The Word: Mother. And don't you forget it!
It's easy to pinpoint what is wrong with the game. It's not bad per se, but it isn't quite what I thought it would be. I was looking forward to some more classic Metroid gameplay.
Sound:
For the most part, the music is fairly mediocre, so don't expect outstanding tracks like what was in previous games (e.g. the Prime Trilogy). It does, however, have good sound effects. Samus's running and arm cannon blasts have a good rounding sound to them. It's really satisfying firing a full powered charge beam. The enemy cries and roars are decent too, but nothing that I'd consider original.
Graphics:
This title really takes advantage of the Wii's processing capabilities. Though the environments in the spaceships and halls walls are a little drape and dull, the sectors of the games are full of color and life. Just what you'd expect to see from a Metroid title. I was really take back by how impressive the cutscenes were. The game's frame rate stayed up for the most part, so no issues there.
Control:
This is the part of the game that I had the most gripes with. Now take this in; this game was designed to resemble classic 2D metroid gameplay. With that said, it uses the Wii remote horizontally. It's a little difficult to control a character in a 3D environment with just a 8 direction d-pad. Sometimes the game will force into first person view, which is very restrictive. You can only move the cursor around the area of the screen, and if you want to move Samus's head, you need to hold the B button to look around more. In this mode, you can fire missiles. However, you cannot fire missiles in 3rd person mode. Another thing that drives me crazy is the fact that this game could have been SO much better if it just stayed in 3rd person mode all the time. Unfortunately, the Wii remote lacks a good amount of buttons, so just using it for the game is sort of difficult and awkward to control. Team Ninja should have given the player an option to use the Classic Controller instead. It was designed for this type of game! Also, what's with this "concentration"? To restore health or weapons, you need to hold the remote upwards for about 7 seconds and you can't move! That's crazy in a boss fight. It's the equivalent of saying, "Yes, please hit me, I'm an idiot." Using the missiles in a boss fight is also a pain. Since you remain stationary while using them, you're left open to get hit.
Story:
Eh, probably the weakest attribute to the game. Samus, for the most part, is monotone and repetitive. It's really hard to get to like this Samus when fans of the series have seen her kill THOUSANDS of enemies in the previous titles. Not to mention Ridley, but that's another can of worms I won't bother with. The game focuses more on the events after Super Metroid, with Samus once again working under her ex-commanding officer, Adam. Now, instead of losing her powers, like she usually does in the previous games. Samus's opts to just not use them. Adam needs to give her the green light to use her abilities, even if it will help in the current situation. I have to say, that's the worst plot device I've heard in while. What competent commanding officer would place his solider in harm's way just because he didn't want her using a certain power-up/skill that will help her? Not Adam. Nope, not that jerk face. Then the game introduces these mooks that Samus went to boot camp with. They're all fairly flaky characters and I can't understand why it's so important to have them in the game. Frankly, they could have focuses more on Samus's history and her conflicts, but no, Team Ninja thought it would be important to have these dorks hang around.
Overall, Metroid: Other M is a fairly decent title worth playing. Die hard fans of the series will buy it anyway, regardless of what it has to offer. To those who are new to the franchise. I recommend a rental first. If you think this game is worth it, go buy it. Some retailers are selling it as cheap as $15.