The Best Way To Combat E.M.M.I.s In Metroid Dread

While it certainly has its fair share of innovations, "Metroid Dread" keeps a lot of the classic "Metroid" formula intact. It's a 2D action game with a lot of vertical movement and plenty of tough creatures to fight. There are a few new elements that help it stand apart, though. There are a few enemies in the new "Metroid" that are basically unstoppable and love to chase Samus Aran, bringing to mind the likes of Mr. X and Nemesis in the "Resident Evil" remakes. They're called E.M.M.I.s, and you don't want to get cornered by one.

In "Metroid Dread," the E.M.M.I.s (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers) are research robots created by the Galactic Federation. Seven of them were sent to the planet ZDR to investigate the appearance of the X-Parasite, only to immediately disappear upon arrival. It turns out that they've been corrupted and have turned against Samus. These buckets of bolts are immune to most of Samus' arsenal, making them pretty much unkillable, even before you unlock hard mode. They will hunt everyone's favorite bounty hunter tirelessly — unless the player knows how to get away from them. Luckily, there are a few tricks to doing just that.

Samus encounters all seven of the stranded E.M.M.I. units throughout the game. No two of them behave exactly alike, and each encounter gets progressively more dangerous. The first is by far the easiest to get away from. It has a damaged arm and can't follow Samus when she escapes up a nearby ledge. The white E.M.M.I. can climb, but can't go through tight passages, the green can do both, the yellow runs a bit faster, the purple has a bigger field of vision and can use shock waves, the blue can freeze Samus and the red can create explosions. 

These abilities makes each encounter slightly unique, but the overall method remains the same. Avoid them at all costs, and attempt to keep out of the yellow cone which represents their field of vision.

There's no fighting the E.M.M.I.s at first. In most cases, the only thing to do is run. Players who get caught by an EMMI will have a brief window to counter or else they will be killed in a single hit. Once players squeeze past them however, they will have the opportunity to use power from defeated Central Unit hubs to turn Samus' arm cannon into the more powerful Omega Cannon, giving her enough juice to punch a hole in these dastardly machines. Doing this is how you unlock several of her abilities, such as her Morph Ball. It's also just really satisfying.