A bit disappointing, but nevertheless a great entry into one of Nintendo's greatest series.
GAMEPLAY: The game plays using the Wii Remote held sideways, as if playing an NES game off the Wii's VC (but you already knew that). Anyway, this allows for a simple way of controlling (that actually works), and it also allows you to run in any of the 8 cardinal directions. However, the devs knew that playing this way would make aiming a BIG pain in the @$$, so they luckily added a feature that has Samus fire at the closest enemy, as long as she's facing the correct direction. This definitely works, but, along with the new SenseMove action (where you press any direction on the D-Pad to dodge an incoming attack), it makes a lot of the game seem too easy, especially for a Metroid game. Luckily, the boss fights are very fun and prove to be a challenge most of the time.
However, there are some other issues that make this game stray from the excellent Metroid formula, including detective scenarios, regenerating health, and a lack of health replenishing items. There are times in the game where you are met with a situation that has you search for a certain object in the background with your visor. Unfortunately, the game almost never tells you exactly WHAT to look for (on top of the targeted item being only a few PIXELS in size), so it's no surprise if you get stuck in one of these situations for nearly 20 minutes. Another new feature is regenerating health. If you lose so much energy to be in the "Red Zone", you can regenerate your health by holding the remote up and holding down the A button. This is a pretty cool feature, but you'll find yourself doing this a bit more often than you'd like since downed enemies offer no health or ammo pickups. That's right, you heard me. NO HEALTH PICKUPS. Of course, there are health expansions and such, but the lack of health pickups is very odd and quite unwelcome. 7/10
STORY: The plot is actually not bad, but I just can't get used to how Samus talks in the game. She sounds so emotionless, yet the dialogue/script is filled with so much emotion. To be honest, the plot is a bit of a mixed bag. It shows how Samus was once a part of the Galactic Federation, and how corrupt the Federation became. The characters, however, are a bit lifeless, save for Anthony, who seems to be the only character they hired a good voice actor for. It is definitely confusing the first time you see the story, but fortunately or unfortunately the game comes with a Theater mode that is unlocked after beating the game. However, this also shows gameplay, so it kills a lot of incentive to go back and play through the game. 7/10
GRAPHICS: The graphics are simply gorgeous in this game. Excellent lighting, and even the cinematics are very well-done. The characters' mouths match the voice-overs nearly perfectly, and the environments almost look like you're actually plying an HD console. 10/10
MUSIC: Other M's soundtrack, unfortunately doesn't have the usual atmospheric sounds that previous entries' soundtracks are known to have. While definitely not bad, it doesn't always flow with the environment. It just doesn't have the ambient, alien sound from Metroid Prime or Super Metroid. 8/10
OVERALL: Metroid Other M is a huge departure from previous Metroid outings, but is still nonetheless a great game and worth a look. It has its faults, and a rather large number of them, too, but at its core, it is still greatly entertaining, even if it is short. What I'd recommend is to wait for it to go on sale to at least $40. Though a great game, it just seems too short for a full $50. But still, if you're a Metroid/Nintendo junkie like me, a really recommend you give the game at least a shot.