Prelude:

Let me start off by saying that no, I didn’t completely beat the game. It was a rental after all, and there’s only so much I can do in that time. But I have spent enough time with the game that I think it justifies the score I’m eventually going to give it.

Also, I realize I’m a tad bit late in reviewing the game. I really just kept putting it off and putting it off. I was pretty convinced I would have no desire to play it after reading reviews about the gameplay, and to do a review would be heavily bias.

But eventually I started to urge for the game. So much so I was tempted to buy it on numerous occasions. But now that I’ve sat down and played the game for a couple hours, I’m pretty glad I didn’t. Let me explain.

I also want to say that I won’t get to heavily detailed since the time I have is limited. That and, I’m quite sure most of this stuff has been went over a dozen times anyway.

Background:

Story? What story? As far as I’m concerned the story in Metroid Prime is as good as the in Kakuto Chojin. And there was no story in Kakuto Chojin. See, MP tries to set you up with this huge back-story detailing what happened before you’re arrival, and what’s going on.

The problem that arises is that it’s all text. Meaning you’re going to be straining your lovely eyes scrolling across tons of poorly written dribble. And to add insult to injury, you just don’t receive the story at pivotal points in the game, no.

Instead you have to use your visor to actually scan various computers in a room, and from there you can read log entries left behind. In other words, poorly written dribble. Each log is only good for tossing out mindless facts after another, and after a while, I just stopped caring. Not only was the story poorly done, I then had to search for that story myself. A bad combination.

Sure, there might have been a really rich and detailed background to the game, but it’s told in a very poor manner. Because the fact is, the log entries themselves aren’t well written. They’re not engrossing, and certainly not novel worthy. They’re just good at telling you what went down, and that’s it.

Gameplay:

My biggest concern about this game was that it was going to be like previous Metroid games where the central gameplay revolved around a standard “work to the next power up” style gameplay. Now, that doesn’t mean those type of games can’t be fun. But I can’t help but to feel a bit limited when the central focus of a game is finding a bigger gun just to blow up more stuff. So I already had this fear that Metroid was just going to make me work from gun to gun blowing up more stuff as I went a long the way. Fortunately, I was way wrong.

See, what separates Metroid from a standard “power up” game is its level designs. Quite frankly, the level design in Metroid is amazing. In fact, it’s some of the best I’ve seen. It’s greatly imaginative and creative. You just don’t find another gun to blow up more stuff; the power ups you receive in Metroid are essential in finishing the game. Without them you simply can’t get past certain areas. And most impressive to me was how Retro perfectly integrated the Morph Ball into the gameplay. It’s just as essential as any of the other power ups you receive.

And of course there are the little things like having to blow up a simple wall to continue down your path. It’s not essential, but it’s very old school and does help in engrossing you in the game. But for Metroid’s great level design, pure level design not a game makes.

Let me start off with something I remember my teacher talking about just in class a couple days ago. She was defining a term called “Suture,” and what it basically means it that something is so good (like a movie for example), you become completely engrossed by it. You almost feel that you’re there. Well, IMO, it was Metroid’s level design itself that destroyed this suture.

Granted, I realize previous Metroid games had whacked out level design, but I never stopped to think about it. In Prime I actually found myself thinking, “Why would anyone make a building/control panel like this???” For example, there’s a part in the game where you have to enter the Morph Ball, jump inside a little holding block, and use your bombs to activate a multi-layered pillar. And from there you use your Spider Ball to climb up it.

And the first thought that entered my mind was, “Is rolling up into a little ball so essential that scientist would start basing elevators around it???” You know, just how common is it for people in the Metroid universe to roll up into a little ball, bomb their way up to a platform, then use another bomb to activate a door? Couldn’t they just make a switch? Works for lights.

So MP had great level design, but I felt all those levels were designed just for Samus, and not for the people who lived on that planet. That totally destroyed the suture for me. Granted, I know as a reviewer it’s my job to nitpick out such things, but I also know that it’s up to a game to *not* make me notice. So if you’re going to blame anyone, at least blame MP for calling attention to itself.

Moving on, I would first like to dedicate a few quick paragraphs to something that always pops up whenever anyone talks about MP, the controls. To put it bluntly, they’re not that good. Yes, I know there are some fanboys out there who will have you believe that a full FPS control style setup (basically, a Halo setup) would make the game impossible to play. But in my opinion, the auto-aim didn’t make the game easier to play, just more frustrating.

You see I often felt that my aim was hampered, not enhanced by the auto-aim. Because when you’re in auto-aim, you can only aim at one person at a time. And when you’re in auto-aim is the only time you can strafe and focus on an enemy. Holding L while not locked on will allow you to strafe, but you can’t aim directly at an enemy either. The only time to aim up and down without locking on is by holding R, and in doing so you can’t move either.

So basically, when you’re locked onto an enemy is the only chance you have at dodging their attacks. But what happens when there’s more than one enemy attacking? That’s the flaw right there. I often found myself shooting at one enemy only to be shot at from another direction by another enemy. And if I wanted to turn and attack, it became an extremely annoying process of turning around (and if they’re flying), using R to look up and re-lock onto an enemy. Even worse, if two enemies are running in various directions on the screen, and one runs in a direction that makes him an easy target, but I’m locked onto the other, I lose the obvious kill because I can’t turn and face the obvious kill.

Basically, given the control set up, you’re going to lose a major tactile advantage when it comes to dodging and attacking in Metroid. There are going to be plenty of times when you’re begging to just look up and shoot. There was even a time I got so tired of the auto-aim that I unlocked, hit L to just strafe, and attacked that way because it made it easier to dodge multiple attacks and attackers.

Also, since you can’t automatically strafe, once you got to a door you sometimes find yourself unable to just walk inside because you’re not aligned up perfectly with it, and then you have to take extra time to hit L and move over. Again, the auto-aim didn’t make the game easier, just more challenging.

And now my biggest problem with MP is, to be honest, I just got bored with it. Early on, I was a wee bit uneasy with the game. I just wasn’t too impressed. Then I got *really* excited about the title and was already thinking about where I was going to purchase it. But as the game went on, I just stopped caring.

The re-spawning enemies were becoming a pain in the ass (especially in the Phazon Mines). And I got no enjoyment from killing any of them. It was just kinda like, “Ha! Now I’ll be back to kill you again later!” After finishing off a creature, I got no sense of accomplishment. Not even from the bosses. There were no bosses in Halo, but every time I killed a Hunter, I was damned proud of myself. I knew I used both skill to beat the beast, and that he was gone, period. There was no coming back. In Metroid, whenever I killed something, it was more like “whatever” instead of “took you down, bitch!”

And sure, the level design is great, but backtracking constantly through it was getting old. Add to the fact that I had to backtrack through re-spawning annoyances, and backtrack with completely agonizing controls, I found myself dreading playing through the game instead of gleefully picking up the controller. A must buy soon turned into “glad I rented first.” And that isn’t what I was expecting in MP. Because I don’t think I can bring myself to finish it. I just don’t care. There’s no story to constantly move me along and draw me into the world. There’s a little cool scene where during the game you’ll see a little face pop up on screen. Yeah, it’s really creepy at first, but with no driving story behind it, like the game you just kinda get tired.

I told myself that this was going to be a much shorter review than usual since I didn’t have a lot of time, and boy that didn’t last long. But I just want to say that I know not everyone is going to see the flaws I saw in MP, but I think a lot have and will. And this is far from the worst games on the market, like many say, it’s one of the best. But the game real downside is that it does get really old after a while.

Visuals:

Since I went a wee bit overboard in the gameplay portion, the rest are going to be much shorter. To put in bluntly, the visuals in this game are some of the best on the Gamecube, hands down. That doesn’t mean they’re perfect though. When you the game zooms in on Samus’ suit, you can see how oddly textured her suit is in certain places. And the lighting effects in certain places are excellent as well. But like Samus’ suit, you’re going to find some areas where it looks like poor texturing instead of real shadowing.

Sound:

Both the sound effects and the soundtrack are excellent. The music in Phendrana Drifts is some of the best I’ve ever heard (listening to it now actually), and the rest of the soundtrack is excellent as well. I do wish there was more talking in the game since I do feel a bit lonely at times. But I guess you would need a story for that.

Bottom Line:

To come straight out with it, would I give this game the “Game of the Year” award? No. It’s an excellent game, but I still feel it has some lingering problems that make the game a chore to play at times. Plus certain elements of the game are woefully undeveloped. I mean, we already know there’s no real story based cut scenes in the game, but we don’t get to see Samus do anything else either. Game starts, you’re Samus, you move. It’s that simple. A game like Panzer Dragoon Orta mud stomps Metroid Prime in terms of presentation. Also, the controls in the game is nothing to smile at, and there are going to be times when you’re not exactly engrossed in the game. But overall, I have nothing against Metroid Prime. It’s a well developed game. And you can tell there was a lot of money thrown its way. But it does get to be too much at times. I quickly realized that after beating the game once, there was no real reason to go through it again. And overall, I still feel that I’d rather see Vice City get Game of the Year instead of Prime. And I hate the 3D GTA games.

Gameplay: 9.2
Graphics: 9.5
Audio: 9.5
Replay Value: 6.5
(sorry, I really can’t see a reason to play through this game again and again)
Next-Gen Rate: 9

OVERALL SCORE: 8.7

P.S. Yes somebody has already pointed out to me exactly why it is the levels feel so designed for just Samus. But I’m too lazy to go back and change my review.

Funny thing is, I totally agree with you. I got this game when it first came out and I posted my impressions back at Gamerweb. Needless to say, I got blasted. I really think people were so amped to get a new Metroid game that they overlooked the subtle flaws this game has that drags it down IMO. I played the game for one week and returned it. If you look back in the Nintendo forums at Gamerweb you should see some of my original impressions.

Well its a shame the design was not as good as it could have been. Maybe if they make a sequal they' ll be room for improvement. At least the game world itself had a wonderful atmosphere.

I think your score was pretty fair.

Personally,I think the game is amazing. That and JSRF were my top games of last year.

My words are even more harsh: Metroid Quake!

Who asked for Metroid Quake? Seriously, if you have a great platform action game then why make a quake clone of it? Did they turn Mario into a real time strategy when they moved next gen? No they did not! So why did they change genre with Metroid?

I really think it sucks! Metroid is supposed to be fast paced, even test our reflexes. The very combination of a first person shooter and consoles prohibits this vital element that defines what is Metroid.

I played it for about an hour at best buy. It seemed pretty cool but I didn' t like the controls. I hated not being able to aim while moving. I know it still hits the enemy but twhere is the challenge with accuracy? It looked pretty cool but I don' t think the graphics were as revolutionary as they proclaimed it to be...

Well I' m a really big fan of super metroid for the snes, and i think that metroid prime was awesome. The gfx were very nice, the levels had tons of atmosphere. And there' s lots of items to be found for those perfectionist types, i.e. missile upgrades, enemy scans, etc.