Metroid Prime
Score: 95% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Retro Studios Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: First Person Shooter
Graphics & Sound: Nintendo has introduced another one of its classic titles to today's technology and the third-dimension. The Metroid series has been upgraded to a 3D world like Mario, Zelda and other games that helped put Nintendo on the map. Metroid Prime puts you behind the visor of the series' main character, Samus Aran for the first time in the title's 10+ year history. The first-person view allows you to see the great detail and effort put into each room, though the game's partially opaque HUD system can become a distraction at times. Prime's music has a distinct Sci-Fi feel to it, very reminiscent of The X-Files' theme song, but remains almost unnoticeable as it blends in seamlessly with the sound effects and environment.
Gameplay: Metroid Prime starts off with Samus investigating a distress signal from a research vessel, a vessel that appears to have been overrun by Space Pirates, though most of them are already dead. At this point in the game, Samus has a few of her advanced abilities, but soon after her first Boss Battle, she is reduced to her basic suit and beam weapon. Samus spends the remainder of the game trekking across Tallon IV, hunting baddies, both old and new, and rebuilding her arsenal. The arsenal within Prime contains all of her classic weapons, Plasma Beam, Wave Beam, etc, as well as a few new goodies. One of her new attributes is the Grapple Beam, which enables Samus to swing across large gaps in the floor. Samus has also gained the ability to switch between her different beam weapons, whereas in the older games, she was only able to use the last obtained beam upgrade. Another addition to the game is the need and use of different Visors. Each new Visor adds a level of complexity to the game, because by switching views, Samus gains the ability to see an enemy that she couldn't see before, or reveal passageways that are otherwise hidden. Along with the different views, the HUD system displays other needed information like Health, Maps, Weapons Data and Danger Assessment. As an added bonus, if you hook up a Game Boy Advance to Metroid Prime with a completed game of Metroid Fusion, you are able to play through the original Metroid game.
Difficulty: Metroid Prime's difficulty is consistent with the rest of the titles in the series. For the most part, you will be able to move through the maps without any problems, and when you do run into a particularly tough area, there is almost always a Save Room nearby, so that you won't have to drudge through the same rooms over and over again.
Game Mechanics: At first, you may find yourself fumbling over the controls, but it only takes a couple of minutes of gameplay for your fingers to get used to the button scheme, and at that point you only need to worry about the environment and not your finger. With the first-person-view, the developers of Metroid Prime have given you abilities that were not previously available, like being able to switch between beam weapons, or changing the Visors (each Beam Weapon corresponds to a position on the C-Stick, while you use the D-Pad to change Visors). Again it takes a little getting used to, but the designers obviously put a lot of thought into the controls. A target lock system has also been integrated into Prime to make getting through melee rooms easier. Using the shoulder buttons activates this lock system and taking out a room filled with baddies is almost as simple as point and click, or shoot, as the case may be. Metroid Prime is a must buy for anyone who grew up playing the classics or for someone wanting to spend some hours playing through a good straight-forward 'shoot anything that moves' game.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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