Metroid Prime

Retro in its Prime

Platform	Presentation	Controls	Variety	Audio	Depth	Value & Fun	OVERALL
GameCube	9.99	9.00	9.00	9.50	8.50	8.00	8.84

Presentation

9.99

An entire world is realized through the visuals, and what Samus sees is what you see in creative use of splattering on the visor. Heat causes fog, cold causes frost, rain drops strike and bugs splatter. A testament to the graphic design is in that the world is mostly clear in distinguishing what is what, while still creating an amazingly natural feel and appearance to everything. The glow from Samus in morph ball mode is both high quality in visual and helpful in dark rooms.

The only blips are that in the elevator the close up shows muddy suit textures, and at the end, the fire doesn't look very good. But those are so minor, I only deduct a hundredth on principle.

Controls

9.00

     In all conventional wisdom, this game should not work.  First person perspective does not mix with platforming.  But there are two astounding things at work in Metroid Prime that make it work.  The first is that this is possibly the best level design I've ever seen in a game.  Maintaining that natural feel is not simple, and neither is making exploration rewarding and not blatantly obvious as if you're being led on a leash and this game does both beyond reproach.  The second is also a greatest; the greatest map ever conceived.  With so many doors and corridors, the map in Metroid Prime is clear, incredibly detailed and infinitely useful.  And as with the level design, the map isn't blatantly obvious as to how to reach all the doors, it simply points them out.

     As for the controls themselves, due to the level design, the jumping feels near perfect.  The lock on is very effective, except for late in the game, it can be a little troublesome to get the correct target quickly.  The visor and arm cannon switching takes a little time to get used to as to not mix them up; that's not a complaint, just an observation.  A very important role is also fulfilled in that the morph ball rolls as it should and controls wonderfully.

     There are minor problems, though.  Since you only move with the left analog stick, it can be difficult to turn and evade when being attacked if you lose your lock-on.  The aiming with R is also a bit too slow, and slows down when moving further up and down, which is a bit of a pain.

Variety

9.00

     The world is filled with various insects and other creatures that have thrived on the phazon that destroyed the previous inhabitants, the Chozo.  There are also the Space Pirates which are studying one of the creatures, metroids, to find a way to improve their military power and are ruthless in doing so.  The design of these creatures is very creative and effective, but a little limited.

     What really drives the game is the fairly large world.  Several areas of different climates are there to explore as you try and both recover your lost suit parts/powers and destroy the Space Pirates.  The worlds are so varied and unique that when discovering new areas, it's repeatedly rewarding, as well as exciting in the prospect that you're never sure what's next.

     Variety is a bit lost in that the battles are few, and the length is short for how the game is played.  The game could also use a bit more direction for clarity, although it's not a big issue.  The battles, due to lack of bosses, are a bit repetitive, particularly in backtracking.

     Story is unusually done in Metroid Prime.  There is little story in what Samus is doing -- she's a bounty-hunter -- but there is tons of history and a sense of lore from the information the Chozo leave behind for her, and the stolen information from the Space Pirate computers.  There a lot of reading to let your mind get lost in; it almost reads as if it were a new-age book and the game is a way to tell the story in a way that wasn't previously possible.  It works and doesn't work at the same time, but it's a very intriguing style.

Audio

9.50

Beautiful sound track. Each world is expressed perfectly, and the music helpfully picks up when Samus is in danger. There are even tracks that I stop to listen to (particularly the opening and the artifact area). However, with one song per world, and the same song for whenever there are Space Pirates, it can get a little repetitive.

As for sound effects, the technology sounds excellent. Beams, moving parts, switching from/to morph ball all sound great. The only thing is that it would have been better had there been multiple sounds for being struck instead of just a thud sound, and if you're in poison/phazon a static sound.

Depth	8.50
The depth of Metroid Prime is in the exploration and bosses. Any battles elsewhere, and the platforming are a bit linear. However, the varying beams give a boost in that area, particularly once you have 3 or more. The game forces your hand at times, which is effective for the Space Pirates, but the late implementation of the metroids comes off as more of a bother.

Value & Fun

8.00

     At a very relaxed pace, I completed Metroid Prime in 18 hours.  Since so much of the value of the game is in the exploration, it loses more than most in how much one would want to back and play it again.  This means that the act of platforming and shooting has to make up for it, and in some cases it does, and in others it doesn't.

     The main problem is not that there's backtracking, but the length at which you backtrack.  Nearing the end of the game (namely collecting the 12 chozo artifacts to access the final area) you are treking through the four worlds end to end, and the changes to the areas, while nice, make the areas more hindering to pass through.  Particularly, there are a several large rooms in which ghosts will attack and make the room dark, and are annoying to deal with.  The entire game is up and down in awe and annoyance.

     The fortunate thing is that the platforming is entertaining, and the few short boss battles are stellar -- and I'll go so far as to say better than Zelda in that regard.  The final boss battle is intense, engaging and memorable, which is something that I've found to be lacking more and more as time passes.

Overall	8.84
Metroid Prime has stellar level design and presentation, but to say the pacing is slow would be an understatement. The game may have actually been better off being shortened, as the repeated long-distance backtracking bogs down the thrill of exploration. Problems aside, it's exhilarating, though-provoking, and memorable.

Posted by Ellyoda Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:00:00

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