Metroid Dread - Before You Buy

00:00:01.839and we're back with another episode of

00:00:03.600before you buy you probably know by now

00:00:06.160it's that show where we give you some

00:00:07.759straight up gameplay and some of our

00:00:09.679first impressions of the latest games

00:00:12.000releasing as usual it's me jake and

00:00:14.559today we're talking about metroid dread

00:00:16.800it's out now for nintendo switch uh

00:00:18.960thanks for your patience with us getting

00:00:20.640this one out we've been playing a ton of

00:00:22.400it and just so you know this footage is

00:00:24.640spoiler free so

00:00:26.480metroid dread is is really good that's

00:00:29.199it the end that's all folks nah but like

00:00:31.279all kidding aside it is a very good

00:00:34.160metroid game it takes the modern metroid

00:00:36.559gameplay framework kind of established

00:00:38.879by the very good metroid samus returns

00:00:41.1203ds game and makes it all excellent you

00:00:43.920know better graphics bigger levels

00:00:46.399crazier bosses more abilities and more

00:00:48.800variety i think it's going to be a game

00:00:50.480changer for metroid like specifically

00:00:52.480for people who've never played a metroid

00:00:54.800game with the switch having such

00:00:56.800mainstream popularity i'm glad more

00:00:58.960people are gonna get their hands on this

00:01:00.800and i'm glad they're being introduced to

00:01:02.320a metroid with a really solid modern

00:01:04.479representation to it it's just a good

00:01:06.720old-fashioned fun video game now dread

00:01:09.119is the first full-on new classic style

00:01:12.159game since metroid fusion which came out

00:01:14.320in like 2002 which is crazy saying that

00:01:16.960out loud

00:01:17.920there is a bit of a behind-the-scenes

00:01:19.600story with that we don't have time to

00:01:21.280really get into but this game picks up

00:01:23.759after fusion and continues samus story

00:01:26.640but like don't worry you don't really

00:01:28.640need to know fusion or previous games

00:01:31.119before going in because the game starts

00:01:32.640with a cool little sequence catching you

00:01:34.079up to speed on like the very very basics

00:01:36.240of things so samus heads to this planet

00:01:38.960to investigate a dangerous parasite that

00:01:41.680was thought extinct that was established

00:01:43.600in the previous games and suddenly she

00:01:45.840is attacked here on this planet by a

00:01:47.439mysterious new enemy and left nowhere

00:01:50.079near her ship and without most of her

00:01:52.000abilities surprise surprise it's up to

00:01:54.399you to survive and escape really that's

00:01:56.960like the starting goal at least the

00:01:58.960immediately noticeable thing is just how

00:02:01.600well the game controls samus's movement

00:02:04.159is quick and responsive the game's frame

00:02:06.640rate certainly helps with that but like

00:02:08.479also the fact that samus can turn on a

00:02:10.720dime quickly jump slide and do

00:02:13.520everything you need to do so nimbly it

00:02:15.680just makes it feel smooth as butter it

00:02:18.400might be for me personally up there with

00:02:20.560some of the best controlling 2d side

00:02:22.959scrollers you can run and shoot an aim

00:02:24.959or you can hold a button and stop and

00:02:26.640aim completely freely samus starts with

00:02:28.879a regular projectile attack and missiles

00:02:31.440and throughout the game you get more

00:02:32.879health more capacities and of course way

00:02:35.599more abilities some are familiar some

00:02:38.239are new and shake things up a bit in

00:02:39.840ways that work with another element i'll

00:02:41.840talk about in a little bit uh samus has

00:02:44.000a really satisfying parry move that

00:02:46.480carries over from samus returns that was

00:02:48.959absolutely brilliant any enemy attack

00:02:51.280will often briefly flash and if you time

00:02:53.840it just right you can hit the parry

00:02:55.760button and samus swipes at the enemy

00:02:58.000stunning it and sets it up for a cool

00:03:00.159kill shot where you like blow the thing

00:03:01.760away it works just as well as it did in

00:03:04.000samus returns and it is even cooler here

00:03:07.040every enemy's timing is a little bit

00:03:09.120different so it's it's worth learning it

00:03:11.280all because if you're good you can power

00:03:13.440your way through complete areas like a

00:03:15.280badass now all this stuff can get a

00:03:17.280little tricky once you have a good

00:03:18.879arsenal going like remembering all the

00:03:21.120tricks you have up your sleeve and

00:03:22.640having the finger dexterity to pull it

00:03:24.560all off quickly and possibly in sync

00:03:26.799with something while doing something

00:03:28.080else uh means you're gonna need to have

00:03:30.239some skills and and really pay attention

00:03:32.560but a player really in the swing of

00:03:34.720things can pull off impressive stuff

00:03:36.879thanks to just what the game sets you up

00:03:38.959with it's all just so smooth and

00:03:41.280satisfying now before samus reached this

00:03:43.599planet the galactic federation actually

00:03:45.519sent out a team of scout robots called

00:03:47.599emmys or e-m-m-i's

00:03:49.920these have gone rogue and there are a

00:03:52.400handful of them patrolling certain areas

00:03:54.720of the game's maps they're super

00:03:56.959dangerous and resistant to samus's

00:03:58.879weapons all you can really do is sneak

00:04:00.640past them and man i thought i was like

00:04:02.959really going to hate this game having

00:04:04.720some kind of forced slower stealth

00:04:06.879elements but it works really well

00:04:09.040because it fits with this style of

00:04:10.959gameplay the enemies have a vision cone

00:04:13.840where they can track you around the maps

00:04:15.920even the most maze-like areas and chase

00:04:18.639you down if they catch sight of you if

00:04:20.560they grab you you have like a little

00:04:22.000brief escape timing thing but it's

00:04:23.919really tough to nail without practice

00:04:25.919you need to get out of their site and

00:04:28.000get through an area and get through a

00:04:29.919special door which marks the end of the

00:04:31.840encounter area sometimes you have to

00:04:33.600deeply explore these areas or revisit

00:04:35.680them multiple times while these things

00:04:37.199are creeping around too it makes for an

00:04:39.520incredible new level of tension for a

00:04:42.000metroid game in a way that works really

00:04:44.400well it's a nice little dash of sci-fi

00:04:47.120horror element to it and the way they

00:04:48.800look and feel and animate and the music

00:04:51.199for these encounters is just so

00:04:53.040satisfying and they continue to surprise

00:04:55.280you throughout the game now early on you

00:04:57.360get access to a very limited like

00:04:59.120stealth cloak which allows you to

00:05:00.880squeeze your way past them sometimes it

00:05:02.960makes it even more tense because you can

00:05:05.440get up close with them and these

00:05:06.800encounter areas are so well designed for

00:05:08.880just little hiding pass-through areas

00:05:11.199for both the robots and you some of the

00:05:13.440game's flow is focused around of course

00:05:15.360figuring out how to get new abilities to

00:05:17.520unlock new areas to turn something on uh

00:05:20.000then get over there but also to get

00:05:22.479access to a limited weapon that you can

00:05:25.039use to blow these things away for good

00:05:27.360it's not easy sometimes but it's

00:05:29.199incredibly satisfying because the

00:05:31.360temporary weapon that they give samus to

00:05:33.280do the job just feels really cool

00:05:35.520and while you're exploring you're going

00:05:37.199to quickly realize the maps are

00:05:38.800absolutely huge i mean look at this

00:05:41.199stuff they're of course filled with

00:05:43.039branching paths and hidden areas you

00:05:45.759might get lost that's expected it's

00:05:47.840metroid push through

00:05:49.520shoot everything use all your gadgets

00:05:51.280all the time it's also visually really

00:05:53.840massive at times this place feels fully

00:05:56.400realized and there's a good amount of

00:05:57.919variety to it all and backgrounds are

00:05:59.919full of detail and life and sometimes

00:06:02.400the game will flex its budget and pull

00:06:04.160back the camera and show you an even

00:06:06.400more massive backdrop it's really

00:06:08.880impressive what they push out of the

00:06:10.400switch especially when the game does

00:06:12.560some cool cutscenes because some of them

00:06:14.240are pretty over the top and badass and

00:06:15.919it's just nice to see unfortunately it

00:06:17.919just doesn't look very good if you play

00:06:19.680it on the tv this is subjective of

00:06:22.080course you know it's like a matter of

00:06:23.280personal taste but i mostly stuck to

00:06:25.520handheld because the game blasted onto a

00:06:28.000high-res tv it just ain't so hot looking

00:06:30.560that's a complaint i've had with certain

00:06:32.000specific switch games some scale up

00:06:34.000pretty nicely this one i didn't really

00:06:36.160think it did which is a shame because

00:06:38.000like i said earlier the game can get

00:06:39.600tricky from a control standpoint so you

00:06:42.000might want to play with a controller

00:06:44.000because the game is challenging by the

00:06:46.240around the third separate load screen

00:06:48.720area like full area you might find

00:06:50.800yourself starting to get your ass kicked

00:06:52.960sometimes the challenge can be just a

00:06:55.120little bit annoying like it seems like

00:06:56.560nintendo had a habit here of just making

00:06:58.800some enemies tough by just making them

00:07:00.800bullet sponges which just slows down

00:07:03.039your movement through an environment

00:07:04.560more than anything and it's a little

00:07:06.160annoying but on the flip side there are

00:07:08.400some really really cool boss battles i

00:07:10.560just like them that being said it seems

00:07:12.960like some are really going to push you

00:07:14.800to your limits challenge-wise so

00:07:17.280if you can't tell i've been mostly

00:07:19.039gushing over this game now it doesn't

00:07:20.720take the formula it and castlevania

00:07:23.039established and like blow it into a

00:07:24.880completely new type of thing or

00:07:27.120expansion you know it might not take a

00:07:29.039ton of risks except for the pretty bold

00:07:31.360emmy stuff uh but it just takes the

00:07:33.919formula overall and makes yet another

00:07:36.639really damn good game out of it there's

00:07:38.560actually not too much to say about it

00:07:40.400other than that i highly recommend it

00:07:42.400metroid dread seems pretty awesome it's

00:07:44.319big it's bad and i'm glad that nintendo

00:07:46.400has finally woken up to just how good

00:07:48.800metroid is and they're giving it the

00:07:50.720proper treatment once again and i hope

00:07:52.720this one just pushes the brand or the

00:07:55.039recognizability of it all to the

00:07:56.879stratosphere there are so many casual

00:07:58.800nintendo fans out there who play as

00:08:00.800samus in smash but have never actually

00:08:03.280played a metroid game so i'm happy that

00:08:05.199this one is out there i think it's just

00:08:06.800that damn good plain and simple but of

00:08:08.800course this is a before you buy you know

00:08:10.240how this works by now i give you some

00:08:11.599pros some cons and some personal opinion

00:08:14.160and now i want to hear yours down in the

00:08:15.680comments first of all what was your

00:08:17.199first metroid game i think that makes

00:08:18.639for a fun conversation especially if you

00:08:20.240haven't played this yet but if you have

00:08:22.000been playing metroid red let us know

00:08:23.680what you think let us know your favorite

00:08:25.120ability your favorite enemy encounter

00:08:27.520anything you want at all let us know in

00:08:29.520the comments down below now if this

00:08:31.199helped you out maybe informed you a

00:08:32.640little bit all you got to do is click

00:08:33.919the like button it really helps us out

00:08:35.519but if you're new consider subscribing

00:08:37.039and maybe hitting that notification bell

00:08:38.479because we put out videos every single

00:08:40.560day but as always thanks for watching

00:08:42.800we'll see you guys next time