Metroid Dread – Review

Platform games are rarely a challenge these days. However, by launching Metroid Dread, you should be prepared for a demanding game. Not only in terms of the difficulty of combat or stealth but also in navigating through extremely complex levels.

The plot in Metroid Dread stands in the background, but fans will surely find interesting threads and information “hidden” between the lines. Fortunately, you don’t have to pay too much attention to the story in the game. The creators put much more emphasis on the gameplay, which is addictive and does not want to release.

Gameplay

Starting our adventure as Samus in Metroid Dread, we only have a simple ranged attack and a melee attack. This arsenal is expanding with the iconic rockets right after completing the tutorial, and traversing the next levels will quickly give us more powers and equipment. As a result, almost always, we get the impression that the heroine grows in strength and becomes more and more powerful.

What’s more, the new abilities also offer a new approach to the gameplay, encouraging you to return to previous levels to discover previously unavailable secrets or defeat overly demanding opponents.

Although it sounds easy, demanding bosses will stand in our way, each with an individual attack pattern and weak points. These are excellently varied challenges during which you should be vigilant and focus on the fight as much as possible.

However, EMMI robots are a more serious threat – you have to avoid a wide berth, using stealth elements, or, as a last resort, save yourself by running away madly. Thanks to this, we do not go through each location “on one hoof.” We must carefully look around and watch out for the impending threat. However, these opponents can spoil a lot of blood during exploration, which in Metroid Dread is a bit lame.

A very extensive map

A very extensive map is at the player’s disposal, which we explore room by room. You have to figure out what to do when you think you’re stuck. There are no hints or hint tags here. On the one hand, it brings a lot of satisfaction when we unlock a new passage, but on the other hand, it can strongly reject the fun, especially if we get EMMI once again.

However, the levels you can come across in Metroid Dread look lovely. Panoramic backgrounds are vivid and believable – even if their landscape can change as you move from one level to another. What’s more, the platforms and corridors on which we move are unique, and it is difficult to feel deja vu here as we move forward to new challenges and locations. However, more importantly, in such an arcade production, the liquidity is 100% stable. Not once did the cages start dropping or something suddenly “cut,” causing the heroine to die. Technically, the game is buttoned up.

Metroid Dread is a production that requires a lot of patience, great skill, and the ability to think outside the box when solving puzzles. Still, it can be completed in 11-13 hours or even less. However, the ending is complete and satisfying, so we won’t consider playing time a disadvantage.

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Verdict

Fans of old-school hardcore platformers starring Samus will love Metroid Dread. The game presents the player with enormous challenges while rewarding the character with significant and rewarding skills and equipment. You can feel that the heroine is getting better prepared for the next fight with a powerful boss, which is not lacking in the game.

The creators perfectly balance the sequences of combat, puzzles, and stealth (or escaping), but the complicated layout of all levels makes it quite easy to get lost in the corridors and figure out “what to do next.” Nevertheless, Metroid Dread is an outstanding production and technical masterpiece, enriching the lists of the best games available on the Nintendo Switch.