She's back...but has she grown a foot? (Metroid Prime (GC))

Name: ~Shibby~

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Product:	Metroid Prime (GC)
Date:	06/07/03 (289 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics , Detail , The game itself!

Disadvantages: none, none, none!

Well well...if it isn't Samus once again, returning to the small screen a decade after her debut. Only this time, bigger, 3D, and better than ever (so to speak). Even though at first Metroid was never too keen to my eyes, this one certainly got my attention while watching a kid that came up to my waist give his best attempt at playing it at a Toys R Us. *Ahem* Soon there after, it found a new home nestled in my underwear drawer. More so, the drawer where I put all of my Gamecube goodies. Not knowing what to expect, I popped the little disk into my cube, which in turn looked like a morph ball from the game (aww...how cute). Following that, I turned it on, sat back, and here's what happened:

An explosion, followed by my Gamecube erupting in flames and melting a hole into my floor, and ultimately crashing into my garage in a heaping pile of goo. Ok, so not really. Instead, I was entertained by a nice introduction movie. After about the first 5 minutes or so, the game had already seemingly wrapped its way around my brain and took full control, drawing me in farther and farther. My first sitting was probably about 4 hours long. I say 'probably' because I went into a state of "video game unconsciousness" while playing. And yes, that is a good thing.

As for the game, what can I say? Metroid Prime is a definite action/adventure role. Some people claim it is a first person shooter, due to the fact that Retro places you behind Samus's visor, instead of that stone age 2D hoopla. Who needs it anyhow. However, most players were in for a surprise as they soon discovered how action packed the game is. Constant blasting, non stop exploring, infinite amounts of new creatures and bosses, etc. As key in the original Metroid series, exploration is emphasized. You won't be spending the midst of your time blasting ground beetles with your arm cannon, but more so exploring the vast lands that Retro has created. Everywhere yo
u go there is a new door to be opened, new tunnel to walk down, etc. Taking on a Zelda style physique, the game also intertwines puzzles, most of which require you to obtain some new item before their completion. And getting to that new item requires that you obtain a different item...ahh the horror! And this brings me to the next part: the graphics.

Ahhh the graphics. Possibly the best made thing in the game. What am I saying, they ARE the game. Metroid Prime definitely pushes the cube to its limits, with its very nice 3D graphics rendering system. They are perfected to the finest detail. While walking under or near waterfalls, the mist collects on Samus's visor. Likewise while it is raining, the rain sprinkles and patters against you and everything else. The lands are vast, stretching for miles. Each has its own "theme", I guess you could say. From snowy lands, to dark gothic morbid places, to jungle type worlds, etc. Basically everything in the Lord of the Rings combined into a small two inch wide disk. On top of that, everything IN the lands is detailed down to the centimeter. Plants each have their own texture, as do the creatures in the game and the grounds that you are walking on. In fact, while equipping your X Ray visor (which I'll get to in a minute, so hold on Charlie), you can see the skeleton that makes up all of the different enemies, and even points out their weak spots. Not to mention the game is HUGE. As I said earlier, if you're into hiking the Alps, this game is right up your alley. It is basically just one long, gigantic level, that stretches out for who knows how long. If you were to walk from one end to the other, I bet it would take you a half an hour. "A half an hour? Pssh, that's not big," you're thinking. Oh yeah? Just picture it for a second. Jogging for half an hour straight. "I still don't believe you." Ok, let's do some swift mental arithmetic. The average man runs
at about 7 miles per hour. Therefore, meaning the game would be almost 4 miles long in real life. Now that is a lot of information to put into a video game. Anyway, as I said, the graphics are beautiful. Heck, you even get sun glare if you look upwards into the sky, not to mention it reflects off of your nice spiffy suite. X Box eat your heart out.

An arsenal you say? Big guns? Explosions? You've come to the right place. Samus Aran packs a punch. Included in your array of big boy toys are things like a wavebuster (cannon that shoots out something from Ghostbusters), a plasma beam (just sounds cool), and an ice beam. And yes, it does shoot out a liquid nitrogen substance that freezes your enemies solid. Mmmm.....frosty. You can also upgrade all of your shiny bludgeons by getting missile expansions, that make your nice shiny arm cannons even nicer, and shinier. I won't give away too much, because discovering new toys to play with and getting cooler things is just half the fun. However, counter parting your way cool tools are those nasty space pirates. "Hey Bob, what in the name of Saint Joe is a space pirate?" Well Charlie, space pirates were the main focus in the original Metroid series. They look like a cross between a walking grasshopper and one of those things from the movie Starship Troopers. Scary, huh? They should be, as in the game they are the most annoying thing you will ever encounter. Making them even more annoying, are the fact that there are different kinds. Some can be killed by only certain weapons, some are stronger than others, etc. Oh! And it gets better! They fly too. Aside from them, there are hundreds of different insects, plants, things that look like they came from Star Wars, and bosses. The game is just unreal. Also, you can obtain a variety of different visors along your quest. Such as: infrared, X Ray, etc. They identify different things, reveal hidden objects and passage ways, all the fun stuff. Oh, can't
forget your scan visor. "A scan what?" A scan visor, silly. Basically, Retro decided to go gun hoe happy in the details section (as stated earlier). Your scan visor will bring up a small rectangle, which when moved over any object (say, a ground beetle) will bring up a red square type design. This means that you can scan it, and collect information on whatever it is. It will reveal information about the enemy, or how to open a certain door, pretty much anything and everything. In fact, some of your scans will be paragraphs long, explaining the myths behind the game's plot and things. Scanning is one of the most tedious parts of the game, but also one of the most interesting. Probably why Retro spent a good 7 years making Metroid Prime. "Wow."

The audio section is just as up to par as the visual part. Each weapon has a distinct sound, as do all of your foes. Also, each of the different lands has its own unique music theme, and some of the old style Metroid sound track titles are brought back to life. Very nice.

Combining the puzzles and worlds of Zelda with the level design of Half Life, and splashing in the graphics of Halo, Metroid Prime is possibly the first flawless game out for the cube. Intertwined in the game is a good 25 hour play time required for completion, and it gets better: it has 3 possible endings. "3 possible endings? Naaah..." Yeeaaah, it does. This depends on things such as: what did you collect? How many of these do you have? Did you find this? And also if you collected all of the Chozo Artifacts. "Huh?" Never mind. As you can see, Metroid Prime isn't a game for the squeamish, or you timid gamers. You must be as serious as a seal to complete this baby. Don't plan on having a few 15 minute sit downs every so often. Basically, a sit down for Metroid Prime is just that: a sit down. You sit down,
and you play..and play....and play....etc. Ok, so you don't play
THAT much, but there will be at least a half hour or more evolved in each sitting. And, after you beat it on normal, you can go back on hard for a whole new array of puzzles and more difficult endings. Ahh..the possibilities. The game really never gets old, with constant new worlds and places dying to be explored. Combining all of this into one would force me to rank Metroid Prime a 9.8 on my "cool-game-o-meter" (10 being the best). So, for all of you ultimate serious gamers that want a new challenge ahead, Metroid Prime would be the next on my list. For you guys, it's prime time. God speed.
~Shibby

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