TommyD100 Metroid Dread Review

Metroid Dread stays very true to the Metroid formula. You start with almost nothing and slowly work your way through a complex, interconnected map, gaining new abilities and suit upgrades that open previously inaccessible areas. What starts out feeling confusing and restrictive gradually becomes easier to navigate, and enemies that once felt overwhelming become little more than obstacles in your path. I've played every Metroid game, and Dread is easily one of the most difficult in the series. The title fits perfectly because the early game genuinely fills you with dread, not because it's poorly designed, but because you feel weak, vulnerable, and completely outmatched by the world around you. There are a few twists that make it uniquely Metroid Dread, but at its core this is still classic Metroid. If you stick with it through the first quarter of the game, when the difficulty almost feels like it's trying to bully you into quitting, you'll likely come away feeling very satisfied that you saw it through to the end. The gameplay is classic Metroid and a big reason why the series helped create the entire metroidvania genre. You start with almost nothing and slowly gain new weapons, suit upgrades, movement abilities, and Morph Ball upgrades that open more of the map. What I especially liked about Dread is how often those upgrades appear. Just when it feels like you've hit a wall and run out of places to go, the game hands you a new ability and suddenly a dozen paths you passed earlier become accessible. That constant cycle of getting stronger, backtracking, exploring, and unlocking even more upgrades is incredibly addictive. The boss fights are also some of the best in the series, demanding but fair, rewarding pattern recognition more than raw skill, and making full use of everything you've learned up to that point. The biggest twist, however, is the E.M.M.I. robots. These nearly indestructible patrol units turn sections of the map into tense cat-and-mouse encounters where you're the prey no matter how many upgrades you've collected. They are easily the hardest and most frustrating part of the game, but they're also what gives Dread its identity. Even when I hated dying to them, the game was fair enough to place me right outside the area so I could immediately try again. Add in the new melee counter system, which rewards aggressive timing instead of simply shooting from a distance, and Dread manages to feel like classic Metroid while still introducing enough new ideas to make it stand apart from every other entry in the series. When it comes to the world and atmosphere, Metroid Dread feels very much in line with the rest of the 2D Metroid series. The environments, map design, enemies, and overall presentation are classic Metroid and rarely take major risks. Like most games in the series, the story is quiet and minimalist, with Samus largely left to figure things out on her own, but Dread does a surprisingly good job of delivering just enough information to keep things moving while still offering a few genuinely shocking and memorable moments along the way. If you're a longtime fan, the story developments near the end make this a particularly important entry in the Metroid timeline. Visually, the game looks good, runs smoothly, and features some detailed environments, but it plays things very safe and lacks a distinctive art style that makes it immediately stand out. My biggest disappointment was the music, which felt far more generic than in previous Metroid games. While the atmosphere succeeds in creating a constant feeling of tension and dread, very few tracks left a lasting impression or felt connected to the action happening on screen. Even so, the game's world, mood, and story twists were strong enough to keep me invested all the way through to the ending. My biggest gameplay frustration was Samus's jumping mechanics after unlocking the double jump and later movement upgrades. In order to use those abilities, she needs to enter a spinning jump, but the game still allows her to perform a standing jump that serves little purpose once those upgrades are acquired. More than once I found myself trying to escape danger, especially during E.M.M.I. encounters, only for Samus to perform a standing jump and leave me unable to execute the move I wanted. It felt less like a mistake on my part and more like the game getting in its own way. Beyond that, the difficulty will absolutely be a sticking point for some players. Dread is one of the hardest Metroid games I've played, particularly because of the E.M.M.I. sections, but the generous checkpoint system keeps those deaths from becoming overly punishing. My only other notable criticism is that one area of the map remained frustrating to navigate even after unlocking nearly every ability. Most of the game's level design is excellent and represents classic Metroid at its best, but this particular section never fully opens up and continues to feel unnecessarily restrictive long after the rest of the world becomes easy to move through. At the end of the day, Nintendo doesn't release a new 2D Metroid very often, and every time they do it's worth paying attention. There's a reason the genre is called a metroidvania. The formula of gaining upgrades, unlocking new paths, backtracking, and steadily becoming more powerful is still as addictive as ever, and Metroid Dread executes that formula extremely well. Yes, it's difficult, and yes, you're going to die, especially during the E.M.M.I. encounters and some of the boss fights, but the game is smart enough not to punish you excessively for those failures. If you're a fan of Metroid, metroidvanias, or just great 2D action games in general, this is an easy recommendation. It has a few shortcomings, including some frustrating movement quirks, a safe presentation, and a soundtrack that rarely stands out, but the gameplay, progression, bosses, and overall sense of accomplishment more than make up for them. After finishing the story, I spent another hour or two cleaning up the remaining item pickups and reaching 100% completion because the progression system made that final push feel worthwhile. Metroid Dread isn't a perfect game, but it's a great example of what makes this series special and one of the strongest modern entries in the franchise. Score: 8.5/10.