Nintendo has dropped another trailer for the soon-to-release Metroid Dread. This one doesn’t reveal much we haven’t already seen. However, that is in part because new details were dumped on the game’s official website the previous day. So far there have been eight Metroid Dread reports posted there, with the last one focusing on Planet ZDR. It gives a short description of several locales that Samus will visit during her latest adventure. The website also confirmed that one more report is coming before the game releases. Metroid Dread is set to launch for the Nintendo Switch on October 8th.
Samus’s new mission begins in a cold, cavernous region called Artaria, the deepest area on the planet. This is also where we saw her attacked by a mysterious new figure in previous trailers. Not much is known about that enigmatic and seemingly quite hostile Chozo Warrior. According to Metroid Dread Report Vol. 8, Planet ZDR is quite similar to SR388 (the planet Metroid 2/Metroid: Samus Returns took place on). This is in regards to gravity, temperature, humidity, and the composition of its atmosphere.
The upper portions of Artaria are treacherous, as they are full of hot magma. This molten rock is used as the primary energy source for the planet. There is a central system that supplies this power to facilities throughout the planet. This power distribution system resides in a region called Cataris. Some areas here are too hot for Samus to traverse without a suit upgrade.
Samus’ mission in Metroid Dread will also take her to a biological research facility in the region of Dairon. It is infested with robots thought to have been created using advanced Chozo technologies. Some areas here are without power, making the robots harder to spot. Not only that but the lower portion of the facility is flooded. This aquatic biome is a region called Burenia.
Samus will also venture into an underground forest biome in Metroid Dread. The area contains increasingly dangerous lifeforms to contend with. While below the surface, enough sunlight makes it down here to support the ecosystem. There are fewer relics of civilization in this area, as it was of less interest. As such, this region is much more wild and untouched than some of the others. That is especially true when you compare it to the next one.
The last region of Planet ZDR covered in Metroid Dread Report Vol. 8 is Ferenia. This area is full of ancient Chozo ruins. Some of them were the sites of Chozo rituals. Ferenia was once a Chozo sanctuary. Needless to say, these later areas will require a varied arsenal of abilities to traverse, and Samus will visit some of them multiple times. The eighth Metroid Dread Report also details a few enemies in the first three of these regions. That report is also loaded with screenshots, so check it out if you want to see more.
