Metroid has always been a series steeped in atmosphere. There's plenty of opportunities for bounty hunter Samus Aran to encounter the stuff of sci-fi/horror legend, from cavernous alien worlds to decaying space stations. With a few notable exceptions such as Metroid Prime 3 and Metroid: Other M, Samus generally combats whatever threat is in her way alone - or sometimes with the aid of an AI based on her former commanding officer Adam Malkovich. Metroid Dread sets up a perfect opportunity to see Samus more isolated than ever going forward.
Despite being developed by MercurySteam rather than Nintendo directly, Metroid Dread is canonically considered "Metroid 5;" the end of a story arc that began with 1986's Metroid on NES. It ties up plenty of loose ends regarding Samus' origins and major threats to the galaxy, including the titular Metroid and the X-Parasite they were designed to eradicate. However, Metroid Dread also turns Samus into a potentially bigger galactic threat than any before, and it would be great to see future games grapple with this concept as a new arc for the series.
Samus' History With the Metroid Through Dread
As previously mentioned, the Metroid species is an artificial creation by the Chozo - an ancient race of avian people with technology far beyond any "current" civilization. Samus herself was raised by the Chozo, who provided her both tools like the Power Suit and (as Metroid Dread reveals) enhanced DNA to make her an all-powerful warrior. When the Space Pirates led by a rogue Chozo AI named Mother Brain threaten to weaponize the Metroid on planet Zebes, Samus is a natural choice to derail their plans.
After that Samus is sent to eradicate the Metroid species at their home planet, SR-388, but a newborn baby imprints upon her. That baby is captured by Space Pirates soon after being left in the care of the Galactic Federation, leading Samus to once again defeat Mother Brain in a newly enhanced form. With the Metroid now extinct, the malignant X-Parasite is able to make a resurgence on SR-388, quickly replacing its ecosystem thanks to the parasite's shapeshifting abilities and eventually infecting Samus. The Federation creates a vaccine using Metroid DNA, turning Samus into a hybrid at the molecular level.
At the end of Metroid Fusion, Samus learns the Federation has been trying to weaponize the Metroid too, and drops the far-gone Biologic Space Laboratories research station into SR-388 in order to destroy that project and the X-Parasite in one fell swoop. The galaxy appears to be at peace, but that turns out to not be the case in Metroid Dread when the Federation receives a transmission that suggests X are still alive on Planet ZDR.
How Metroid Dread Changes Samus' Trajectory
Samus is sent to Planet ZDR after the Federation's DNA extracting robots, the E.M.M.I., are taken offline. It turns out the entire episde is a plan set forth by Raven Beak, leader of an antagonistic Chozo tribe called the Mawkin who want to return the Chozo to its original place as an apex predator. He hoped to use Metroid to achieve this aim before Samus cleared out SR-388 in Metroid 2: Return of Samus (or its 3DS remake Samus Returns, also developed by MercurySteam). Knowing Samus is part-Metroid thanks to the vaccine she took in Fusion, Raven Beak instead looks to use her to make the Chozo's secret weapon.
Metroid Dread is ultimately about Samus reclaiming her gear scattered about ZDR by Raven Beak, who believes the journey will awaken her latent Metroid abilities. This works, as Samus is shown to absorb the energy of her enemies by the end of the game, but Raven Beak's plan backfires. Samus' power is too great to be controlled, and explodes out with the bounty hunter's fury after she nearly dies in the final fight against Raven Beak. She gains a new upgrade called the Metroid Suit, designed to reflect her fully awakened form, and can use the all-powerful Hyper Beam.
The Hyper Beam is a great weapon on its own, able to eradicate most any being in its path - including an amalgam Core-X fusing Raven Beak with classic Metroid boss Kraid. However, the Metroid Suit also cranks Samus' energy absorption up to 11, as seen when she inadvertently drains the Mawkin ship Itorash and sends it crashing into ZDR. She almost strands herself on the exploding planet by draining the power from her own gunship, but this power is surpressed by the latent DNA of a friendly Chozo named Quiet Robe who was also assimilated by the X.
The Future of Metroid Seems Clear
Any game set to follow Metroid Dread could start the series' next arc by thoroughly examining how Samus deals with this newfound power. On the one hand, Quiet Beak's help may not last forever, and it would be interesting to see a Jekyll and Hyde situation in which Samus has to balance her own emotions at risk of destroying everything around her. The series up until this point has also shown various parties doing everything they can to harness Metroid power for militaristic means: Space Pirates, the Mawkin, and the Galactic Federation alike. Now that Samus is essentially a biological weapon, her next arc may center around running from everyone and everything that aims to capture and experiment upon her.
Though Metroid has never been one of Nintendo's most lucrative franchises compared to Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon, Samus' latest adventure is a big turning point. Not only did Metroid Dread have the highest launch month sales of any game in the series, its design and story also earned Dread a nomination for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2021. With that kind of success it would be silly for Nintendo to not continue producing games past Metroid Prime 4, and luckily Samus' potent Metroid abilities open up many possibilities for where to go next.
Metroid Dread is available now on Nintendo Switch.