***SPOILERS AHEAD***
Metroid Prime holds legendary status among the video game community for very good reason. It is fucking amazing! Originally released in 2002 for the Nintendo GameCube, Metroid Prime shattered expectations, showing a worried fanbase that the new direction for the series was in fact the right way to go for the Metroid saga! The game went on to become a best-seller for the system and a favorite among fans of the franchise and set a new standard for the series moving forward, not to mention being declared one of the greatest video games of all time! Now this modern masterpiece is out for the Nintendo Wii and the game is better than ever! One of my favorite games of all time just got even better! :D
The story of Metroid Prime takes place three years after the original Metroid. While searching the galaxy for more work, intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran receives a distress signal from a space Space Pirate frigate above the planet Tallon IV. Upon investigation, Samus discovers the Space Pirates have been conducting scientific experiments on the wildlife of Tallon IV including Metroids as well as working to revive her arch-nemesis, Ridley, now Meta Ridley. Samus also discovers the Space Pirates' use of a mysterious and highly radioactive substance called Phazon. Samus must travel across the surface of Tallon IV in an attempt to stop the Space Pirates from creating powerful biological weapons from Phazon before they can become a threat to the entire galaxy! The story for Metroid Prime is minimally told with most of the major plot points told by scanning computers and other objects in the game. But the story that is there is pretty good and fits very well into the rest of the Metroid lore. Not to mention there is a lot of detail in the few story elements you are given! Not the most groundbreaking tale ever told but a fun one none the less! :)
Samus Aran
Meta Ridley
Metroid Prime(creepy)
Gameplay in Metroid Prime differs greatly from all the past games in the series. Prime trades in the iconic 2D style of older games for new 3D first-person gameplay. Back when it first released Prime took a lot of flak because of the new style. Many stated that Metroid would never work as a first-person adventure game. Oh how wrong they all were! Metroid Prime works wonderfully as a first-person action adventure game! If you have ever played a game with a first-person viewpoint before you will be all set with Prime. You traverse the game's world looking through Samus' eyes. Exploration, combat, almost everything you do uses this viewpoint. The game feels very fluid in this perspective letting you see all the detail a Metroid game can offer up close and personal! Luckily looking and aiming feel much better now making use of the Nintendo Wii's motion controls. Using the Wii Remote you can aim and move around using the pointer on the remote. It takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it, movement and fighting feel so smooth and natural. It is a much better control scheme than the GameCubes use of a single analog stick.
First-person controls are much better on the Wii!
Being a Metroid game, exploration plays a HUGE part of the game. It is just as important as the fun combat! Tallon IV is a massive world filled with all sorts of secrets and goodies are tucked away in little corners waiting to be found. Tallon IV just begs to be explored to its fullest and Prime does an excellent job of making you WANT to explore every nook and cranny for all the obtainable items and equipment! Like in past games, lots of areas in the game's world will be locked, inaccessible to you until you find the right tools to proceed. A lot of the franchises most iconic weapons and equipment make there way into 3D with huge success! Everything is fun to use and everything serves a purpose from opening specific doors to defeating certain types of enemies and bosses. Finding Samus' different suits allow you to use different abilities or afford you greater protection from certain types of attacks and hazards. The Varia Suit provides greater protection from extreme heat while the Gravity Suit lets Samus move around more freely underwater. Special Additions to Samus' suits enhance her abilities even further. The Space Jump Boots for example let Samus jump higher and farther, letting her traverse wide gaps or jump to high areas. The iconic Morph Ball lets you transform into a small ball in order to reach travel through very small spaces and to travel using specific equipment. Several weapons and weapon upgrades are also littered across the world such as the Ice Beam(opens white colored doors and useful in beating fire-based enemies), The Plasma Beam(opens red doors and causes high damage to ice based enemies), and the mighty Wave Beam(opens purple doors and can follow enemies using charged shots). Iconic Morph Ball Bombs are used to destroy certain types of obstacles in your way as well as being effective on certain enemy types(not to mention using the ever nifty Morph Ball Jump). Missiles are also added to your arsenal and can be combined with your Beam weapons to make devastating combo attacks! Visors are also a very useful tool to help you in defeating the Space Pirate menace! The standard Scan Visor is used to scan enemies and creatures for detailed info for your Log Book as well as scanning items, equipment or other objects in the game world to help clarify objectives or add more context to the world of Metorid. Other Visor enhancements like the Thermal Visor(lets you target enemies with high heat, as well as tracking enemies in dark areas) and the X-Ray Visor(lets you see through objects and some walls and lets you track invisible and sonic based enemies) help you to even the odds against ever changing enemy threats! In addition to all this awesome gear, you can also look for additional enhancements to Samus. Missile Expansions let you increase the number of missiles in your inventory making it easier to handle enemies that are better defeated with missiles. Energy Tanks increase Samus' Energy(health) making it easier to survive the challenging enemies the game throws at you. Finding all these and MORE upgrades and items are a great challenge in there own right and finding them all also lets you view the secret ending after the credits roll!
Find those upgrades to kick even MORE Space Pirate ass! :D
Just like the exploration part of the game, the combat is also amazing fun! Having a first-person perspective adds a new dimension to the series that has always had side-scrolling combat. Locking onto targets, aiming and shooting feel much better using the Wii Remote. Fighting basic enemies is fun but can get a tad easy until you get to the later portions of the game where a lot of the enemies require strategic use of many of your weapons and gear in order to defeat them. The REAL fun from combat comes from battling the games numerous and challenging bosses! Boss battles are often tense and challenging affairs. You will often have to make use of almost all of the gear you have on hand in order to defeat a boss. Using your wits and strategy and the right equipment is key to obtaining victory over these powerful foes. The last two bosses in the game however will truly test your mettle unlike anything else in the game! Part of the appeal of the Metroid series has always been epic and challenging boss fights and Metroid Prime delivers! :D
Combat is as fun as ever in Metroid Prime!
Despite being over a decade old, the visuals of Metroid Prime hold up really well! The graphics are remarkably detailed from ancient, crumbling Chozo ruins to high tech labs and bases for Space Pirates there is so much detail to take in! Creatures and enemies also sport very realistic and natural looks and awesome designs! The game uses its amazing graphics to add a great sense of atmosphere(key to any great Metroid game). Lighting and environmental effects are put to great use in the game. Steam from heat vents and lava flows fog up your visor, dust whips across your in ancient ruins, and raindrops dot your screen as you travel across rain drenched forests. Explosions and flashes of light will occasionally light up your view letting catch a glimpse of Samus' face in the visor. All these amazing effects add great depth and realism to the world and really builds a great sense of atmosphere in exploring a mysterious and dangerous alien world! This game is a visual marvel!
The audio for Prime also holds up really well today! Creatures and Space Pirates sound great and very natural. Sound effects such as explosions and beam blasts also sound great, packing a nice punch! The best part of the audio however is the soundtrack! the music for the game perfectly sets the mood for each area. The music also ramps up nicely for the many tense boss battles or special enemy encounters! From moody, sweeping tunes establishing a sense of mystery to epic battle themes, Prime has it all!
About the only flaws I can level against Prime is the constant backtracking. You will be going through all the areas MANY times as you gain new equipment and items in order to access areas that you previously couldn't as well as to search for all the itmes in order to get the secret ending. Another flaw is the fact that using the Wii Remote to play can take some getting used to.
Those nitpicks aside, Metroid Prime is an unquestionable masterpiece! Sporting tight and fluid controls, an amazing sense of mystery and wonder, amazing visuals and sound, a great soundtrack and some great action and intense boss battles, and one of the lengthiest and most satisfying metroid adventures of all time, Matroid Prime is a game that should be played by everyone! Do whatever it takes to experience this game! :D
Metroid Prime(Wii) score: 10/10
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