The announcement of Metroid Dread is the biggest news Metroid fans have gotten since the announcement of Metroid Prime 4, with the added bonus that Dread actually has a tangible release date. The imminent release of Dread will hopefully draw newcomers to the franchise, generating interest and sales that sustain the games going forward.
New fans might be wondering how much they need to know before starting Metroid Dread this October. After all, the promotional material for Dread has been sure to let people know that this is Metroid 5 and a direct sequel to a storyline thought abandoned during the days of the GameBoy Advance. Thankfully, it doesn't take an expert to understand what's been going on in the Metroid universe for the past couple of decades.
How Does Dread Fit Into The Rest Of The Series?
There's a lot of conversation surrounding what will and won't be included in Metroid Prime 5, but those confused by that discussion need not worry, as Metroid Dread is the continuation of a separate series in the Metroid lineage.
The Metroid Prime games are largely divorced from the events of the mainline Metroid games—those being Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid, and Metroid Fusion—which follow their own story. Metroid Dread is a direct sequel to the previous chronological entry in the series, Metroid Fusion, and therefore will not have much to do with Metroid Prime.
Will Newcomers Need To Play The Previous Games To Understand This One?
The stories of each Metroid title are generally self-contained, with only a handful of major events and characters establishing continuity from one entry to the next, so knowledge of previous games likely won't be required. Helpfully, it also appears that the developers intend to include a flashback cutscene at the beginning of Dread to recap the events of Metroid Fusion for new players. Dread also appears to have been a long-cancelled Nintendo DS game, which may lead to interesting timeline implications.
That doesn't mean that the older titles aren't worth playing, though. Nearly every 2D Metroid title, save for the very first one, which most write off as too dated, has its assortment of die-hard fans who insist it's the best in the franchise, and some, like Super Metroid, are considered all-time classics in gaming circles.
Who Is Samus?
Samus Aran is the protagonist of the Metroid franchise and the galaxy's preeminent bounty hunter. She's typically found undertaking dangerous missions by herself, which often involve exploring and then blowing up a hostile alien world. In the past, she's clashed with Space Pirates, Metroids, and all sorts of alien lifeforms looking to undermine the safety of the galaxy.
She generally keeps to herself, notably not speaking save for the intros to a handful of games, but she has formed a personal connection with some other characters in the past; namely, a Metroid larvae she encountered on the planet SR388, and a Federation A.I. named Adam.
What Is The Galactic Federation?
The Galactic Federation is the largest political authority in the Metroid galaxy, with the Space Pirates representing their biggest credible threat. Samus' backstory includes employment in the Federation military before she struck out on her own as a bounty hunter, so there's a little bit of history between the two parties.
The Federation is also a frequent employer of Samus as a bounty hunter. They're often the ones who send out the distress calls that she needs to respond to or task her with difficult missions that involve plunging into the depths of some alien world.
What Happened In Metroid Fusion?
There's quite a bit about Fusion and Samus Aran that new Metroid players won't understand. Metroid Fusion is the game that comes chronologically before Metroid Dread, and, although it's unclear exactly how much time has passed between the two titles, it is apparent that Dread plans to draw Fusion's more memorable gameplay elements. Fusion saw Samus tasked with investigating a distress call on a Federation research station only to discover it had been used as a covert Metroid cloning facility.
In Fusion, Samus was pursued by the relentless SA-X: a parasitic lifeform made in her likeness but subject to none of the weaknesses that Samus herself incurred at the beginning of the game. That feature appears to be the inspiration for the similarly spooky robots that will hunt Samus in Metroid dread.
Who Are The Chozo?
The Chozo are a very old, very wise race of Bird-like aliens. At their peak, they had access to immense technological and scientific knowledge, powers which they tried their best to use toward benevolent ends. To the species of Metroid's present-day, the powers of the Chozo seem near-mythical in their capabilities.
The Chozo were also the ones who took Samus under their wings after the death of her family at the hands of the Space Pirates. They raised her into the bounty hunter that everyone knows and loves today and equipped her with her iconic power suit. There aren't too many Chozo left, though. They're so rare, in fact, that the individual hinted at in the Dread trailer is the only living example seen in the franchise thus far.
What Is The X Parasite?
The X Parasites are strange mutagenic life forms introduced during the events of Metroid Fusion. At the beginning of that game, one merged with Samus which forced her to undergo a surgical procedure to remove the infection. The operation was a limited success thanks to the administration of a vaccine based on Metroid DNA which allowed Samus' cells to combat the infection.
The parasite did alter her physiology, however, leading to her wearing the distinctive Fusion Suit throughout the events of the game. The organic components of that suit can still be seen on Samus' armor in the trailers for Metroid Dread, suggesting that the X was never fully removed, a detail about Samus' body that hadn't been previously revealed.
Who Are The Space Pirates?
The Space Pirates are the primary antagonists of the Metroid universe; they're always causing problems by doing misguided, dangerous experiments with unstable bioforms, energy sources, or whatever else they can get their hands on. They also have a tendency to attack sensitive Federation interests at exactly the wrong time, which typically forces Samus to get involved.
Samus herself has something of a personal relationship with the Pirates, too. It was they who raided the colony that she and her birth parents lived in while she was a child, leading to the death of her family and her subsequent adoption by the Chozo.
What Are The E.M.M.I.?
The monstrous robotic enemies pursuing Samus in the trailers are called E.M.M.I., an acronym that means Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. They're apparently Federation equipment designed to be deployed to hostile alien worlds and extract DNA samples from subjects of scientific interest.
Why Federation assets are in such a determined chase to kill Samus is definitely a question of interest, but an equally important one is, if these machines are designed to extract DNA material from their targets, what exactly is it in Samus' DNA that is of such interest to them?
What Is A Metroid?
The titular alien lifeform of the franchise is the so-called Metroid. These parasitic beasts like to float around and attack by latching themselves onto the skulls of their targets, after which they forcibly extract the life energy of the victim. The metroids are the cause of a lot of trouble in the galaxy on account of their potential efficacy as a bioweapon, which leads many to try and exploit them for military gain.
The metroids were ostensibly exterminated when Samus raided their homeworld of SR388 in Metroid II, but things didn't go quite as planned going forward, which leads to all the issues our protagonist has to deal with in Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.