailing the Chozo and their activities on ZDR. Attaining 100% item and game completion unlocks a lovely mural of Samus in her power suit with all the past games antagonists and Adam Malkovich. Complete the game on normal and hard and in under 8 and 4 hours on normal and hard unlocks 6 additional images highlighting Samus in her past games; Metroid, Samus Returns, Super Metroid, Fusion, Other M and Dread. Collecting all 6 will reward the same mural as the Chozo archives but with Samus in her zero suit, and that is the only time you see her in it. You see her in her zero suit when you die, of course, but these endings are not like the previous Metroid games where for how quickly you complete it you get to see Samus in her zero suit. The model exists, of course, it’s just not used for a reward. Which is a shame because Samus Returns had that reward, even the Justin Bailey outift for a reward for completing the game quick enough. But that kind of reward is absent from this. Instead no matter how you complete the game you only get a nice shot of Samus in her Dread suit.
I love the Metroid series and to see how the whole 35 years of games has culminated to this has left me ridiculously happy. This is definitely my game of the year of 2021 (sorry Psychonauts 2). As a game it is a remarkable action game. As a story it is an incredibly compelling sci-fi horror adventure and an incredible entry to the Metroid series and lore. I feel this game will age immensely well in the years to come much like its predecessors and the demand for more Metroid games will only get stronger. We’re already patiently waiting for Metroid Prime 4 to come about and that will keep us happy until a new Metroid comes out, whenever that might be and however that may be. Mercury Steam are busy working on a new IP with 505 games so a new Metroid game isn’t likely to come from them in the next few years so it would have to lie with a new studio or Nintendo themselves. Perhaps in working with Mercury Steam and seeing just how beloved the first lady of video games is and how cherished her games are Nintendo have a renewed vigor for the series themselves and will try their hand at making something entirely new for Samus and continuing on her story. It is absolutely wanted and demanded, that is undeniable.
For newcomers to Metroid this game quickly catches you up on the past but might be a little too difficult for them, to which I suggest go and play Super Metroid first and Samus Returns on the 3DS to get yourself more acquainted with Metroid. Might be able to jump into this easier then but otherwise this incredible game is well worth a play and beckons more playthroughs. At the very least play the demo.
Where to Purchase (as of 12/1/2022):
Switch store: £49.99/$60
Nintendo Online store: £49.99 (Includes free gifts!)/ $60
Amazon: £49.99£30/$60
All good games and retailers: £44.99/$60 £64.99/$89.99 special edition.