Metroid Dread feels right at home on Nintendo’s new OLED Switch

The most impressive feature of Nintendo’s new Switch model is its seven-inch OLED display, giving games more vivid colors and deeper contrast. It also has an improved kickstand, which is more functional and versatile than the default Switch. But what’s a new system launch without a killer app? I was able to play the first 90 minutes of Terror of the metroids, and not only does it seem like it was worth the wait 19 years for a sequel to Metroid Fusion, but it could also be the perfect showcase for Nintendo’s new OLED Switch.

Fear arrives on Switch on October 8, 2021, the same day as Nintendo’s latest iteration of the tablet / console hybrid. There are a lot of games that I can’t wait to try with the OLED display, but Fear looked particularly gorgeous. Its sci-fi world looks even more fully realized (and spooky) on a screen that allows for deeper blacks. Details in 2D-meets-3D environments really stand out with this screen technology, as do all the new varieties of enemies.

Nintendo says the new $ 349.99 Switch OLED model isn’t faster than the standard Switch or Switch Lite, but where I might quickly notice some graphic roughness on my launch unit from early 2017, these quibbles were not as apparent given the great improvement in image quality offered by this OLED display. It’s still a 720p display, but I was more impressed with the differences than I thought. Considering the increased contrast, the text on the screen was a bit easier to read and the graphics are overall better than I would expect from the Switch’s aging chipset.

I played the game in handheld mode, but briefly tested the new kickstand. It can swing smoothly between around 80 degrees and 10 degrees, making it much easier to find the desired angle in tabletop mode when playing, for example, on an airplane. With this model, it seems like the days of your kickstand coming off under normal use (whether supporting the console or just accessing the microSD card slot) are over. The newer kickstand still hides the microSD card slot, but you might not get to it as quickly as this Switch OLED model comes with 64GB instead of the default 32GB amount in Switch consoles. previous ones.

Nintendo suggested that I try to play Fear thanks to this Switch’s upgraded speakers, and they were loud and clear enough that I could easily hear at a somewhat loud press event. They probably won’t outperform most headphones, but they seemed to better create a virtual sound bubble that I felt like I was in the middle of.

Regardless of what you think of these improvements in the OLED Switch, it still looks like a Switch when you play it. And especially, Fear feels like a Metroid Game. The story resumes just after the events of Fusion, and – after a brief recap of previous events – Fear Immerses you directly into the game. In the first 15 minutes, you will be chased by EMMI robots, which are fast and tough opponents programmed to hunt and capture Samus. It’s a dreadful feeling, reminiscent of meeting SA-X, the deadly clones of Samus in Metroid Fusion. Although instead of guaranteed annihilation, Fear Occasionally grants Samus the option of melee countering an EMMI to escape. It’s tense and exciting. EMMI robots only patrol fixed sections of the map, closed by strange doors made of floating cubes (seen in the image above), but you will have to bypass them to continue the game. also a host of new types of enemies and bosses.

Fear Also don’t waste time introducing yourself to new cheats and heavy weapons that will help you complete the challenge. Early on, Samus can slide under spaces that previously required a morph ball by pulling the left trigger. And as in Metroid: Samus Returns for 3DS (which Nintendo also co-developed with Fear studio Mercury Steam), the melee counter is back. If an enemy shines before an attack, you can hit X to stun them and get an easy hit. Even that limited set of moves at the start of the game served up some of the most cinematic encounters I’ve seen in a Metroid game, 2D game or not.

Terror of the metroids shares a lot in common with its predecessors. Each section of the game has its share of areas that you can and cannot access due to your costume limitations. There are map download and save rooms, missile and health charging stations, and plenty of secrets hidden in the terrain. But keeping up with the usual rhythms, like stopping in a save room or interacting with Chozo statues, which distribute costume upgrades, isn’t a matter of seconds like in previous games. Samus runs fast and the encounters are crisp, but visceral, aided by a solid performance that rarely seemed to drop below 60fps.

The characteristic difficulty of the series is still there, but it is much less penalizing in the sections that I have played, thanks to the save points spaced a few minutes apart at the most. That’s great, given the portable nature of the Switch, where you could try sneaking into a short session on the go. On top of that, the division of challenge and reward into Fear seems finely balanced to the point that it shouldn’t scare new players off or feel too easy on returning veterans.

From what I have been able to play, Terror of the metroids feels inspired and energetic, not like I imagined a game that has actually been canceled for over a decade. And while a question mark hovers Metroid Prime 4, which was rebooted while still in development in early 2019, playing Fear served as a reminder that Nintendo has not lost its stride in stellar making Metroid Games.

Photograph by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge