Can’t wait for Metroid Dread? Neither can we, which is why we’re going to get you up to speed on the story of Samus Aran and her intertwined relationship with the Metroids, as well as getting you up to speed on what to expect from her latest Switch exclusive.
Samus’s story begins in the NES classic Metroid, where she first heads to the planet of Zebes to destroy Mother Brain and stop the Space Pirates from using the Metroids as a weapon. It’s also in this classic where we first get a taste of the series’ oft-imitated design, with the player having to get new abilities for Samus that allows her to explore new areas. In Metroid 2: Return of Samus, which came out on the Gameboy, Samus is tasked with heading to the Metroid homeworld of SR388, where she wipes out all but one Metroid, a hatchling who believes Samus to be its mother. Because of this, Samus rescues it from the planet.
In Super Metroid, the SNES debut for the series, that baby Metroid is snatched by the returning Space Pirates, which Samus goes to rescue. However, by the time she gets there, the Metroid is fully grown and eventually helps Samus defeat Mother Brain once more. The 2D series then jumped to the Gameboy Advance, with Metroid Fusion. When Samus gets infected by a mysterious parasite called X, a vaccine created from the baby Metroid saves her life and helps her wipe out the X parasite... But, as Samus gets ready to make her Switch debut, this is where her terrifying new adventure starts.
Metroid Dread, set for release on October 8, begins with Samus heading to a new planet, ZDR, on the hunt for seven Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers - let’s call them E.M.M.I - research robots, who were tasked with investigating the reemergence of the X parasite. Something has happened to them though, and when Samus arrives, they’re intent only on hunting her down and capturing her. With Samus unable to damage these robots with her conventional weapons, her only option is to flee from these E.M.M.I machines and figure out what has corrupted them.
Things aren’t helped by the appearance of what appears to be a Chozo warrior on the planet. When Samus arrives on ZDR, she is immediately defeated and loses her abilities to this mysterious figure. It wouldn’t be a Metroid game if Samus didn’t have to search the world for her missing abilities, and you can be sure she’ll be picking up some new ones on the way too, like the Cross Bomb that explodes in four different directions. But what is this Chozo warrior doing on ZDR in the first place?
Metroid Dread promises to wrap up the 35-year-old saga of Samus and the Metroids. If, like us, you can’t wait to see how Metroid Dread wraps up this story when it exclusively launches for Nintendo Switch on October 8.
