Metroid Prime Review

Metroid Prime was a superb game released exclusively for the GameCube and developed by Retro Studios. It was the first 3D game in the whole Metroid series. Bringing Metroid to a whole new 3D world worked perfectly. This is a first-person adventure, not shooter.



Adventure: In the beginning of the game, Samus receives a distress signal from the Space Pirate Frigate. Upon investigating it, you can see that the space pirates were genetically modifying specific organisms. When Samus (you) reaches far in the ship, you have a fight with a huge creature. After killing it the ship will start to blow up and you should know that its a Metroid tradition to escape a "exploding" facility in a limited amount of time. Upon your escape, you get electrocuted causing you to lose all your power-ups such as your Varia Suit, Power Beam, Morph Ball abilities, etc.

After you escape, your ship will land on the Tallon Overworld and this is where your real adventure begins.



In this area, you'll search for your lost power-ups. Early in the game you'll feel very limited on the areas you have access to. But when you collect more power-ups more areas will be accessible to you, causing a lot of backtracking. The game puts you in loads of different areas whether its a frozen wasteland, a fire cavern or a enemy research facility, it'll keep you entertained throughtout the whole game. As you progress throughout the game, enemies will obviously become tougher and you'll acquire new beams, morph ball abilities, suit upgrades and more.



There are a lot of puzzles in this game, scanning a certain object with your scan visor will sometimes help significantly. The puzzles get more lengthy and complicated. Some puzzles help you progress through the game, some help you get powerful but optional weapons or expansions. Expansions are extremely helpful throughout the game and I recommend you to get as much as you can find. Expansions include missile expansions which increase the maximum number of missiles you can carry, energy tanks to increase your maximum health and last but not least, power bomb expansions. Also note that you have to collect each hidden expansion if your aiming for a 100% game completetion. Upon completing the game, you'll get different endings depending on the percentage you have. You have the option to "scan" your enemies. Though it sounds redundant, the game may give you useful hints on how to damage and kill them. Did I forget to mention that the more you fill up your scan log, the more art gallaries you'll unlock when you finish the game?

In order for you to complete this game, your going to have to collect all 12 well-hidden Chozo Artifacts.



Sound: The sound in this game is really good, you'll hear some environmental sounds, the sweet sound of your weapons obliterating your enemies and other nice song tracks.

Graphics: You'll be impressed for a 2002 GameCube game.

Controls: They mastered the controls, you'll have the option to auto-lock on your enemies, dodge enemy attacks whle your locked on to them and moving around isn't as awkward as some games out there.

Conclusion: To wrap it all up, this game was a master piece by Retro Studios. In my opinion the rest of the games in the series seem to go a bit downhill from there. I recommend you this game if you have a GameCube or if you have a Wii, you can buy the Metroid Prime trilogy which includes all three action-packed games.



8:49 AM 6/24/2011 - 9:18 PM 6/25/2011 Review by: Nin10dO