If you've been killed by something that isn't an E.M.M.I. robot in Metroid Dread, then you've probably seen the Zero Suit Samus animation that follows. While it might not seem like all that much in motion, it's actually rather detailed.
An individual known as 'Finalizer' shared these findings on Twitter, after sifting through the game files of the Switch exclusive.
Not only are there some changes to the model when compared to the Metroid: Other M version of Samus (shorter heels, no weapon holster, etc), but there are also apparently around 14,000 polygons for a model that has around just two seconds of screen time. Although, if you've played Dread, you've probably seen this screen for a bit longer than that...
The same source also notes one change on the character's face - the addition of a "blush" texture. Here's a closer look:
And here's what this particular model looks like in motion:
And this is our own screenshot directly from the game, right before the 'Game Over' screen:
What do you think of the latest version of Zero Suit Samus? Share your thoughts down below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments (92)
I’ve seen that two second animation many, many times 😅
She got jacked compared to other m.
Those are some of the best 2 seconds of 2021.
That's a strange amount of detail, I wonder if at some point they had more plans for a ZSS section?
To some who barely see a difference compared to other ZSS models, this is a HUGE improvement imo.
For one you can actually see Samus has some muscle definition around both her torso and arms, and her whole facial structure in general is a lot more "firm" which is something I always thought suited her far better before Smash and Other M changed that perception for the last 10 years or so.
Hoping Prime 4 continues the "stronger" looking Samus if we ever see her out of the suit again in that game.
Despite being lower poly, the older model was clearly made by a better artist imo, in terms of knowing what looks aesthetically pleasing. Her face in the new version just looks off (bland with and strange gormless expression and dead eyes, and weirdly lit); the art for it in the old version is just way more pleasing.
I see a lot of ahum detail.
The one who did the design, surely loved zero suit samus.
I bet someone on that cesspool site will find this to be "problematic".
I can see it now : " How Samus' updated model stinks of misogyny and why you should be offended."
But does it bounce?
I wasn't aware of this animation, managed to complete the game three times without seeing it. The third time I used a Guitar Hero controller as I felt I needed some kind of a challenge.
(Goes into a corner and cries, unwilling to admit the truth)
At least she is standing up straight. I hate when they model these things into that stupid “hero pose” where they shove the characters pelvis forward and pull the shoulders back to make them look more heroic. I just see bad posture and it annoys me LOL
I, for one, welcome our new Zero Suit muscle queen ❤
As someone who never owned a Game Boy Advance, I'm still waiting for an easy way to play Metroid Zero Mission & Fusion (Hunters & Samus Returns too but that's DS and beyond) on Switch.
Was hoping Nintendo would make this happen for fans and people like me to get caught up story-wise prior to Metroid Dread on Switch... thus my hope for the much speculated Game Boy Line Nintendo Switch Online App addition I'm still hoping for.
As such I'm actually less interested and less inclined to play Dread before doing so. Guess I'll keep waiting and hoping Nintendo does the aforementioned.
Also, Remaster Metroid: Other M for Switch with better controls, quality of life improvements and HD and I'm in there like swimwear
... Wun can only hope.
@Arkay Polygon? If so, I feel you man. That site is a joke
@impurekind Her face in the Other M version looks uncanny and her neck is too short. It looks off. Dread's version not so much.
Of course its more detailed. Switch game vs a Wii game. Still a letdown that we don't get a view of her Zero Suit model for the best ending tho.
@wuntyme8 Zero Mission is available on Wii U Virtual Console if you have one of those laying around but otherwise I agree with you. A metroid 2D collection including the remakes would be a license to print money for Nintendo and I think the Prime trilogy could also be expanded to a Prime series collection and include Hunters and Federation Force on there too.
With those Muscles on her Legs she can clearly fight against Chun Li.
@StarPoint
I's not all that unreasonable or odd, tbh. As far as poly counts go, it's actually decently low for a modern game. Especially for non-interactive sequences such as this, the triangle counts could easily be 5x+ higher.
Some people are wondering if there were more sequences planned. In all likelihood, however, this model was probably constructed first (as a base mesh) and then used as the underlying guide for the armor creation. Doing it that way probably helped them to create an armor that was properly proportioned/structured and believably bulky.
It's not all that uncommon of a practice when creating CG armor to start with some sort of underlying "trace" base mesh. In this case, it works to their advantage because they could always repurpose it later on and even use this low poly model as the base cage for renders of denser detail.
(FWIW, I am a CG artist and programmer with 30+ years experience. I've done tons of character models and a lot of real-time programming. Been involved with the online gamedev community for almost 25 years too. I see these things all of the time.)
That’s a lot of polys for a very short clip that could have been unneeded…
Zero Suit DLC confirmed…
@impurekind
If anything, I think that the older model was more stylized and less anatomically correct. I mean, I have to look again, but that's my initial read. What makes the newer one look more a little janky is probably the shading and render. I blame that on the rip and ripper to some degree. The newer model is definitely more refined and better modeled though.
@gaga64
Not really. Like I said, they probably already had the model on hand for use as the guide for the armor. No sense in modeling it and then letting it go to waste. When it comes to this sort of thing, those models never go to waste anyway. They either get repurposed for later content drops or marketing material or they get modded and kitbashed into other, future models.
@impurekind I think that's because Other M's ZSS was seen more in cutscenes and gameplay. I like both faces, looking at the Dread model up close doesn't look that bad, but yeah, less polished, since we don't see Samus without her suit in the game.
@impurekind Other than her face not being caked with make-up, Samus' Dread model literally just looks like a normal woman with some muscle definition.
Not only that, but the model isn't even fully rendered neither optimised to be aesthetically pleasing.
It's incredibly ignorant to say that the other model was made by a "better artist" when both models have very different functionalities in what they wanted to do with them. Especially since the Dread model is mostly seen in a 2 second death animation whereas Other M's was made to be seen practically all the time.
With some tweaking under the assumption that that the model would be rigged with talking and more nuanced animations in mind, the Dread model would likely look more polished in that area, however I don't believe Samus can even open her mouth here which is more than likely the reason her lower mouth might look "off" to someone.
All that aside, I've personally always disliked the design that Other M stuck with ZSS for so long and crept into Smash. For one, Samus isn't a character that cares about looking "aesthetically pleasing", she's a cold bounty hunter who barely socialises even with those on the job. The whole dainty super model look they leaned into heavily for her not only felt wrong for her character, but also does a disservice to her lore in the games before.
The Dread model is only a step in the right direction for me and I'm happy that Samus can actually look more capable than the damsel Other M turned her into.
I don't get it... Why the hell do they keep giving Samus heels? They serve literally no purpose in the lore or in the game. I get the fan service to thirsty prepubescent boys, and I'm glad her heels are less extreme from Other M, but seriously it ruins an otherwise pretty cool futuristic design.
A lot better than that weeb bimbo thing. Coloring and shading on the face looks a little off, but I suspect they didn't really go into great detail with it.
Also. No beauty make makes me feel better
@Arkay take a breath, big guy…no reason to lose any sleep over imaginary articles
They should really change Samus Arans design. Currently there are 3 major Nintendo characters that look almost the same: Peach, Zelda and Samus are all the same typical model blondes. How about making a character look asian?
Other M still has the best Zero Suit iteration in the series, and I don't think it's even close. I don't know if I would say Dread's version is top 3, but I won't say it's far off either. Hopefully I'll have that ending scene unlocked at some point soon.
I was going to make a comment about unnecessary focus on Samus's skin-tight bodysuit but it looks like this is actually a pretty reasonable amount of effort just to the model to look nice for when you die in-game. So, uh, carry on.
@cookepuss Interesting, I guess I wasn't aware of that
@DevinRex because it's fun? Adds beauty to her? Visual appeal?
Not everything needs to have deep meaningful answers. It's not like you need a lore reason why Samus' ship is colored orange. It's colored orange because it looks good.
@Samalik Nah... Because, like I said, it's fan-service. It's tacky and stupid.
And it's annoying to be honest. Thankfully we're seeing a decrease in the heel size, which has been something Metroid fans have been requesting for decades now (Other M anyone?). I'm excited to play a Metroid game where Samus wears combat shoes like a normal human being, and not shoes that make her look like a hooker fresh off the street. Kudos for Nintendo for going in that direction.
That's not animation , that's actually Brie Larson on the set of Metroid
Samus has Green Hair!
This Blonde Haired Imposter NEEDS to go!
@DevinRex
Those aren't heels, they are wedges.
@chipia
Samus originally had Green Hair.
@SuperCharr "Dainty" is the keyword here which kinda contradicts the character.
That being said I'm offended (jk) that you'd assume I don't think the Dread version of Samus is good-looking. The Dread model simply makes Samus look both badass AND attractive imo.
@Rich_Uncle_Skeleton thank you mr skeltal!
Um, spoilers??? What I get for taking too long to beat the game, I guess. 😐
@Leuke What spoilers? This is a model you see when you die in the game. If you haven't seen it yet then it means you're probably doing pretty good at the game so far.
Pretty sure her death animation in Super Metroid was originally supposed to be nude but became a bikini instead.
@cookepuss sorry, I was being somewhat facetious, parodying the inevitable wave of internet commenters jumping to unwarranted conclusions. But I obviously wasn’t sarcastic enough. Possibly because I actually think it’s a vaguely possible idea in the modern DLC market (though it would also inevitably lead to wave of commenters bemoaning devs holding features back for DLC), even if this model isn’t actually “proof” (its probably still too low-poly to work as a fully operable main character model, or some other such technical reason that would totally go over my head).
I'm ready for Samus's out of Powersuit look to be redesigned. I liked the Zero Suit in Zero Mission for 2d sprites and Samus Returns, and okay here but kinda want to get a new look. Give her new underclothes. Much like Link's redesign. Yeah he's not always the same guy but Breath of the Wild and the sequel new change has and many click with em. And I like Samus new Powersuit.
I still prefer the SSBU model of ZSS. Something just feels off with this model. However, the attention to detail is already amazing.
@Kyranosaurus Ah! My bad 😂
2 seconds × 10000000000 deaths is a lot of time.
Removed - inappropriate; user is banned
Not a fan of her face at all. That's one big downside of being developed by a western studio...
@HammerGalladeBro You only died once? I've seen this for probably half an hour combined.
@Kyranosaurus The image used for this article's thumbnail and underneath the title is a spoiler.
That's a very action figure pose. Merch incoming?
That is one thing Nintendo has been relatively consistent about. The little details in their games.
Cheers NL for spoiling the game I've yet to complete!
Are people actually upset by her new model and think it's "less sexy"? It's clearly an upgrade in everyway. Her having more muscle definition is actually sexier imo (and makes sense) and now she's even caked up. Are men afraid of women that stay fit or something?
@Shambo I was referring more to the sequence in general, not the amount of time I've spent watching it. Mine must me somewhere around 16 seconds (I've only played the demo, but I've let Samus die a couple of times to see it [that sounds horrible now that I think about it])
@DevinRex fanservice doesn't suddenly equal trash. What the hell kinda extreme is that?
I think you may need to talk to girl like this Because that kinda language is anything but pleasent... Over high heels of all things. She's always been potrayed as a woman too ya know...
I can't tell that much difference on my mobile screen. More tone & more detailed face, but not a huge difference, IMO.
@andyg1412 it's not really a spoiler, u see this every time u die (or maybe not, I've died dozens of times & never paid much attention to it, myself)
@Kyranosaurus yeah, someone having an opinion different than yours is "ignorant"...🙄
I like the Zero Suit design fine, but I've been thinking that it's a bit overdue for a redesign. There's been so many variations of her power suits, but the zero suit has essentially remained untouched for nearly 20 years. It's certainly a step up from the OG Justin Bailey suit, but the sexy skintight bodysuit thing doesn't really fit Samus' character. I don't think it needs a drastic overhaul, but something akin to the redesign Batgirl's suit got in the Batgirl of Burnside run would work really well for Samus. Something practical and functional, that still offers some modicum of protection. Maybe something that combines her Power Suit looks and a Federation uniform, something more befitting of someone who is former military than a catsuit.
@DevinRex why are you against heels on boots? do you really think that people won't wear heels in the future? do you think that they don't do so these days?


would you rather her be wearing tennis shoes, flip flops or crocs on a planet where the mud will pull them off?
its almost like you've never seen a pair of work or military boots before
also, Other M's wedges should have never existed.
@DevinRex Most work boots I’ve worn have around 1.25”-1.5” heel, so she’s getting closer to something reasonable. However, the boots I wear now are a thick flat sole made by DeWalt and I’m in love with these things. My non-work boots are Blundstones with an inch and a halfish heel.
I think her mid-low ponytail is also a more utilitarian style, women wear their ponytails higher more often than not. I’m a long haired guy and I have to tie my hair back for work, and low comes naturally.
Edit: and I’m in here thirty seconds after someone else talking work boots . Haha
Gorgeous. Samus has always been sexy, powerful, and smart. She's got it all!
Pretty neat fact!
@twztid13 No, as I said, ranking the skill of artists based on things you don't know is what's ignorant. Don't twist my words, thanks.
@twztid13 never seen it and I've died so many times. Ah I thought that pic was from the credits at the end, my mistake it's just the explosion of her each time she dies.
@Samalik I assume you are familiar with the concept of fan-service, so I don't think an explanation on why my dislike for high heels on a space suit needs to be explained. If such a concept alludes you, I can't say I can do much to help you there. We have two different opinions on the matter, so we'll leave it at that. Also, I'm very much satisfied with my relationship with my girlfriend, but I appreciate your concern about my social life with other females.
@Shadowmoon522 I don't hate heels on boots. I hate uneccessary sexualization of footwear on female characters designed specifically to check a box of "appeal to hormonal young boys". The picture you've shown is the correct footwear for what I was describing as preferable. You will notice that the shoes Samus wears look nothing like that, with a much larger arch and higher heel/wedge, so you'll have to try again friend. She'd fit right into a Go Go party though. Much less so than Other M (atrocious honestly), so in that respect, there is hope.
@Deady Nice man! And hey this is the internet, I expect nothing less than an open discussion on video game footwear. I guess it irks me the slowness of progress on women shoes in video games. I always thought it stupid on the prevalence of heels in action games or even horror games. It's such a blatant cop-out for male attention it hurts my soul.
Then again though I'm just projecting after holding this stuff in since Samus was revealed to be a woman. So sorry about all this gushing. My rant has been long overdue lmao. If they're trying to go the sexy and still practical angle, at least give my girl some Reebok Floatrides or something. Shapely, comfortable, practical, and realistic looking (in my most dearest opinion) and hell, they even come in blue to match her suit!
Link because I don't know how to import IMG tags on this website:
https://brand.assets.reebok.com/f_auto,q_auto,fl_lossy/capi/reebok_enUS/floatridespace2_274-335497.jpg
XD
https://twitter.com/PostposterousYT/status/1455370155580559361
Brawl is without a doubt the best design, sure it's by far the least realistic, boob pockets and all but her face and hair style look really great. There's something about the size of her chest that really speaks volumes about the character y'know? It's the intended design, otherwise they wouldn't have done it like that
I didn't like what they did in Smash4, giving her those clunky heels. Ruined the design.
I shared some even more detailed pics of the model on my twitter. She is anatomically "defined": https://twitter.com/postposterousyt/status/1455370155580559361?s=21
@andyg1412 Nintendolife is sharing a spoiler within this article. You're not making a mistake calling it out.
@DevinRex
of course it alludes me because Metroid is science fantasy. Nothing about it is grounded in reality. It's all fantastical. So you're really gonna complain about footwear designed to give the character appeal to the sum of her visual parts? Where only foot fetishists are only going to care. (Wait a minute, this is talk is getting fishy with that pointed out...)
On top of that, Samus has always been a fanservice style character, dressed in space latex in vain of various grand Japanese mecha heroines rather than realistic scifi. She's no Morigan Aeinsland but it's always there when she removes her powersuit more and more the faster you beat the game with a higher percent.
The thing isn't just given to you. Even most casual players might only make it to the helmet removal and call it a day. So where's the cop out? Cuz this certainly isn't close to the underdeveloped cheap stuff EastAsiaSoft gets covered for on this site.
In an era where porn is free, that comment about sexually developing teens certainly doesn't hold up. (And once again, doesn't inspire the best charisma outta this talk, what with the whole looking down on them part...)
@Samalik Yes I am. And I have every right to.
You don't like it? You can find someone else to talk to. Good day sir.
@Arkay You sure demolished that strawman!
@KirbysAdventure Thank you Kirby, very cool!
@DevinRex Because we aren't all unics.
@impurekind We're not all thirsty neckbeards either. Thankfully.
@wuntyme8 but there IS a way to play fusion, just emulate it. There really is no other option at this point so just do it. Don't know what it is? Look it up I'm not Google
Really dig that artwork from the article....much much more than the 3d model. (although, not sure if that was a good idea to show this particular image from the game...)
Only thing I really never liked from the ZeroSuit, is that whole super thin latex - diver look... she still looks like a nude model with a blue color. And that pony tail... I would expect a character look much more integrated and less clean when getting out of the powersuit. A bit more messy. More like she has been in some tremendous fight.
There is one drawing from the Appleseed manga covers that really nailed the look..imho.
@wuntyme8 Fusion and zero mission are available in the wii U if you have one. You can also get a GBA in ebay for 50$ or less, or pay around 100 for a backlight screen one . Fusion and Zero Mission can be found for less than 20$. On the 3DS you can also get Super Metroid, which is also in the Wii U. I think the best option will be to get the Wii U for cheap and buy all 3 games in there which is like 3-5 dollars I think. It also has Metroid Prime Trilogy there for 25$ I think. Besides that. I agree with you. I wish all those games make it to the Switch some day but not as as service, I want to buy them and own them
@DevinRex Your virtue is so bold.
Zero Interest Samus
@impurekind I just have a certain respect for those who strive to not be creeps anytime they see a video game character with tits.
Removed - offensive remarks; user is banned
Removed - offensive remarks; user is banned
14,000 is the times I died...
E.M.M.I included.
@DevinRex You're sooo virtuous.
Those heels almost look like she can fight in them. Almost.
I'm not sure it's actually even two seconds. Also, with the intense bright light that flashes and the set angle plus the particle effects, it's heavily obscured for the brief time it's visible.
I'm getting tired of hearing articles, seeing people on social media, comparing this game to other m. It's not, this game is ten times better, the reason being Samus is 'basically' mute, but when she did talk it wasn't like a whiny little cheer leader from 9th grade. I played other m and halfway through I got sick of the bad voice acting, turned off my Wii and threw the game and case in the garbage. In conclusion other m is God awful and I won't even put the word metroid in it, please get a life.
@Xzy To be fair, I quite enjoyed Other M... With cheats... And infinite lives... And infinite ammo. Ahh good times.
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