Metroid Dread | Switch Review

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the Metroid series. I grew up playing the original, the sequel, and the beloved Super Metroid countless times. My adoration for the infamous bounty hunter continued into my adult years with the Prime series and beyond. When Nintendo surprised us with the announcement of Metroid Dread by developer MercurySteam during their 2021 E3 Direct, I was immediately excited. It was getting close to 20 years since we had a new 2D game featuring Samus Aran, and I was frothing at the mouth for a new adventure.

A Familiar Foe

Metroid Dread takes place shortly after the events of Metroid Fusion, a game that released on the GameBoy Advance in 2002. Sadly, that title is impossible to come across in the modern era as it’s only available on WiiU shop outside of its original format. Although the story might be lost of newcomers, the introductory cinematic does a decent job of catching up players.

Samus is dispatched by the Galactic Federation to investigate the disappearance of several E.M.M.I. (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) robots. They were sent to a planet called ZDR to collect samples in response to the possibility of the X parasite’s existence on the planet. The same parasite that was thought to have been eradicated after the events of Metroid Fusion.

Upon her arrival, Samus is forced underground and must find her way back to the surface. As expected, the E.M.M.I.s are corrupted, and the bounty hunter must navigate her way though them in order to escape.

The plot is somewhat refreshing in that it doesn’t rehash familiar tropes too often. Sure, we see some familiar enemies here and there, but most of the game stands on its own. This allows players both new and veteran to enjoy a standalone story. And that finale. Boy, does it go to ridiculous places, but in all the best ways.

Like Butter

The very first thing I noticed after starting my mission was how great the controls felt. Although I had mastered the mechanics in previous titles, I was pleasantly surprised by how fluidly Samus moves. I immediately felt at home on my Switch so much that I almost shudder at the thought of returning to the past.

In true Metroid fashion, Samus loses her suit and abilities at the beginning of the game. So you’ll get a taste of a fully armed bounty hunter, but only for a short time. This time, it’s at the hands of a particularly aggressive Chozo. Yes, you read that right, but you’ll have to play the game to learn more.

One of the new mechanics present in Metroid Dread is the parry system. While blocking during quick flashes isn’t anything new to video games in general, it’s new for Samus. And it’s a very welcome change. Parrying feels solid and makes repetitive encounters a bit more interesting.

Who’s the Boss?

One of my favorite changes to the formula is how the game handles boss fights. In previous entries, these encounters felt more like survival experiences. As long as you had enough missiles and energy tanks, you should survive easily. While I like being rewarded for my fastidious searching of every room, I rather enjoyed relying on my dexterity for a change. I realized how much I missed pattern memorization after completing Dread.

Taking down a tough boss elicited much more satisfaction than I have experienced in quite a while. Once you recognize the tells, deftly dodge attacks, and parry at the correct moments, you’ll feel like a god. These boss fights are tough as nails to the point of me worrying it might turn away players who normally rely on smarts over reflexes when playing a Metroid game.

Another new mechanic is the inclusion of stealth. Samus must evade each of the increasingly stronger E.M.M.I. units in her search for the surface. The corrupted machines are on a mission to destroy Aran, and she’s ill-equipped to taken them on. This means she must rely on stealth, which I only remember doing for a short while at the end of Metroid: Zero Mission.

These encounters are very tense, since getting caught almost always results in death. You’ll have a chance to parry, which stuns the E.M.M.I., but the timing is very difficult to pull off. You’re not given much of a prompt, so hitting the button at the correct time winds up being more of a guessing game than anything else. Thankfully, dying puts you right back at the beginning of this section rather than your last save point. If this hadn’t been the case, I would have been much more frustrated with these sections.

Gear-Gating at Its Finest

Although it appears I’m in the minority when it comes to Metroid Dread‘s level design, I’ll stand by this statement: I found it to be exquisite. The game doesn’t hold your hand nearly as much as it did in previous entries. There’s no waypoint indicator on your map telling you where to go, a choice that has made some players angry. But I found this decision to make the Metroid experience more true to its original nature.

Rather than outright pointing you in the right direction, Dread gives subtle clues. Most of these revolve around using a newly-acquired item or weapon. Your best bet is to figure out what kind of barrier your new ability helps to overcome and follow the gear-gated bread crumb trail. This hearkens back to the original Metroid, which didn’t even have a map to help guide you, much less waypoints. You had to use your smarts to figure out the correct path. Thankfully, your map is very helpful, especially since you can mark places you want to remind yourself to visit later. That’s something I haven’t seen since Phantom Hourglass on the 3DS.

Metroid Dread Final Verdict

I had high expectations for Metroid Dread, and they were very much surpassed by the time I rolled credits. There’s equal amounts of nostalgia and freshness that simply make it work. Plus, Samus is just plain cool. From the intense QTE segments during boss battles to satisfying parrying, the bounty hunter gets some incredible moments. I feel for the first time that there’s hope for more games in the Metroid series. Some may be turned off by the difficulty this time around, but I personally found it to be just right to satisfy my love for the franchise. I enjoyed the world so much, I’ve developed an itch to 100% the game. And that’s saying something for a player like me.

This review is based on a purchased copy of Metroid Dread for Nintendo Switch. It is exclusive to this platform.