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Metroid Dread's latest trailer teases the return of a familiar foe

The latest teaser trailer for Metroid Dread reveals why Samus is headed for Planet ZDR. A deadly enemy that once hunted her awaits.

TJ Denzer

August 20, 2021 8:23 AM

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Nintendo has been very interesting with its Metroid Dread reveals. Each new teaser and trailer seems to nod to both blatant and obscure Metroid lore and the game as a whole seems like its prepping to tie up loose ends that have been hanging in the franchise for decades. Such is the case with a new trailer that just came out, too. Nintendo finally revealed the original purpose of the deadly E.M.M.I. robots, the reason why Samus heads to Planet ZDR, and the deadly returning force that awaits her there.

Nintendo released the latest trailer for Metroid Dread via the Nintendo Twitter and its YouTube channel on August 20, 2021. As mentioned above, there lurks a familiar foe at the heart of everything in Metroid Dread: The reason for Samus’s arrival and the reason for the E.M.M.I. bots… It’s the X Parasite. Sound familiar? In Metroid Fusion, it’s the same organism that took over Samus’s suit to become SA-X and hunted her throughout the game. It devours and then mimics its prey and only Metroids (now extinct) are capable of countering and consuming it. That makes Samus, whose suit is infused with Metroid DNA, the X Parasite’s sole predator.

The X Parasite was thought to have been eradicated by Samus in Metroid Fusion. However, a surviving organism was identified on Planet ZDR. The E.M.M.I. bots, Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier robots, were dispatched before Samus to try to investigate the threat, but contact was lost. Now, Samus has been called in and may be the last hope at containing the remaining X Parasite threat before it poses a real threat to the galaxy.

Metroid Dread is looking absolutely dynamite as both a new 2.5D side-scrolling adventure with Samus and a game that seems to promise to explore long-obscure lore in the series. With plot points going back to the very first Metroid, as well as the returning threat that chased us through Fusion, we’re more excited than ever to play Metroid Dread when it launches in October.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.