I personally feel that Fusion has been my favorite game in the series.
Certainly, it is more linear than the other Metroids. I know; I have bought every Metroid game as they have been released. It has been one of their strong points, but I feel as if it's been overstated somehow; it is mostly bombing various walls and such to find either power-ups or paths connecting to other areas. Fusion had this just as much as the other games, but it's presented in a different manner. The way it was designed was built around the central theme of the game, and I don't think it's necessarily fair to count that against the game just because it is part of the Metroid series.
What I find fascinating about Fusion, though, is the heavy themes and overtones that no Metroid before it has accomplished. From the very outset there is a totally different feel; you're controlling Samus as something totally different than she's ever been... changed to make her feel more lithe; quicker yet without the mechanical defenses of her normal Power Suit. There's also the way this mission is started; it is not her accepting a bounty, or hunting the Metroids. She's forced against her will to take this mission, and you can feel it in the way she talks and her interactions with the agency. Their hand is always on your shoulder, reminding you that they are the ones in control of this mission, not you. It's especially pronounced when they send you into an area that they know has been infected with something that you are especially vulnerable to in your altered state... and they just kind of say "Hey, be careful. You're still going."
There's also the whole thing with the SA-X and both her connections and conflicts with it. In a way, it's everything she used to be; an almost unstoppable force at full power. When you contrast the SA-X with the new Samus, it's kind of ironic; the SA-X is what she used to be combined with the X parasite, and Samus is what is left of herself combined with the new abilities of the X. It adds both an element of fear (as, when it is first beginning to hunt you, you are totally under it's thumb and can't possibly match it's power), but a hint of primal nature; they are both the same, yet different, and fighting for superiority, playing off each other's strengths and weaknesses that they inhereted from one another. It culminates with the final fight between Samus' full strength with her symbiotic suit, and the SA-X; it's one of my favorite moments out of the entire series. In the end, once it realizes it is inferior to Samus because of the element it could never have, it rejects all her elements entirely and forces all of the X's power to the surface out of rage. Of course, in hindsight, this is not a good idea versus the current Samus. ^_^
I just love everything about the direction. The little glimpses of her self-dialog, her connections to Adam, the way that she is still left all alone because of her fate tied to the Chozo (and, now, the parasitic X)... I feel there is so much more impact to the game than any of the open-ended Metroids. They feel a bit detached (on purpose, surely, to emphasize her surroundings), and sometimes make her look more like an actual killing machine instead of a human (which, interestingly, Zero Mission tries to amend with the new additions to the game).
Plus, I just love how the game plays. The bosses are the most challenging out of any Metroid game I've ever played, the environments are all varied yet stay true to the sterile nature of their artificial habitats, I absolutely love the controls, just the colors and the look of it all. Oh, and the beams look <b>way</b> cooler in this game. ^_-
Certainly, it is more linear than the other Metroids. I know; I have bought every Metroid game as they have been released. It has been one of their strong points, but I feel as if it's been overstated somehow; it is mostly bombing various walls and such to find either power-ups or paths connecting to other areas. Fusion had this just as much as the other games, but it's presented in a different manner. The way it was designed was built around the central theme of the game, and I don't think it's necessarily fair to count that against the game just because it is part of the Metroid series.
What I find fascinating about Fusion, though, is the heavy themes and overtones that no Metroid before it has accomplished. From the very outset there is a totally different feel; you're controlling Samus as something totally different than she's ever been... changed to make her feel more lithe; quicker yet without the mechanical defenses of her normal Power Suit. There's also the way this mission is started; it is not her accepting a bounty, or hunting the Metroids. She's forced against her will to take this mission, and you can feel it in the way she talks and her interactions with the agency. Their hand is always on your shoulder, reminding you that they are the ones in control of this mission, not you. It's especially pronounced when they send you into an area that they know has been infected with something that you are especially vulnerable to in your altered state... and they just kind of say "Hey, be careful. You're still going."
There's also the whole thing with the SA-X and both her connections and conflicts with it. In a way, it's everything she used to be; an almost unstoppable force at full power. When you contrast the SA-X with the new Samus, it's kind of ironic; the SA-X is what she used to be combined with the X parasite, and Samus is what is left of herself combined with the new abilities of the X. It adds both an element of fear (as, when it is first beginning to hunt you, you are totally under it's thumb and can't possibly match it's power), but a hint of primal nature; they are both the same, yet different, and fighting for superiority, playing off each other's strengths and weaknesses that they inhereted from one another. It culminates with the final fight between Samus' full strength with her symbiotic suit, and the SA-X; it's one of my favorite moments out of the entire series. In the end, once it realizes it is inferior to Samus because of the element it could never have, it rejects all her elements entirely and forces all of the X's power to the surface out of rage. Of course, in hindsight, this is not a good idea versus the current Samus. ^_^
I just love everything about the direction. The little glimpses of her self-dialog, her connections to Adam, the way that she is still left all alone because of her fate tied to the Chozo (and, now, the parasitic X)... I feel there is so much more impact to the game than any of the open-ended Metroids. They feel a bit detached (on purpose, surely, to emphasize her surroundings), and sometimes make her look more like an actual killing machine instead of a human (which, interestingly, Zero Mission tries to amend with the new additions to the game).
Plus, I just love how the game plays. The bosses are the most challenging out of any Metroid game I've ever played, the environments are all varied yet stay true to the sterile nature of their artificial habitats, I absolutely love the controls, just the colors and the look of it all. Oh, and the beams look <b>way</b> cooler in this game. ^_-
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