Long-time Metroid fans will appreciate the game's opening moments. We're taken inside Samus' trademark space ship. Have we ever been here before? Interfacing with the ship through the Wii Remote certainly felt exciting, allowing players to control Samus' ship -- something we can't remember ever doing in the series' history. Players will touch various panels within the ship, and pull a lever, providing a simple facsimile of piloting a real space ship.
As you dock your ship in a battleship, you'll meet a small army of NPCs. Imagine our surprise when they referred to Samus' previous exploits, fully voiced. In the game's opening moments, Samus will be able to interact with characters that feature full voice acting, seemingly a rarity in modern Nintendo-published efforts. We appreciate the series attempting to connect Corruption to the previous Prime games, but we have to admit that the heavy-handed nature of the story caught us a little off-guard. Watching the Galactic Federation talk about the conquest of the Space Pirates made us think we were watching Halo 2, not a Metroid Prime game. However, Metroid purists need not worry: Samus still goes on as a mute.
The calm that resonates in Corruption's beginning can only last for so long. Obviously, trouble is brewing, and a virus attacks the Federation network. Samus must quickly return to action. There are now three control options: Basic, Standard and Advanced. By default, the game runs with Standard controls, but we found the Advanced method to be the most satisfying. In Standard mode, players will move the Wii Remote and lock on to enemies much like they have in previous Prime games. However, in Advanced Mode, players will be able to move the Wii Remote freely, and have their in-game view move simultaneously. Gone are the bounding-box problems of previous Wii FPS titles. Advanced Mode makes navigating a first person environment a joy. For example, in Red Steel, players struggled to look left or right quickly, because the cursor would not move the view. This issue is completely resolved in Advanced Mode, making it the most accurate recreation of FPS mouse movement we've seen in a Wii title so far.
Samus' newfound agility makes the shooting element in the Metroid series much more challenging, and much more fun. In Advanced Mode, players can choose to have the camera lock on to an enemy, but the player's aim can move independently from lock-on. Players will have to precisely aim, instead of simply relying on the lock-on. The multiple control options should allow players of all skill levels to play the game.
Less than thirty minutes into the game, we've acquired the ability to fire missiles, and we have our Scan Visor ready. The game then tests our skills in a boss fight that requires truly precise aiming. The massive enemy that looms over Samus has glowing red shoulders which must be targeted and destroyed. Only then, will the enemy launch an attack made of Phazon, which must be fired back at the enemy to reveal its final weak point. Aiming at the shoulders would have been much easier with lock-on, but we enjoyed the challenge of having to jump around attacks, and over shock waves whilst firing away at the weak point. It should come as a testament to the controls that this was all possible, even if it did take a couple of Game Overs to ultimately win. Hitting the oncoming projectiles was an absolute breeze thanks to the Wii Remote's quick responsiveness. If there is one qualm we'd make about the revised controls, it has to be the missiles: pressing Down on the D-Pad in the midst of a heated battle still feels awkward to us. Thankfully, it wasn't too necessary in the first boss battle we encountered.
After the boss battle, players will see Samus make a brilliant escape to her ship. (We don't want to spoil it to our readers.) When we arrive on Samus' ship, we must make way to our next destination. Once again, we were caught off-guard by something we didn't expect: the incredible size of the world map. It looks as though Prime 3 will provide Samus with the greatest variety of locales to explore. Our next destination made just a small portion of a map that we're sure will encompass a small galaxy. Nintendo promises that each of the multiple worlds that Samus visits in Corruption will be fully realized. Color us impressed! Certainly, that's a relief to hear after the somewhat stagnant and repetitive Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on Gamecube.
The next part of the demo continues in an area we've already explored in last year's E3 presentation. The same ideas were reiterated: the Nunchuck was used as a grappling beam, one that could grab debris and move them out of our way. As expected, ball puzzles returned as well.
Our time with Corruption ended with a hint of things to come. Samus must deal with other bounty hunters in a story that marks the return of Dark Samus and Phazon. Phazon will corrupt the bounty hunters, and Samus will have to use a new Hypermode to fight the effects of the corrupting Phazon. We admit it: the story has us intrigued.
Although we understand that graphics aren't the most important aspect to many gamers, it's still disappointing to see Metroid Prime look the way it does. While there are new lighting effects in place, it's easy to say that Corruption still does not match the visual quality of last generation's best games. Character models are especially disappointing, missing the bump mapping found in games such as Halo 2 or Mario Sunshine. A quick glance at the game will bring warranted comparisons to the Gamecube original, and we're saddened to see Retro Studios fail to push the Wii graphically. At least it runs in 480p and widescreen.
Also, we find it interesting that Retro has opted to remove multiplayer from Corruption. While Prime 2's multiplayer was laughable, we think the new control mechanism for Corruption would've created a far better FPS experience than other Wii titles currently provide. If this is truly the end of the Prime series of games, maybe the team at Retro Studios can craft an original Wii multiplayer FPS game? One can only hope.
Both Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy have done a great job at reminding us that Nintendo hasn't abandoned the core gamer completely. It's been a long time since we've dusted off our Wii, and we can't wait to finally play a game meant just for us. The game will be available in late August.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-16-2007 @ 10:24AM
vidGuy said...
Don't worry about the visuals, guys. Yoon seems to be the only one not impressed. Everyone else that has seen the game says it is drastically better than previous versions in every aspect.
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7-16-2007 @ 10:47AM
Fox2193 said...
It looks awesome! The controls sound great and having having huge worlds to explore will add a lot to the game. I can't wait for this to come out.
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7-16-2007 @ 10:53AM
musleem said...
this looks so good i am going to get it for my birthday the maker said that Metroid prime 3 is one of the best FPS ever made.
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7-16-2007 @ 11:24AM
Smurfme said...
The best metroid yet?
Metroid Prime is ranked as the overall third best game at gamerankings.com (good site), so are you saying it will surpass that?
And at the same time be better than half life 2 or goldeneye (maybe a bit old, but you get the point)?
I'm gonna buy a wii just because of this game anyway, but hope they don't stray too far from the metroid formula.
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7-16-2007 @ 11:34AM
Aaron said...
I'm a bit nervous about the voice acting. Thankfully Samus stays quiet. I think voice acting leaves little to the imagination, and generally makes adventure games worse.
Here's hoping the voice dialogue in MP3 is very sparse.
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7-16-2007 @ 11:38AM
mickeykool said...
"I'm gonna buy a wii just because of this game anyway, but hope they don't stray too far from the metroid formula."
That's if you can get ur hands on the wii system, Seems to be no where to be found (in stores) at the moment. Anyone know when the next shipment will be in?
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7-16-2007 @ 11:56AM
vidGuy said...
Keep your eyes peeled. Look for store circulation leaks - by the time they hit the newspaper and get to you the systems are already sold out. Chances are they are going to stay sold out with such a stellar lineup for the rest of 07.
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7-16-2007 @ 1:08PM
samfish said...
If you're still looking for a Wii, all you have to do is on Saturday night, around midnight, go here:
http://www.sundaysaver.com/
and check the obvious places...Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and a few others.
If they have a Wii listed, just go there with a lawn chair and a DS/PSP/iPod/iPhone/book/whatever and just wait.
It's not that bad camping out...especially since it's summer. Kinda fun, really.
I've done it in the past 9 months for 2 Wii's, a PS3 and a 40" HDTV on Black Friday.
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7-16-2007 @ 1:55PM
vidGuy said...
I don't know how you did it samfish, especially on Black Friday. I camped 6 hours on launch day for the Wii, but at least I was in a car that I ran to get the heat going every once in a while.
It's amazing that spotting flyers and camping are the only ways to get a Wii even now.
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7-16-2007 @ 2:22PM
samfish said...
I just really enjoy doing it, to be honest. You just have to bundle way up if it's cold out.
You meet a ton of cool people. I was out there for 72 hours with my brother for the PS3 launch. That was a total blast!
I strongly considered doing it for the iPhone, but was just too busy at work and didn't want to blow any more vacation time for something I don't really have a need for yet, since I've still got another year on my current cell phone contract.
It just sorta sucks there'll be no new consoles or anything dropping for a good 4 years, at least.
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7-16-2007 @ 2:51PM
Mr Khan said...
Well, if MS stuck to its previous precedent, then we should be seeing their next offering in 2009, but hopefully they go for a more traditional lifespan this time
Does anything really need to be said about how good this game is going to be? But glad to know that they don't give Samus any speaking parts, i was rather afraid that it would kill another Silent Protagonist
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7-16-2007 @ 3:46PM
vidGuy said...
I think MS is going to wait it out, especially since they've got a much bigger hit than the XBOX (which was by no means a failure). They've stayed with their starting price MUCH longer than the XBOX did, granted they had no competition for a year, though. IF Sony sticks with the PS3, I'd expect Nintendo to actually be the first to announce a new platform - a large jump from the Wii to something on level with the 360 powerwise around 2011 for $249 but sticking with the Wii look and feel.
It's going to be hard to predict, though. All three are off on different paths that could blend the generations. MS could release their next machine too early (2009-2010), Sony could abandon the PS3 and go with something different, and Nintendo could find themselves so far behind that they need to 'modify' the Wii as early as 2009. Hopefully none will happen and we won't see the next generation really start until 2012. One hundred years before the end of the world - according to Rush anyway!
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7-16-2007 @ 4:58PM
Duscrom said...
I never understand the appeal of a Silent protagonist. They have no character, and it's like you're not part of the story.. you're just some fetch question character. And what is the personality of the character.. just.. there is none. Secondly, is the control better then Call Of Duty 3, where it seemed the camera would never stop moving? I have poor vision and so I sit less the 5 feet away from the TV. Should I pass thie game up since I can't control it?
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7-16-2007 @ 5:14PM
Chris said...
I'm really excited about this, and honestly about the voice acting. I'm glad Samus isn't speaking, but I think it's great that they have actual voices for the game. I'm hoping they'll do this with the next Zelda, minus Link, of course.
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7-16-2007 @ 6:17PM
Jared Stander said...
Please tell me you're joking when you say you wished they included multiplayer? Only a gamer ridiculously out of touch, with it's fingers far from the pulse of the community would every wish for multi-player Metroid. When MP2 came out, the community was in upheaval even before they knew if it would be good or not. The lack of it in this game is a blessing.
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7-16-2007 @ 6:34PM
vidGuy said...
Duscrom, they do the silent protagonist to KEEP the gamer involved instead of detaching them by giving the main character a possibly annoying personality (Tidus from FFX, anyone?). I've seen it officially stated somewhere that Mario, Link, Samus, etc are saying 'whatever the player imagines they say in that situation'. It's trying to avoid the pitfall of a book to movie translation; no matter how well they do on the movie, it never quite lives up to what you had invisioned when you read the book.
When voiced (or even given text), the character isn't going to sound, act, or say what every gamer wants.
That's just my spin, anyway. I don't really care either way as long as it isn't overacted.
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7-16-2007 @ 7:54PM
accidental said...
^^ Exactly. The point with the Prime games is that you are supposed to feel like you are Samus. If Samus speaks, it doesn't sound like you, so you feel like some kind of puppetmaster controlling samus. If Samus talked, there would be a distinct lack of immersion. And immersion is the crux of a Prime game.
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7-16-2007 @ 8:51PM
dukemeiser said...
Here's hoping the pull a "Four swords" and release an online multiplayer FPS based on Corruption.
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7-17-2007 @ 4:31AM
Ihar `Philips` Filipau said...
> Character models are especially disappointing
Well, in all honestly I think this is fine. Because in good shooter one rarely has a chance to enjoy looking at good models - especially models of enemies. I personally start shooting immediately I see an enemy. And no, in midst of battle I do not try to find does the enemy model has bump mapping or not. Or even does it have shadow.
> Retro has opted to remove multiplayer
Though I am no fan of multiplayer - and play only role of "cannon meat" - the omission is really disappointing.
Most of PC FPS gamers would even say "unforgivable".
As Id's Quake franchise had showed many years ago, market for multi-player FPS is much much larger than market for single-player FPS.
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7-21-2007 @ 4:56PM
Frank said...
I ca't wait to get my hands on a MP 3, I am sure gonna camp out it'll be fun
> Retro has opted to remove multiplayer
i think it was nice still I would like to see it on metroid 5 specially cuz i want it to be 3d you a hunter's view and trooper's view (in hunter's you as one of all the hunters that have ever made an apperiance with all of the ewapons presented before)and ( in trooper's you play as a trooper with lot's of weapons) all in both huge and small stages with of course online multiplayer refine samus and the hunters body expressions every time they got hit (not like in echoes too much) include turrets what else would you want?
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