Playing A Game Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Wii

The pending release date is next Monday, 8/27, but being employed by Nintendo has some serious benefits.

I haven't gotten very far into MP3 - just past the intro level - so my opinions may change over the course of the game. So far, it's very similar to the first two, in focusing heavily on exploring and paying attention to your surroundings. The primary difference is that there's a lot more going on. The first game was a classical Metroid situation, where Samus was more or less the only sentient non-pirate on the planet; the second tried to spice things up with the Luminoth, but they were so scarce that the effect was negligible.

Contrarily, the introductory stage of Metroid Prime 3 takes place in a Galactic Federation command ship, complete with crew - and then it gets attacked by space pirates! The ship and its fleet are in orbit above a populated planet, so there is a ton of stuff going on outside as, inside the ship, Samus navigates corridors rapidly being boarded by invading pirates. And after finally getting back to the docking bay and landing on the planet below (I'll do more on piloting the ship in a later post), GFed troopers and pirate fighter craft exchange laserfire endlessly just outside. Much of the ambience of the first game came from its mysterious, serene environment, and I think it will be interesting to see how MP3 fares with what is thus far the polar opposite.

Controlling Samus was really awkward at first. This is the first time I've played a first-person game for Wii, so being completely new to the point-and-aim mechanic might have something to do with that. I was also one of those guys who really relied on being able to lock-on to targets in the other Primes because I just can't aim to save my life. Anyway, I'm starting to get used to it. In general you shoot where you aim; the nunchuk's Z button can be used to lock on to an enemy and keep it near the center of your view, but aiming precisely at it is still up to the wiimote.

Some of the most interesting stuff I've come across so far isn't even in the game proper. You may remember that in Prime 1 and 2, extra art galleries could be unlocked by meeting certain conditions, e.g. completing the game on X difficulty, or attaining Y percent of all logbook scans. In MP3, the Extras - and there are way more than just art galleries - are unlocked by spending points on each one, points that are earned through certain in-game accomplishments and landmarks (reminiscent of the Xbox's 'Achievements,' but much more frequent). I still haven't figured this out completely, but will be sure to explain it in more detail when I can.

Progress: 3%