Metroid Prime

With its creation on the NES, and sequels on Game Boy and Super NES, the Metroid series has enjoyed a great deal of success for its conceptual genius: Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter, is placed on a vast world and must work through it room by room, solving puzzles, upgrading her power suit, and defeating enemies. Several years had passed after the release of Super Metroid, and fans of the series anxiously awaited the announcement of another sequel; they got it with quite a bit of surprise.

The previous Metroids (as well as a fourth Metroid game, Metroid Fusion, made for the GBA) were 2D side-scrollers. Much of the gameplay relied on this concept. Metroid Prime, for the Gamecube, was not only to be three-dimensional, but also played from a first-person perspective. Fans were worried that it would make the game into a mindless FPS fragfest - luckily, they were mistaken. Metroid Prime is now the proud definition of the modern "First Person Adventure" genre.

Metroid Prime's plot is deep enough to keep a sense of mystique and intrigue about the game, but never so much that you can't understand what's going on. The plot is revealed not through cutscenes or dialogue (as there's really no one to talk to), but through Samus's Scan Visor, which can be used to download log information from computer consoles and other sources. From her start aboard the Space Pirate frigate Orpheon in orbit around Tallon IV, Samus will scan Pirate Logs, Chozo Lore, and other items to uncover some of the seedy mysteries of the planet, and even of herself.

Though it may look like it at first, Metroid Prime is not a first-person shooter (and if it were, it wouldn't be a very good one). Sure, there is shooting involved, but the strategic elements and puzzles greatly outweigh the enemies Samus is obligated to waste. She'll gather a number of upgrades to the power suit throughout the game, including more powerful and resilient suits (one allows her to survive in extreme temperatures; the next allows her to move better underwater), more armaments (including wave beam, ice beam, missiles, and bombs), and special abilities (such as a double-jump, a grappling beam, and rolling into the morph ball). The visor plays a big role in Metroid Prime: different view visors let you see things differently - the Thermal Visor sees heat, and the X-ray Visor can see some otherwise invisible things. These different ways of seeing the same level are used sometimes to detect enemies (or their weak points), but more often for finding critical puzzle elements, like a hidden electric switch.

The game's controls are a bit confusing at first, and definitely aren't what you'd find in an FPS (which is why many shooter fans are uncomfortable with Metroid Prime), but as the game progresses the movement, strafing, jumping, and lock-on mechanics become very intuitive. Which is good, because a mastery of the game's controls is necessary for not only defeating enemies and bosses, but also in puzzle solving and exploration, trying to solve the mysteries of a room and searching for hidden secrets in the game's massive, cohesive world.

Another of Prime's victories is visual presentation. The environments evoke the exact sense that they should, from a disgusting pool of poisoned water and plants, to the majesty of a great natural tower of ice, to the intrigue of an artificial Space Pirate research lab; and the graphical effects, from Samus's visor being hit by rain droplets to the explosive effects of different weapons and enemies, are perfectly executed. Sound effects fit the game like a glove, a complete sensory enhancement to the game. The musical ambience is a joy to listen to, through calm, exciting, or mysterious tracks.

The replay value of Metroid Prime is great; not only is the game of a fairly respectable length and size (easily over 20 hours for a first-timer), but there are a bunch of non-required items to collect. A number of upgrades you don't really need can affect your completion percentage (most notably, missile expansions and energy tanks). There are three different endings, depending on how many items you gathered before the final boss. The game has four image galleries packed in for the player to unlock, each with different requirements. After beating the game, you unlock a Hard mode, where you're twice as weak and enemies are twice as hard. And, there are connection bonuses with Metroid Fusion: beat Prime, and you can play it with the Fusion suit; beat Fusion, and you can play the original Metroid (for NES) on your Gamecube. The Fusion suit doesn't affect Prime's gameplay at all, but it does look neat.

Metroid Prime is a triumph of a game. Wonderfully presented, flawlessly executed, an exercise for both mind and thumbs; aimlessly exploring the game's incredible world is half the fun. Prime is nothing short of a masterpiece.

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