The highly anticipated Metroid Prime has finally arrived in the US. A 2D sleeper hit on the SNES and now a 3D Gamecube extravaganza. What is Metroid Prime? Metroid is a first person action adventure where you take control of super bounty hunter Samus Aran. Your mission is to track down the space pirates who have landed on the planet Tallon IV to exploit and use for their evil plans. The game begins on a spacecraft where you are introduced to many of Samus moves and abilities . This is basically a training mission which will enable you to get a feel for the style of the game.
Samus has a vast array of moves and power ups, which if she is going to survive the ensuing mission has to be fluent in the use of these. These abilities include the power beam, your basic form of attack against weaker foes. Missiles which offer a more powerful punch and the almighty morph ball, which can get you to places seemingly unreachable. Along with the various visors, suit power ups and weapons upgrades Samus is extremely versatile. Unfortunately Samus encounters a problem and has to jump ship so to speak. However on her escape from the exploding ship she losses all of her abilities. This is where the game begins proper and upon landing on Tallon IV Samus must now regain her abilities and some new ones by finding them to take on those darn pirates.
Metroid Prime is an unusual mix of first person action and basic exploration with plat former undertones. This all pulls together to create an excellent adventure which draws you in as you progress. The first thing you will notice is the absence of any dialogue or lengthy cut scenes. You are basically presented with a choice, where if you want to follow the complex story then with your scan visor you can scan everything in sight. Some objects need to be scanned for the game to progress but the majority of objects that can be scanned you can ignore. Scanning objects etc will bring up a small text box which will relay the relevant information to you and that is it. However you are rewarded for scanning the objects as well as understanding what is going on in the depths of Tallon IV. Ignoring all the scans makes for a faster game where you can concentrate on exploring and shooting enemies.
Tallon IV is an unusual place with varying terrain types which are standard for any adventure game. These include your Fire, Ice ,Water environments etc. Graphically these places are pleasing to the eye and diverse enough to keep your interest after hours of play. You will find that back tracking is an important part of the game here. Especially after gaining a new ability which will invariably open up places you may have seen but not been able to get to. This may all sound confusing and a chore but actually it works rather well. To take out any randomness to the exploration you have a comprehensive map which will show you where you have been and not been. Often if you are stuck your map will beep and point you in the right direction which really helps keep the action flowing.
The enemies are also a weird collection of beasts and entities which force the player to think before he/she shoots. Many enemies are impervious to some weapons and some need to be hit in certain places which make battles hectic and deep, where simply hitting the attack button just wont work here. The boss battles especially require quick thinking and reflexes as some are pretty tough. As I said before, learning the use of all of Samus abilities is paramount to your success with most of the enemies. Scanning the various enemy types includes them in your log which also provides you with info and tips on defeating them. However whilst you are scanning you are vulnerable to attack so must choose wisely whether to scan or attack, especially if you are collecting all the enemy data for your log (which can be seen as a mini quest in itself). Luckily enemies re-spawn areas which you may have cleared before, offering you the chance to collect any scans you may have missed before.
Metroid is a very cool game which is easy to get into and harder to play. The controls on the Cube pad are awkward at best and will require some getting used to. The inability to look whilst moving is annoying but easily forgiven.
Sound wise the effects are cool with meaty sounding blasts and explosions. The in game music is functional and nothing major here but lends itself well to the style of the game. The graphics are also a mixed bag, with some effects being awesome and others lacking in detail. Not everyone will like Metroid due to its exploration roots and may find the experience a little shallow if not prepared to put the time and effort into exploring and scanning as opposed to shooting everything that moves. I thoroughly enjoyed this game and found it a compelling action adventure. Samus is another gaming cool lone operative and maybe the inclusion of a multi play would have been welcome. However as it stands I highly recommend this title. Its up there with the Gamecube greats.
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