Metroid Prime 3.

Ok, there have been a couple requests for a Metroid Prime 3 review, so I present my opinion on the conclusion to the Prime trilogy.

Overall, this is a worthy conclusion to a consistently great series of games. Unfortunately, the bar was set impossibly high by the first game, which so sublimely married the sensibilities of the old Metroid side-scrolling games with a engrossing 3D experience that has practically reinvented the series. Whereas some 3D outings of old 2D platformers more or less gave us a new perspective on old favorites (Mario 64, the 3D Sonic games), Metroid Prime was closer to Zelda 64, in that you almost can’t imagine Metroid not being played in 3D now. Some of the elements that made Prime 1 great, such as the goofy morphball puzzles, beautiful art direction, memorable boss fights, and sprawling level designs are here once again in abundance. New stuff like the controls and interplanetary travel are a revelation that obsolete those elements of the previous games. Unfortunately, this game does not reach the level of perfection that the first game did in other regards, but the story does rise above that of the second game, which I think was the weakest point in the series.

A review of Prime 3 wouldn’t be complete without a discussion of the new controls, and I think it is the game’s greatest feature. These are hands-down the best first person shooter controls on a console I’ve seen. I don’t think it quite beats out the old mouse-and-keyboard controls on PC shooters (credit to iD for developing a control scheme over ten years ago that still remains the defacto standard), but the Wiimote controls beat the dual analog approach and the Gamecube Metroid scheme hands-down. Aiming is fast and accurate on the advanced settings, and feels great after a few hours of experience. You do have to hold the controller very steady to keep the view from skewing off violently, so I found myself only being able to play for a few hours at a time at most before fatigue sets in. Using the Nunchuk to cast out the grappling beam is engaging and really draws you further into the game. Even little control panel interfaces like twisting a lock with the wiimote and welding damaged circuits with the plasma beam are cool and add that little extra bit of immersiveness.

The other new element, travelling between planets, is another revelation in gameplay that really makes this game feel that much more sprawling and epic. I never got tired of seeing the cutscenes of the gunship landing and taking off, and the multiple landing sites added a new dimension to the game.. suddenly backtracking isn’t as laborious as it used to be, now that you can pick the landing site closest to where you need to go, and remote control your ship to land at the site closest to where you are. Also, being able to control your ship and have it pick up objects made for some neat puzzles. Unfortunately, the designers drastically cut down on the number of save locations because of this, so you usually have to find your way back to a landing site to save now. And, the different areas seem significantly smaller than their counterparts in the previous games. When I think about the huge, expansive areas like the Phazon Mines and Phendrana Drifts in Prime 1, and the Torvus Bog with its underwater chambers in Prime 2, the levels feel tiny here. The only one that comes close is the Pirate Homeworld, with its tram systems that carry you to the different installations.

One new feature that I don’t think works as well is the more story-driven plot. To me, Metroid has alway been about open-ended exploration and deliberate pacing. In this game, the story is much more focused and urgent.. much of the time you’re feeling rushed to complete your next clearly-defined objective. There’s also a lot more dialog and character interaction, which I guess really aren’t either a benefit or detrement to the game, it’s just different. The item collection this time around is more story-driven and less arbitrary than in the first game, I think… the idea of collecting energy cells to use to unlock areas of the derelict ship works well as a plot device, moreso than collecting the Chozo artifacts in Prime 1.

The upgrade pickups, on the other hand, are a lot weaker this time around. We get the usual missile expansions and energy tanks, and new ones like the voltage grapple and ship grapple are pretty cool. But, all hypermode expansions have very limited, specific uses, and the ship missile expansions are completely unnecessary when you have all of three opportunities to use them, so you never are without ammunition for it. The beam upgrades are also pretty boring and unimaginative, plus they’re cumulative instead of selectable like they used to be in Prime 1 and 2, so the gameplay doesn’t feel as diverse. Comparatively I like the old standard power, wave, ice, and plasma beams, and having to switch back and forth between them depending on what enemies you were fighting. I also liked the old super beam powerups from the first game.. the super missile, wave buster, flame thrower, and ice spreader. I also found myself not using the missiles very often at all.. the beam weapons were more useful for most stuff, unless it involved freezing something.

A final positive note, though, is the boss fights. Although a bit on the easy side (in my opinion, a welcome change from the obnoxious level of frustration in Prime 2), they all proved to be very inventive and actually pretty fun. The fight with Ridley near the end is probably the best ones we’ve had yet, with lots of grappling and x-ray action, barely edging out the one from Prime 1. The battles with the other hunters were mostly very good, aside from the shapeshifting hunter, which was just a rehash of the previous fights. The Dark Samus battle at the end was a little simplistic too, but the Aurora Unit fight made up for it with a pretty interesting battle. Not quite as fun as the Ridley battle but made for a nice last hurrah for the game. It didn’t quite feel as epic as the last battle in Prime 1 where you have to use all your beams, missiles, and then the hyperbeam at the very end to finish her off.

On a technical level this is the best looking and sounding Prime game so far. The game hums along at a steady 60FPS, as the game makes the best use of the Wii’s resources and minimizes its limitations. I.E., the limited video memory of the Wii doesn’t allow for very intricate textures but the polygon count is high, so objects and character models look great. The on-screen HUD also looks great, and has a neat reflection of Samus’s face whenever you turn on the scanning visor. The game also makes pretty liberal use of HDR (High dynamic range lighting) with light blooms and so forth that add some very realistic lighting effects. The game also sounds as good as ever, with an immersive Dolby ProLogic sound mix and crisp, realistic sound effects.

So overall, I thought Prime 3 was a bit of a mixed bag but overall a very good game and worthy of carrying the Metroid Prime name. The new stuff like the motion-sensitive controls and ship travel add some awesome facets to an already great platform. Most of the stuff that made Prime great is still here. But, there are some elements that have taken a dive.. the more focused storyline, the upgrade pickups, and levels are a bit on the weak side. All in all, this is still one of the must-have exclusive titles on the Wii.