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Metroid Prime 3: Now with 20% more Halo!
slorojo | 12:25 AM on 08.29.2007 15 comments


So, after sitting all day at work, with a little white box of joy sitting in my truck taunting me viciously, I get home and pop Metroid Prime 3 into my Wii. Sweet, it only takes 4 tries before it actually reads my disk (my Wii has issues, my doctor prescribed penicillin), and I'm off and motion-controlling. When I finally get control of Samus, what am I greeted by? FUCKING VOICE ACTING MARINES!

Holy shit, lets rewind here for a second.

I'm put Metroid in my Wii, right? My Wii didn't magically begin to play xbox games and I'm all the sudden playing Halo 2, right?

A trademark of the Metroid series has always been the complete isolation. The crushing desolation that Samus faces as she ventures alone against an entire planet bent on her destruction. This feeling for me is completely summed up in probably the best piece of game art I have ever seen that has been featured here before (credit to transfuse of deviantart):



Samus, all alone in the dark, with only the light from her arm cannon for comfort. That is how the original Metroids felt, and part of what made them so compelling. So why the hell am I all the sudden running around chatting it up with flag officers? Even better yet, the first 'level' feels just like a canned and reprocessed sci-fi shooter. Baddies boarding your capital ship, marines dying left and right, ships getting lanced by huge frickin' lasers out the windows, you know the drill.

The other thing that made me feel 'off' about MP3 so far is the ease of item acquisition. I haven't played a whole lot (*POTENTIAL SPOILER* I'm moved on to the 2nd planet *END POTENTIAL SPOILER*), but I've gotten 3 energy tanks, all of which required nothing interesting or challenging to do. They were just lying around, and I happened to come across them. *POTENTIAL SPOILER* Same thing with the grapple beam; its just sitting at the beginning of a level, waiting to be picked up *END POTENTIAL SPOILER*.

Power ups, especially energy tanks are usually hard to come by. Sure the games will throw you a few bones now and then as way of ensuring you have a base amount of health/missiles to survive. But I'm two hours into the game and I already have 400 health. Not to mention every other enemy seems to drop red energy pickups. At this point, I have never even come close to losing 1/8th of my health, which doesn't feel right for a Metroid game. This bad taste in my mouth might also be due to starting with the morph ball, bombs, space jump and charge beam; but it sure as hell feels like I've been given too much stuff off the bat.


And this was one of the easier ones to get

But maybe I'm being too harsh, I say. I press on. The wiimote controls actually do more or less live up to the hype. Being able to free look while moving. what a novel idea! These controls are a very welcome change to the series, and I think at least initially make the game slightly harder; battles are no longer just a spasm of hitting the lock-on button while churning pure energy out of your arm cannon. Now you have to actually aim for once, which certainly makes the game feel more interesting and frantic when 50 headcrab things are swarming you at once.

Now the question, and the point of this blog. Does any of this matter? Am I a lone whackjob who is the only one muttering to himself about the original NES metroid and the 30 health/short beam you start with? At what point is changing some of the core ideas behind an IP refreshing, and at what point is it detrimental to the feel of the IP? Am I just wearing horrendously bitter shaded retro goggles?

I'm still very excited about this game, and after getting past the first true boss battle (which is complete EPIC WIN), the game has gotten much lonelier. I think it will definitely wind up being better than MP2, but probably not MP1, only due to the sheer awesomeness of hearing original Metroid sounds while playing in luscious 3D.

So, how do you guys feel about the different direction MP3 starts out on? Yay or nay?

P.S. On a side note, we should petition Niero to add [spoiler][/spoiler] BBcode tags to black out text. Would make writing blogs about newly released games a lot easier, because I sure as hell would have said more (maybe not a good thing)



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14 comments | showing # 1 to 14

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masterledz's Destructoid Blog
On a side note, Samus is looking pretty bangable in that pic you got there, slorojo.
slorojo's Destructoid Blog
@masterledz

well certainly more bangable than in her JUSTIN BAILEY days...
Lukich's Destructoid Blog
Maybe the wrong place, but I added you, Tron, and Cowzilla on the Wii, for trading vouchers :D. Just wanted to put it in a more current clog.
kwaselow's Destructoid Blog
well, as long as the game is still an epic win, i can forgive its low difficulty
slorojo's Destructoid Blog
@lukich

sweet, here comes some vouchers
BlindsideDork's Destructoid Blog
Ok, this game is very centered on the grapple beam. it is necessary to beat the game. so why hide something that is the game?

And if you remember from previous metroids, not all energy tanks of missiles are hidden. there are some in plain sight.

And with the alone/halo 2 thing...play past the first hour or so. It is just you and your ship. The game does play a bit more like Prime: Hunters though..
Nyteshade's Destructoid Blog
OMG... If you guys think it's easy, play fucking veteran, I've died plenty first timing it believe me.

The flying space pirates can 1 shot a energy tank with the back missiles... that sound easy? You also know theres a 3rd unlocked difficulty too.


@Nex - 5 mins in a booth trying to play MP3 would be impossible. The controls are fantastic, but they require some practice. You have to sit down and accept that your going to learn a new way to play an FPS, but it's far, far more accurate that dual analog.
slorojo's Destructoid Blog
@blindsidedork

I know there are a lot of things out in the open in previous metroids. I'm just saying, I've come across three energy tanks in <2 hours of gameplay (and that's with compulsive scanning), none of which required thought. In MP1, you maybe had 1 extra tank by the 2 hour mark. It just feels like a ton of stuff is getting handed to you early on. And I understand the grapple beam is very central to a lot of game elements, but that's even more reason to build up to it, make it seem like I've really accomplished something and I'm being rewarded with this awesome grapple beam.

It does feel more lonely once you head to other planets, but you're still in communication with the Aurora and the galactic federation (at least at this point). All my objectives are being radioed in to me, which albeit functions exactly as it did in Prime 1 & 2, it just feels more traditional. Like I'm some grunt for the galactic federation (I know, bounty hunters go where the money is).
Nyteshade's Destructoid Blog
Slorojo - A bunch of stuff IS being handed to you. Notice how you start out pretty decked out as compared to the others? Retro is starting you off feeling like you left off rather than your starting over. By giving you tanks and missiles off the bat, they can then ramp the action up early on. The boss battles only get crazier and it seems like there's one every little bit.

I've found at least 6-7 missle packs that were truly hidden, and one tank that took backtracking with new gear. Note that the upgrade counter up top says 100, that's a lot of upgrades to collect, I'm sure a lot will be hidden.
Tristero's Destructoid Blog
I'm totally feeling you on the Halo thing. Exact same sentiment crossed my mind. The first half hour was extremely disappointing mood and theme-wise. The visuals and controls are blowing me away though. I hope the rest of the game whips its atmosphere in to shape . . . and fast!
Tron Knotts's Destructoid Blog
I agree that the beggining of the game felt wrong. It was like Halo 2 with better controls but no multiplayer. That is not what I want from a Metroid game. But after the intro levels are over, they make sense in the greater context of the game.

The boss battles and plot have much more meaning when set up this way. You care about playing becasue you actually want to save some of the more likable characters you meet in the Halo esque beginning. I'm trying to avoid spoilers here, but lets just say that there are more likable characters than just space marines. Also, the issolation of Samus feels more intesnse when juxta pose it against the party packed beginning.


wardrox's Destructoid Blog
So, are people agreeing this is worth buying? My Wii is in hibernation over summer due to moving house, but will be wapping it out in a few weeks. Is it worth the moneies?
Johnny Blaze's Destructoid Blog
Man that pic you have of Samus is really good. Did some one draw that or something?
BluFire's Destructoid Blog
I do agree that the beginning was a bit un-Metroid-ish. I thought it was a little too crowded. Not that I don't like that, but it felt weird when I was talking to other people on the ship.

@Blindside: You said "Ok, this game is very centered on the grapple beam. it is necessary to beat the game. so why hide something that is the game? "
But are the power-ups in Prime out in the open? You still have to solve a puzzle or beat an enemy to get to them, and you still need them to beat the game. When you pick up the grapple beam, it's just sitting right there in front of you.

On a side note: the motion controls I've played in the game are pretty awesome. Love the grapple beam.


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 about me

Age: 23
Currently: Getting my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, concentration in Mechatronics
Non gaming likes: SCUBA diving, wakeboarding, Beirut,

Currently playing Metroid Prime 3, Super C (VC) and Super Metroid (VC). Moist in the pants for Beautiful Katamari, Half Life2: The Orange Box, SSB:B and Super Mario Galaxy. And, because I'm a tool, I'll probably buy Halo 3.

Top Games:

5. Super Metroid
4. Contra (NES)
3. WoW
2. SSB:M
1. Zelda: OoT

Consoles owned:
1. NES
2. N64
3. GC
4. XBOX360
5. Wii

Handhelds:
1. Game Gear (hah)
2. DS lite

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