Metroid: Desolation

Metroid: Desolation is a video game released in 2023 for the Nintendo Switch. Much like Metroid: Dread before it, it is a 2D platform shooter with elements of horror games.
== Story ==
After her narrow escape from Planet ZDR, Samus begins to ponder her new life as a hunted outlaw in the Galactic Federation. With nowhere safe to go, she escapes into the furthest reaches of the galaxy, where the Federation has no jurisdiction. Unfortunately for her, bounty hunters have no jurisdiction. Just as her ship is about to run out of fuel, she is suddenly attacked by other bounty hunters who have come to claim her. A few, she recognizes from her other hunts. Unable to fight them off, her ship is shot, and she plummets to the surface of a desert planet. Almost immediately after breaching the planet's atmosphere, she ejects herself from her ship and passes out before she ever reaches the ground.
Hours later, Samus wakes up, finding that her power suit has been completely drained, leaving her in her zero suit. Not even her emergency stun pistol is near her. In the distance, she sees a plume of smoke. Assuming it to be her wrecked ship, Samus begins the long, dangerous journey to find her ship, repair it, and escape from the vicious bounty hunters who are on her trail.
== Gameplay ==
Metroid: Desolation follows the same basic rules established by the other 2D Metroid games, where exploration and necessary backtracking are key elements of the gameplay. What separates this game from others in the series is its emphasis on survival. Samus is at her absolute weakest, with no armor, no weapons, no allies, no guidance, and a vast array of creatures that only see her as food or a prize to hunt.
Along with her usual health tanks, Samus now has a stamina guage, which depletes as she performs certain strenuous actions, such as climbing, sprinting, long jumps, swimming and others. Just like her health, her stamina is able to be upgraded by finding hidden tanks, which extend the limit of her stamina gauge. 
=== Environment ===
The environment itself is able to kill Samus. Strong heat during the day can lower her stamina, as well as intense cold during the desert nights. Rapidly flowing water can wash her away and damage her if she hits a wall. Quicksand can pull her under and smother her. Poisonous gasses can lower both her health and stamina. 
The game map is divided up into eight different zones, each one with a different environmental theme, ranging from desert, cave, oasis, abandoned outposts and others. Each area is occupied by a diverse range of enemies, as well as one of the bounty hunters who have come after Samus.
=== Platforming ===
Samus' mobility is greatly reduced without her power suit, but not completely inhibited. She can no longer jump as high as she was once able to, and must hang from certain edges and pull herself up to reach them. She can also no longer walljump an infinite number of times, stopping after only twice. She still retains her ability to slide from Metroid: Dread.
=== Combat ===
Combat differs greatly from other entries in the Metroid series. Before, Samus was able to use her arm cannon and missiles. Now, she must rely on her hand to hand training to pacify her opponents. Most creatures she faces are able to be dealt with using her military combat training. However, the bounty hunters who stalk her are far better equipped and are much smarter, and cannot be faced directly. Without her armor, Samus' melee counter is no good, and she must instead rely on a dodge feature that replaces it.
==== Stealth ====
Stealth is a major part of combat in Desolation. Samus is unable to face more foes head on, and must rely on the element of surprise. When she is able to find a hiding place, Samus is able to execute a stealth takedown to stun a creature, which will take some time to complete and may alert other nearby creatures to her location. For the most part, the stunned effect is only temporary and the hostile creature will get back up and begin their search for Samus again. In which case, previously used hiding spots will be checked by the aggressor, making them useless as hiding places in the future.
=== Power-Ups ===
Throughout the game, Samus is able to collect certain items that make her slightly more formidable on such a hostile world.
==== General Upgrades ====
* Climbing Gloves - A pair of technologically enhanced gloves that half the amount of stamina that Samus uses while climbing. Also allows Samus to climb on ceilings, but at a greater cost of stamina.
* Gravity Boosters - A pair of boots that allow Samus to jump twice in midair.
* Camo Device - A device that allows Samus to take on the appearance of her environment. Using this will not work if Samus moves, and must be recharged between uses.
* Energy Detector - An earpiece that makes a pinging sound whenever unseen creatures or items are nearby.
* Speed Booster - A device that allows Samus to run and climb more quickly than she would normally be able to normally.
==== Pistol Upgrades ====
* Stun Pistol - Samus' emergency stun pistol. Allows Samus to stun enemies from a distance. Must be recharged between uses.
* Plasma Lasso - An upgrade for the stun pistol. Allows Samus to shoot one end to grapple a surface or a creature, then anchor the other end to a different point.
* Charger Nodule - Allows Samus to use her stun pistol to charge up certain machinery. Also allows her to use a feature similar to melee counter.
* Electro-Magnet - An upgrade that allows Samus to draw in metal objects from afar. Can be used to disarm certain enemies of their weapons.
* Energy Capacitor - Once equipped, the stun pistol no longer as to be charged between uses.
==== Suit Upgrades ====
* Water Suit - A suit that allows Samus to swim against rapidly flowing currents. Costs more stamina to swim against rapid currents than normal swimming does.
* Thermal Suit - Halves the stamina that Samus loses in extreme temperatures.
* Combat Suit - Reduces all damage that Samus takes from anything.
== Characters ==
=== Samus Aran ===
The main playable character of Metroid: Desolation. Unlike most other games, Samus will not have access to her power suit throughout the game, using only her zero suit and the minimal abilities that it grants her. Her main objective is to evade the other bounty hunters long enough that she can locate her ship and escape the unknown planet that she has been stranded on.
=== Bounty Hunters ===
Over the course of the game, Samus will come across the other bounty hunters who have been sent after her. Each hunter patrols a different explorable area, and serves as a boss battle in each one. They must be avoided as they appear in each area at random, and some are encountered as boss fights on more than one occasion.
==== Kellak ====
His animalistic appearance should not fool anyone. Though he looks like a lower lifeform, he is a cunning master of ambush, only appearing when he wants to his prey. With enhanced senses and being too fast to be outran on most occasions, Samus must find new ways to avoid this predator.
==== Miora ====
Many only see the red dot of her sniper rifle before they ever see her. Though she mainly fights from a distance, that doesn't stop her from devising many ways to trap her targets. Avoiding her is one thing. Finding her is quite another.
==== Parth ====
Rumor has it he's died and resurrected a hundred different times to track his bounties. Seemingly invulnerable to all damage, this super strong monstrosity doesn't fall easily to anything. And when he does, he's always right back up again almost as soon as he's fallen.
==== Kilara ====
For as young as she is, she has a killer instinct of a seasoned hunter. Her youth and recklessness prove her greatest asset in bounty hunting, resorting to excessive force and overkill to compensate for her inexperience. None have lived to get the chance to take advantage of that.
==== Reshomorin ====
Once royalty, he now lives as a deposed outcast. His days on the royal hunting grounds have served him well. He knows all the ways that a creature will hide itself, no matter what his quarry may be. No matter what, he finds what is hidden.
==== Zozin ====
An honor bound warrior who never resorts to the use of weapons, always facing his bounties up close. Years of training have hardened him to the point that he is able to deflect any projectile and stand up to almost any attack.
==== Ekwa ====
A tribal hunter who never relents pursuing his prey. Anything chased by him is pursued doggedly, until it tires out and makes itself an easy mark. No terrain is too difficult for him to cross, making him a truly terrifying opponent.
==== Nida ====
An acquaintance of Samus' from her Federation days. Even then, the two had many fierce bouts and ethical disagreements. Now, she hunts Samus, ready to put an end to her permanently, no matter what or how.
Category:Metroid (series)
Category:Metroid Games
Category:2023
Category:2D Platforming Games
Category:Nintendo
Category:Survival Games
Category:Sci-Fi
Category:Bounty Hunters
Category:Aliens
Category:Space Games
Category:T-rated Games