Nintendo has issued a new promotional clip for Metroid: Other M. If you were hoping for a glimpse of Samus Aran at her lethal best, stalking through gloomy instillations and dispatching aliens with extreme prejudice, you may wish to lower your expectations. It seems our heroin now prefers a more sedate approach, spending the duration of the trailer staring pensively at the sunset.

At the beginning of the clip, the words “not actual gameplay” are superimposed over the bounty hunter’s face. This will certainly disappoint those of you anticipating a game in which absolutely nothing happens.

Trailer notwithstanding, Metroid: Other M looks to be just as action oriented as previous instalments in the series. In a departure from Retro’s well received Metroid Prime Model, the new game offers a blend of first and third person combat.

In its wisdom, Nintendo has outsourced its premier heroin to Tecmo’s Team Ninja. I think you’ll agree that the studio responsible for the ultra voyeuristic Dead or Alive: Paradise is ideally suited to tackle one of the few strong female protagonists in gaming. As Yasuo Egawa once told Edge, “We’re Tecmo – we’re good at female characters.”

The Wii exclusive Metroid: Other M is due for release in 2010.