Metroid not so prime after all

[ManekiNeko]

You know, I was really looking forward to playing Metroid Prime when I first bought my GameCube. However, now that I actually own the game, I have to wonder why I wanted it so much. First-person shooters have always been among my least favorite games, and Metroid Prime doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the cookie-cutter Quake clones on the market. Does it look nice? Oh yes, it looks very nice. But that polish comes at a price to the gameplay. The first-person perspective leaves you blind to your surroundings and makes it more difficult than necessary to battle enemies. It also makes the game feel strangely cramped and confined. The sensation is so overwhelming that I've found myself turning Samus into a ball even when it wasn't necessary, just so I could get a more complete view of my environment.

Metroid Prime has some interesting features, like the ability to scan objects to open doors and reveal the mysteries of the planet you're exploring. However, all the traditional shortcomings of first-person shooters put a damper on the fun. Metroid Prime is a great game for fans of that genre, but it's not something that traditional Metroid fans (like myself) will embrace. It's really a shame... if Nintendo and Retro Studios had only included alternate perspectives, rather than riveting the camera into Samus' suit, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did. As it is, I feel like finishing the game will be an immense chore.

JR

[Kevin Listwan]

Yeah I understand what you are saying, I just got a cube and the game a few days ago. FPS are best on the PC, but I still am really digging this game.

Also the camera in Samus' suit helps give the game a new spin and is quite refreshing, not to meantion the morph ball and scanning ablity.

[wisekrak]

I actually liked it. I do like some FPS as long as there is something different to make it interesting. I can't stand quake remakes! :angry: The lock system really makes the game play a little different. I would have to agree however that it can feel a little cramped. All in all, I feel it was a worthwhile game and it turned out a LOT better than I thought it would be.
(Back around the time it was being developed, Retro was having Nintendo give them a LOT of flack on the progress and quality of the games. I have a friend that knew quite a few of the people working on it and some of the stories were pretty funny)

On another note however, I FINALLY picked up Metroid Fusion for GBA and I feel like a complete idiot for not picking it up sooner! Classic Old-school Metroid! And a shit-load of fun! Bets $30 bucks I've spent on a game in a loooong time. :-P

[lendelin]

Metroid Prime is a great game for fans of that genre [FPS], but it's not something that traditional Metroid fans (like myself) will embrace.
JR

Well, you couldn't catch me playing a FPS, I never liked them, and I'm a huge traditional Metroid fan...but I loved Metroid Prime. The game is so much more than a FPS, the controls are fanatstic, jumping is easy, and more importantly, the spirit of the Metroid games is perfectly captured; the sense of exploration and a mysterious atmosphere, great strategic boss fights, it's all there that made Metroid such a great franchise.

MP is a perfect example how a great 2D game should be made into a 3D game.

[Half Japanese]

I didn't like it at first, but it really grew on me and now I'd say it's one of my favorite games of all time. Here's an old review I wrote for a fansite a long ass time ago:


Platform: Gamecube
Genre: First-Person Adventure
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios Inc.
Players: 1
Rating: Teen


It’s been almost an entire decade since the release of the last Metroid game (Super Metroid for the SNES). One of Nintendo’s most popular franchises, Metroid Prime was one of the most highly anticipated games for the Gamecube in 2002. As the first of the Metroid games to be entrusted to an American development team, there were doubts by many as to whether or not the game could successfully carry on the Metroid legacy, for the first time in 3D (Game Informer was especially critical of the game early on, going so far as to say it would be one of Nintendo’s biggest disappointments). Well, you might ask…did it deliver? In short…HELL YES!

You control Samus Aran, female bounty hunter, as she investigates the planet Tallon IV, all the while learning new abilities and skills. The control in Metroid Prime is a bit awkward at first (especially when most other first-person games consist of a dual-analog setup), but once you grow accustomed to it you should have no problem moving Samus around the beautiful levels. Once you actually consider the placement and mapping of all of the buttons on the Gamecube controller, it’s hard to imagine it being mapped any differently.

In the transition from 2D to 3D some felt that the gameplay would suffer, but it most certainly does not, and in some cases even greatly enhances some segments from earlier incarnations. Perhaps the best example of improvement in Metroid’s transition to the third dimension, would be how you are now able to use the morph ball. In older Metroids your morph ball was usually restricted to just rolling through low tunnels and dropping morph ball bombs, but with Metroid Prime you can roll the morph ball around in half pipes and give it a speed boost to reach new areas, as well as access new parts of the environment by attaching yourself to magnetic rails. While backtracking to old areas after gaining new abilities has always been a staple in the Metroid series, Metroid Prime keeps things moving at a much smoother pace by implementing a hint system that shows you your next major destination. This clever hint system avoids the frustration of past Metroids where you could end up looking around for what seemed like forever trying to find where you needed to go back to. Puzzles and boss battles can range from easy to pretty difficult, but never so hard that you’ll give up. The new scan visor, which acts in a similar fashion as talking to townspeople in RPGs does, is a clever instrument that also helps players figure out what to do in a certain situation or what is needed to get past a certain portion of a level. For example, you can scan a boss to find out information about it, such as weak points, strengths and just background info. A majority of the scanning is optional, but the game rewards you for taking the time to scan your environment by unlocking extra features.

Sure, it’s great, but is it fun? That’s another yes! While some of the platform jumping can be difficult and inspire some foul language, the game totally immerses you in it’s sci-fi wonderland. Unlike most other shooters/action games, you aren’t stuck in the continuous loop of “kill alien, find switch, open door, go through door, etc.,” but instead the game does a wonderful job of presenting itself as if you actually crash-landed on an alien planet. Retro avoided flashy intros and cinematics when you go between the different environments, from jungles to an underground magma cavern, you don’t feel as if you’re entering a new level, but just another section of the massive world which you crashed on. The aliens and enemies are inspired as well, ranging from what’s basically a giant beetle to giant lava worms, and some of the smaller creatures, won’t even bother you unless they feel threatened, making it feel all that much more like a realistic fantasy setting. The beautiful graphics make it fun just to walk around exploring your environment, seeing subtle details, such as birds flying by that you can actually blow out of the sky (not that I ever did any of that J ).

A few unlockables and extras add to the replay value, such as a harder difficulty level, two art galleries with concept art and sketches and some link-up bonuses if you happen to have a Gameboy Advance and Metroid Fusion (including the Fusion outfit for Samus to be used in Prime and an unlockable original NES Metroid). With beautiful visuals, and extraordinary gameplay, pacing and sound, this is clearly another AAA title in the Gamecube’s roster. Be warned however, if you’re unfamiliar with the earlier Metroid games and their gameplay and pacing you may want to rent it first to see if it’s for you.

[hezeuschrist]

It's not a first person shooter, it's first person action.

First person shooters require aiming ability. I highly suggest you give it another try, as it's far from being a FPS game.

[calthaer]

Just because you don't personally like the FPS genre doesn't mean that Metroid Prime is a bad game.

[djbeatmongrel]

i honestly saw nothing wrong with MP. even though i'm not much of firstperson view fan, it really works in this game. If you think about it, with the helmet on, is samus aran really going to have the complete view of her surroundings, hell no. I think MP makes you feel like you are in samus' shoes more than any other metroid title because of this.

Anyways, MP is a damn near perfect game.

[whoisKeel]

I beat the game, thought it was really well done and great trasition into the 3d world blah blah...i just didn't find it FUN. fps and platform jumping just don't mix imo. scanning got kinda old quick too. i fought the camera a good bit too. maybe my expectations were too high after waiting years and years for a new console metroid.

[wisekrak]

I beat the game, thought it was really well done and great trasition into the 3d world blah blah...i just didn't find it FUN. fps and platform jumping just don't mix imo.

It's a 3D game. Therefor you HAVE to learn to play in 3 dimensions.
Every time I go on about this I can't help but think of Enders Game. :)

You my friend, would have a VERY hard time playing Tribes or Tribes 2 without learning to jump, or in the case of Tribes, use a jet pack. LOL

[Melf]

First-person shooters have always been among my least favorite games, and Metroid Prime doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the cookie-cutter Quake clones on the market.

JR

Are you serious?

[Half Japanese]

Are you serious?

He must be, I mean, turning into a metallic ball, sticking to rails, rolling through tunnels, grappling hooks...I mean....I've been doin' that shit since DOOM.

[YoshiM]

First Person Action. Pfft. With that line of thinking Doom is a first person action as well. It's PR hypespeak, making it sound like it's so new it outdoes velcro. If you view through the character's eyes and your primary mode of combat is blasting with a ranged weapon...it's an FPS. There's still having to journey to one side of the map to activate a whatzit to open a door on the other side instead of just having to hunt for the Red Key for the Red Door.

I tried to play Metroid Prime. Lovely game to look at, but to me its a mishmash of ideas. I agree with the jumping thing, it just sucks when you have to make a jump but can't seem to judge distance. I've disliked it in the Star Wars FPS games and I still do today. In rebuttal to wisekrak's response on the Tribes/Tribes 2: do you have to make do or take damage/die in those games? Not on the boards I played. Plus you do have the jetpack, so if you do miss you can at least glide down and try again. Jumping in those games are typically options.

Now to the combat: when I want to shoot, I want control. If there are bad guys swarming me, I'm don't want to just stand there and unload and possibly take damage. I want to run and gun, stick n' move. If I miss, who cares they would probably miss too. Metroid itself was based on twitch game play with adventuring. If you got killed, you goofed because you weren't equipped properly or you zigged when you should have zagged. In MP, it locks you down IMO. Not only can I only see so much of my game world I have to STOP and aim/autolock my gun-arm in order to be remotely effective in combat in a 3D environment.

Metroid Prime is BORN to be a 3rd Person game in the vein of MDK.

Now Fusion on the other hand...THAT was a good game. Short, but good.

[BHvrd]

I also found the most fun playing Metroid Prime rolling around as a ball. I like fps, but not Metroid Prime.

*realizes his avatar is still on from sexy week, d'oh*

[NE146]

I felt claustrophobic too with that 'in the helmet' view. But there is that option to take most of that crap off so you see the entire screen without that stuff obstructing your way.

Still though, I got to about 70% in that game a long time ago.. I'm still there.

[Nature Boy]

I've enjoyed the game but I've yet to finish it. What bothers me the most about it are the controls. I *hate* the "GoldenEye" FPS control scheme in this day and age of controllers with two analog sticks. If the control scheme was more like Halo I'd've enjoyed MP as much (maybe more) than Halo. (IMO, the new dual stick controllers have allowed consoles to surpass the PC in the FPS arena. I hate using a mouse).

[Pedro Lambrini]

I have to say I think MP is one of the best games I've ever played! Claustrophobic? Yes - you're in a big armoured suit! Lock-on to targets? Noone complained in the Zelda games! Old gameplay? Only in so far as you have the same perspective as DooM!

Forcing you to stop to look around causes you to notice more and feel the atmosphere of the place you're exploring as well as addresses the issue of the dual stick clumsiness of all FP games on a console - admit it, they're not very precise are they?

The atmosphere is just stunning - the music, sonic ambience and graphics are gorgeous...

The only bad thing I feel personally is that it's a bit too hard towards the end - but that's just cos I'm crap at games!!

PS - In a showdown I think Samus would slap Lara silly!! :D

[sisko]

I love FPS, I do not like Metroid Prime, primarily because you can't effectively round corners. Had they put a strafing ability in the game (without locking on to something first), I would have been all over it.

[Ed Oscuro]

MP is great. It's amazing to me how what is really just another almost-inventive half-FPS Zelda 64 style game manages to be so good. I guess it's a sign that everybody else sucks at FPS/3rd person games.

[Packerfan66]

Sorry but I have to disagree. I hate FPS with a passion. Most are way too linear and almost all are the same. Blow everything up before they kill you and try to find a key to open a door then repeat. Metroid Prime was all about exploring and I felt like I was in a 3D Metroid. I've been playing Metroid ever since the first one came out and I think this one is by far the best. I will also say this is by far the best game that has come out for the current generation systems. Is it possible your just not very good at games and give up to easily?

[Kid Ice]

I wouldn't call it a FPS, but rather a 3-D platformer done in the first-person style. I suspect the game could've been done better if you at least had the option of viewing it in 3rd person. It's a tough call. It's as though they totally blew it by choosing to go the 1st person route, but they did it so darn well they redeemed the whole thing. I greatly admire the game as a technical achievement, but I'm not willing to pop it into my Cube all that often.

[ManekiNeko]

Sorry but I have to disagree. I hate FPS with a passion. Most are way too linear and almost all are the same. Blow everything up before they kill you and try to find a key to open a door then repeat. Metroid Prime was all about exploring and I felt like I was in a 3D Metroid. I've been playing Metroid ever since the first one came out and I think this one is by far the best. I will also say this is by far the best game that has come out for the current generation systems. Is it possible your just not very good at games and give up to easily?

It's possible. Although I'm well knowledged in video game history, I'm not what you'd call an expert video game player. I'm pretty good at the old school titles like Pac-Man and Galaga, and I put up a good fight in games like Street Fighter Alpha 2, but I still have a lot to learn about relatively new game genres like first-person shooters.

I'm not going to give up on Metroid Prime, though. I've only finished 9% of the game and want to see what else it has to offer. Still, I agree with Kid Ice that the game should have been done in the third person perspective, like MDK or Max Payne. I would also have appreciated dual thumbpad control, so I could run in one direction while firing in another. I'm not even sure WHAT the camera stick does in Metroid Prime, but at the moment it sure doesn't seem to do much.

JR

[Ed Oscuro]

Sorry but I have to disagree. I hate FPS with a passion. Most are way too linear and almost all are the same. Blow everything up before they kill you and try to find a key to open a door then repeat.
Well, that's the curse of DOOM's success (DOOM I really like, of course, and Heretic, Shadowcaster and Rise of the Triad (shareware though) just as much) - when you add on the Quake penchant for gritty levels, and then Quake III's "bondage gear" characters (I guess that was the next thing after Quake II's gloriously overse...I mean overpowered, reconstructed humanoid opponents). I don't care for that quite so much (though Unreal Tournament 2K4 manages to be pretty colorful).

On the "other side" there's a couple awesome FPS titles that shouldn't be ignored -

System Shock 2 (which I'm playing again right now). Get it patched so stuff doesn't degrade so fast, and of course tabbing "summon_obj big nanite pile" or topping off PSI points or adding cyber modules via shift+; is great fun. It's got an alright story, and some neat gameplay. Lots of interesting weapons but only a few really useful ones.

Marathon series - I haven't played these; they're the predecessors to Halo (by Bungie of course) but have some very nice features not in Halo, such as various consoles (i.e. screens on walls) you can go to for the scoop instead of repetitive and annoying voice-overs. Well, that doesn't sound like much, so how about awesome physics with grenade jumping, co-op over AppleTalk, modes of play, recordable game sessions...and more, of course. In Marathon: Infinity (the last of the three) you find yourself switching sides with abandon - sometimes killing aliens, sometimes killing the Bobs (human former slaves). Still doesn't sound like a lot when I tell it, but it is. Game's also been ported - with the AlephOne engine - to the Dreamcast and elsewhere.

Spectre (in various releases, best being Spectre VR; also a SNES cartridge) - the nice thing about this one is that pretty much any ol' Macintosh (the whole of the Performa line for example) will run this shooter flawlessly. It has no story (well, there's some silly blurb on the back of the box) but the gameplay is fun - just drive about in your little polygon tank and take out other polygonal tanks. Wasted as much time with that one as I could back in junior high school.

[DigitalSpace]

Spectre (in various releases, best being Spectre VR; also a SNES cartridge) - the nice thing about this one is that pretty much any ol' Macintosh (the whole of the Performa line for example) will run this shooter flawlessly. It has no story (well, there's some silly blurb on the back of the box) but the gameplay is fun - just drive about in your little polygon tank and take out other polygonal tanks. Wasted as much time with that one as I could back in junior high school.

Back in 1992, my mom bought a Macintosh Performa and it had a demo of Spectre Challenger (at least I think that was the title) on it and I spent a lot of time playing it. Ah, the memories...

So imagine how I felt in the fall of last year when I saw the SNES cart at a local video rental store in a sale bin for $2.99. I thought "didn't I play this back on my mom's old Macintosh?" I bought it, took it home, tried it out... a little different from Challenger appearance-wise, but just as fun.

[zektor]

For me it is a chore finishing any FPS type game. I guess it's just because I am not really used to them as other peoplel may be. It's funny that you guys are speaking of this game now, as I just purchased it tonight. At $19.99, I wanted to see what all the talk was about. This is a great game! I am obviously not very far since I have only been playing it for a few hours, but it is definitely NOT the ordinary run of the mill FPS. I can already see that the game is much more than that...but I still suck. I'll get back to you all in 2008 when I finish it! LOL

[SoulBlazer]

There are so many FPS's out there, and most of them are bad games. There are, however, some good games out there. My favorite games are the ones that have a great story and good gameplay.

Metroid Prime is one of them.

I also really enjoyed the folowing FPS games --

Deus Ex and Invisible War
System Shock 1 and 2
Half Life and all of it's spin offs
Elite Force 1 and 2
Aliens Vs Predator 1 and 2
Unreal 1 and 2

[Nature Boy]

There are so many FPS's out there, and most of them are bad games.

That's true of any genre though. Or any medium really (like music, movies, novels).

I disagree with the previous sentiments that it should've been a 3rd person game. I think it works really well as a 1st person game as it is. But my biggest complaint is still the control schemes - using only one stick to move around was a bad idea.

[Lord_Magus]

Lets get things straight: Metroid Prime is easily one of the best games ever.
It is one of the few games that immediatly after I finished it I just hit the reset button and started it all over again.
The developers not only managed to capture the true essense of video-gaming, but for the first time it was actually implemented correctly in a 3D enviroment: the controls were perfect, the graphics and music were a work of art, and the level design was absolutely brilliant. Retro Studios have earned my respect as one of the most\few capable game developers out there,and I just cant wait to get my hands on Metroid Prime 2. ;)

[Pedro Lambrini]

Couldn't agree more Lord Magus! The whole game is a work of art. I think, more than any other game, it shuts up most of the critics of the 'Cube - All my pals who slagged me off for getting a 'Cube before a PS2 have all been silenced by this game LOL I, too, can't wait for MP2 - it's going to be pretty special, I can feel it in me bones!!!