| Metroid Dread | |
|---|---|
 Digital art | |
| Developers | |
| Publisher | Nintendo |
| Directors |
|
| Producer | Yoshio Sakamoto |
| Designers |
|
| Programmer | Fernando Zazo |
| Artist | Jorge Benedito Chicharro |
| Composers |
|
| Series | Metroid |
| Platform | Nintendo Switch |
| Release | October 8, 2021 |
| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Metroid Dread[a] is a 2021action-adventure game developed byMercurySteam andNintendo EPD and published byNintendo for theNintendo Switch on October 8, 2021. It is the ninth main installment in theMetroid franchise, and is set afterMetroid Fusion (2002). Players control the bounty hunterSamus Aran as she investigates the source of a mysterious transmission on the planet ZDR. It retains theside-scrolling gameplay of previous 2DMetroid games and incorporatesstealth elements.
TheMetroid producer,Yoshio Sakamoto, conceivedDread for theNintendo DS in the mid-2000s, but development ended due to technical limitations. Industry commentators expressed interest in a new 2DMetroid game, and listedDread in their "most wanted" lists. After their work onMetroid: Samus Returns (2017), Sakamoto appointed MercurySteam to developDread, the first original side-scrollingMetroid game sinceFusion. It was announced atE3 2021.
Metroid Dread was named one of the best games of 2021 by multiple outlets. AtThe Game Awards 2021, it received two nominations, includingGame of the Year and winning for Best Action/Adventure Game. It became the fastest-sellingMetroid game in Japan, the UK and the US, and has sold more than three million copies, making it the best-sellingMetroid game.Metroid Dread has aMetacritic score of 88 %, based on 124 critic reviews.[2]
Metroid Dread is anaction-adventure game in which players control bounty hunterSamus Aran as she explores the planet ZDR. It retains theside-scrolling gameplay of previousMetroid games, alongside the free-aim and melee attacks added inSamus Returns (2017). As the player explores, they discover new items and weapons, allowing them to access new areas.[3][4]
Dread featuresstealth mechanics, with Samus avoiding the E.M.M.I. robots in certain areas by hiding, reducing her noise, and using the Phantom Cloak, camouflage that makes her invisible but slows her movement. If an E.M.M.I. catches Samus, the player has two narrow windows in which to perform melee counters and escape. If they fail, Samus is killed. E.M.M.I.s can only be destroyed when Samus obtains the temporary "Omega Blaster" upgrade, which is lost upon using it to destroy one; destroying an E.M.M.I. however grants Samus a new permanent upgrade.[4] Upgrades can also be found by finding Chozo statues or destroying a Core-X like in previous games. Players unlock images in an in-game gallery based on their completion time, difficulty level, and percentage of items collected.[5]
| Metroid | |||
| Story chronology | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main series inbold, remakes in parentheses | |||
| [6][7][8] | |||
The Galactic Federation receives evidence that the X, a dangerous species of parasite that can mimic any creature it infects, survives on the remote planet ZDR. They dispatch seven E.M.M.I.s (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers) robots to ZDR to investigate, but lose contact. The Federation sendsSamus Aran to ZDR to investigate.
Underground, Samus encounters a Chozo warrior who destroys the exit, defeats her in combat and strips her suit of most of its abilities. Her ship's computer, Adam, instructs her to find another path to the surface and return to her ship. Samus is attacked by the E.M.M.I., which have been reprogrammed. She escapes and absorbs a mysterious energy from one of the planet's central units. The energy temporarily enables the Omega Blaster, with which she destroys the E.M.M.I. and regains some of her abilities. In the process, she finds that her old foe Kraid survived the destruction of planet Zebes and slays him in combat.
In Ferenia, Samus is captured by another E.M.M.I., but is saved by a Chozo named Quiet Robe, who deactivates it. Quiet Robe explains that long ago, two Chozo tribes, the scientific Thoha and warrior Mawkin, banded together to trap theMetroids on the planet SR388. The Thoha intended to destroy SR388, but Raven Beak, the Mawkin leader, wanted to use the Metroids as a bioweapon to conquer the galaxy. He slaughtered the Thoha tribe and spared Quiet Robe so the Metroids could be controlled with his Thoha DNA. He planned to use ZDR to house Metroids, but had to contain an infestation of the X while Samus eradicated the Metroids from SR388. Raven Beak reprogrammed the E.M.M.I.s and lured Samus to ZDR to extract the Metroid DNA implanted in her,[b] which would allow him to revive the Metroids.
Quiet Robe opens a barrier to allow Samus to progress before he is assassinated by one of Raven Beak's robotic soldiers. Adam encourages Samus to defeat Raven Beak and destroy ZDR. In Elun, Samus encounters the X parasites and inadvertently releases them into the rest of the planet. One of the X infects Quiet Robe's corpse and reactivates the remaining E.M.M.I. robots. Samus arrives on the surface, where she is attacked by the last of the E.M.M.I. She destroys it by sapping its energy with her hand, a power that her Metroid DNA has granted her. As a side-effect, Samus is slowly becoming a Metroid.
On the floating fortress of Itorash, Samus confronts Raven Beak, who has been masquerading as Adam. Raven Beak reveals that he spared her before so that she would awaken her Metroid powers, at which point he would clone her to create an army of the most powerful Metroid of all. Samus battles Raven Beak and is nearly killed, but the Metroid abilities within her grant her incredible power. Samus attacks Raven Beak, draining energy from Itorash and causing it to crash into ZDR. Raven Beak is infected by an X which had possessed the previously killed Kraid's corpse earlier, and Samus uses her new-found powers to destroy the X. Samus reaches her ship as ZDR begins to self-destruct, but is warned by Adam not to use it due to her energy-draining Metroid powers. The X mimicking Quiet Robe appears and allows itself to be absorbed into Samus to neutralize her Metroid abilities, allowing her to escape the planet before it explodes.
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TheMetroid producer,Yoshio Sakamoto, conceivedMetroid Dread for the handheldNintendo DS console.[9] It came from the concept of having Samus followed by "dread" on an unfamiliar planet.[10] Sakamoto wanted to expand on the stealth sequences inFusion and combine them with traditionalMetroid gameplay.[9] Though he did not wantDread to be ahorror game, he aimed to explore "fear-based gameplay".[9]
Development for DS began around 2005.[9] The titleMetroid Dread first appeared that year on an internalNintendo software list of "key DS games set to be announced in the future",[11] triggering expectation that it would appear at theE3 conference.[12][13][14] There was no public announcement, but a plot summary at E3 2005 was shown to select members of the press at the event, including theIGN journalist Craig Harris.[15] In late 2005, rumors spread thatMetroid Dread had been canceled or was indevelopment hell.[14][16] A release date of November 2006 was listed in the February issue ofOfficial Nintendo Magazine. The March issue listed a release date for 2006, with a suggestion to look toE3 2006 for further details, but the game did not appear.[17] According to an episode ofIGN'sNintendo Voice podcast, Nintendo "pulled the plug at the last minute" on this version ofDread.[15]
A message reading "Experiment status report update: Metroid project 'Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion" appears in the 2007 gameMetroid Prime 3: Corruption, developed byRetro Studios.[11] TheCorruption director,Mark Pacini, and the producer Bryan Walker denied any connection and said that it was coincidental.[18][19] TheWired writer Chris Kohler expressed skepticism over the denial.ComingSoon reported that Mike Wikan, a senior designer onCorruption, posted on a fanforum that the reference was a joke.[15][20] In the Japanese version ofCorruption, released later that year, the message instead refers to a "dread class turret".[21] Fans visited Retro Studios in Texas asking for information aboutDread.[18] Following theCorruption launch, Nintendo released a statement denying that a 2D Metroid game was in development.[22]
A second attempt at developingDread was made around 2008. A playable prototype was shown toNintendo Software Technology andNintendo of America staff atE3 2009. The project reportedly did not retain theDread title at that point and had an art style similar toMetroid Fusion.[23] The prototype did not meet Sakamoto's expectations, so development was halted.[24] A major reason for this was that Sakamoto's desire for an intimidating, unsettling antagonist was difficult to achieve with the DS hardware.[9]
In 2010, Sakamoto said that Nintendo would "start from scratch" if they returned toDread,[25] and said they were monitoring fan comments for interest in the project.[12] In other interviews, he denied that theWii gameMetroid: Other M (2010)[26] and theNintendo 3DS gameMetroid: Samus Returns (2017) were connected toDread.[27] In May 2010,IGN's Craig Harris said that the story forDread was complete and that Nintendo could "bring it back at any time".[28]
Critics expressed interest inMetroid Dread or a similar 2D side-scrollingMetroid project.[29][30] In 2011,IGN citedDread as a "game in danger".[31] K. Thor Jensen included it in his list of "video games you will never, ever play". He felt thatMetroid: Other M was a disappointment and it made him nostalgic forDread.[32] Thomas East includedDread and its apparent reference inCorruption in their list of "11 amazingMetroid facts and secrets", and said he was hopeful for a 3DS release.[33]
Marc Zablotny, a writer forOfficial Nintendo Magazine, includedDread in his 2013 wishlist, saying he was more interested in "what it stood for rather than the specific game itself".[14] Zablotny later named it one of the most infamous cancelled Nintendo games.[34] Nick Chester fromDestructoid criticized Nintendo for its focus on games such as theBrain Age series overMetroid.[35] In 2015, the researcher Liam Robertson contacted formerIGN andGame Informer staff who had encountered the project in the 2000s. He released a video detailing his findings, some of which was corroborated by official sources when the revivedDread was revealed years later.[15]
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During Nintendo'sE3 2021Nintendo Direct presentation on June 15, Nintendo revealedMetroid Dread forNintendo Switch, with a release date of October 8, 2021.[36]Dread was developed by the Spanish developerMercurySteam, the studio that developedMetroid: Samus Returns, andNintendo EPD. Sakamoto said that Nintendo revived the project after seeing what MercurySteam could do with its technology on the Switch.[37]Dread is the first original side-scrollingMetroid game sinceFusion.[9][4]
Metroid Dread was released for theNintendo Switch on October 8, 2021.[36] The special edition included a 190-page art book, holographic art cards featuring the covers of the five 2DMetroid games, and a steelbook case.[38] TwoAmiibo figurines were released.[39]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 88/100[41] |
| OpenCritic | 95% recommend[40] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 8.5/10[42] |
| Eurogamer | Essential[43] |
| Famitsu | 8/10, 8/10, 9/10, 9/10[44] |
| Game Informer | 9/10[45] |
| GameSpot | 8/10[46] |
| GamesRadar+ | 3.5/5[47] |
| IGN | 9/10[48] |
| Nintendo Life | 10/10[49] |
| Nintendo World Report | 10/10[52] |
| PCMag | 4.5/5[50] |
| VentureBeat | 5/5[51] |
On thereview aggregator websiteMetacritic,Metroid Dread has a score of 88 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[41] Samuel Claiborn ofIGN praised the boss fights, writing that they "range from the traditional big, drooling monsters with patterns and weak points to learn, to almostSmash Bros.-esque encounters with enemies that mimic your move set".[48] Chris Carter ofDestructoid saidDread "masterfully" executed theMetroidvania formula, and that it "doesn't take a lot of big swings, but it rarely bats a foul ball".[42]Nintendo Life's PJ O'Reilly liked the returning mechanics and the newer additions, saying "it always feels as though you've got a ton of choice in how to explore and move around your richly detailed surroundings".[49] Joe Findly ofCGMagazine wrote that "Metroid Dread is a wonderful, modern take on a classic game from childhood".[53]IGN wrote that it "brings back the legendary exploration and progression and merges it with excellent modern combat and some of the best boss fights ever".[54]
Metroid Dread pre-orders topped theAmazon Video Game Best Sellers list in the US, UK, and Japan.[55] It was also the most pre-ordered game followingE3 2021 atGameStop.[56]
Dread had the highest-grossing physical launch of the franchise in the UK, debuting at number three on the weekly video games sales charts. Including digital copies, it became the fastest-sellingMetroid game in the UK.[57] In the United States,Dread debuted at #3 and sold 854,000 copies in its first month, making it the fastest-sellingMetroid, according to Nintendo of America presidentDoug Bowser.[58] In Japan, it debuted at number one, selling 86,798 retail copies in its first week of release.[59] Including digital copies,Dread outsold the life-to-date sales of nearly everyMetroid game in Japan in its first week.[60] As of December 2022,Dread had sold 3.07 million copies worldwide, making it the best-sellingMetroid game.[61][62]
AtThe Game Awards 2021,Metroid Dread won the award for Best Action/Adventure Game.[3] At theGolden Joystick Awards, it won in the category Nintendo Game of the Year.[63] It was also named Game of the Year byTime andDigital Trends.[64][65]
| Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ||||
| Golden Joystick Awards 2021 | Nintendo Game of the Year | Won | [66][67] | |
| Ultimate Game of the Year | Nominated | |||
| The Game Awards 2021 | Game of the Year | Nominated | [68][69] | |
| Best Action/Adventure Game | Won | |||
| Players' Voice | Nominated | |||
| Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards | Best Action-Adventure Game | Won | [70] | |
| 2022 | ||||
| 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards | Action Game of the Year | Nominated | [71] | |
| NAVGTR Awards | Control Design, 2D or Limited 3D | Won | [72] | |
| Control Precision | Won | |||
| Gameplay Design, Franchise | Won | |||
| Game, Franchise Action | Nominated | |||
| Game of the Year | Nominated | |||
| NME Awards | Game of the Year | Won | [73] | |
| 18th British Academy Games Awards | EE Game of the Year | Nominated | [74] | |
| Tom's Guide Awards 2022 | Best Switch Game | Won | [75] |
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