METROID PRIME IGN REVIEW

Gameplay
Metroid Prime is an action-packed adventure set in the
first-person perspective that takes place just after
the events in the original Metroid (NES). It has lead
character Samus Aran, a bounty hunter by trade,
chasing down the evil Space Pirates. Their intention
is to use a genetic mutagen called Phazon to create a
super army and take over the universe. While the
installments in the series before have never been home
to deeply involving storylines, Metroid Prime breaks
the shell to offer up one of the most intriguing and
read-worthy sagas yet. Equipped with a scanning tool,
one of many useful features of the Power Suit that
protects the hunter's body, Samus Aran can uncover
important details about the past and present. As the
player, it's easy to become absorbed in the grim tale,
and furthermore because you save all data to your log
book, it becomes a practical novel of research data
available at any time. Next to Eternal Darkness:
Sanity's Requiem, it's one of most well done story
concepts on GameCube yet, which is an especially rare
treat given that it's based on the Metroid franchise.
Moreover, the solitary nature of being a bounty hunter
on the unfamiliar planet of Tallon IV makes
understanding the plot all the more rewarding and
immersive.
The prevailing gameplay style, polished and refined,
is perfectly representative of the standards laid down
in Super Metroid. In fact, Prime manages to bring
nearly every major element of the series, sans the
Screw Attack and Dash Boots, to this new adventure.
Like before, the focus is exploring the massive,
uncharted planet around you. As Aran, you begin your
quest with nothing. Your most important Power Suit
features -- the ability to roll into a Morph Ball,
jump higher, carve through ice, etc. -- must be gained
through exploration and persistence. The general
progression teases you with sights of inaccessible
doorways, out of reach platforms, and often caustic
environments that require suit upgrades. For example
the lava-filled caverns of Magmoor require a suit
upgrade to shield you from the heat, grey doors call
for the Ice Beam, and numerous elevated platforms
demand a special pair of boots. These upgrades are
only a few of the many. It is this delicate and
sophisticated balance that makes Metroid Prime the
incredible design accomplishment that it is. It is one
massive world tied together by a handful of elevators
and secret passages. The rewarding sensation of
discovering new areas and powering up your arsenal of
weapons and tools is unmatched.

Complex puzzles play hugely into this design. Around
every corner Metroid Prime demands that the player
figure out something. Occasionally it's simple and at
other times it requires drawing on everything you've
learned to that point, but it is always gratifying.
This system of awarding you for even the smallest of
your efforts makes it extremely difficult to travel to
the nearest save station and take a break. There is
always something tugging at the back of your mind,
begging you to try out your newest skill and solve
what may have previously seemed like an impossible
puzzle. In particular, Retro Studios has taken hold of
the many opportunities that arise from Samus's ability
to change into a Morph Ball. You must use it in
half-pipes to speed to higher points and quite often
the camera switches to a 2D-style perspective to
reveal mazes and pinball-esque designs. One of our
favorite puzzle environments submerges the Morph Ball
underwater. Only with the clever detonation of bombs
and exploiting the lessened gravity will you make it
to the exit. Moments like these are littered liberally
all over the worlds, which keeps gameplay from getting
repetitive. It also easily makes Metroid Prime the
most diverse and complicated in the series. It is not
remotely easy or passive in any way, which is exactly
what we adore about it. Likewise, the pacing of the
design and balance is the best we've seen in years.
It's truly remarkable.

Meanwhile, action and shooting also factors largely
into the experience. Again, the balance is a throwback
to the previous Metroids where every section of the
world has some kind of life in it. The combat system,
like Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time before it,
adheres to a lock-on mechanic to simplify shootouts in
the 3D world. Couple this with the fact that the
controls are not dual analog, and it should be clear
that Metroid Prime is not intended to be your
traditional first-person shooter. Exploration composes
the bulk of the quest, and enemies are merely there to
inject the game with a healthy dose of action. In
fact, fighting enemies can often be a puzzle itself.
There are a lot of cleverly designed creatures that
require scanning them to find weakpoints, and making
use of that information is very important. Some are
more simply defeated and others take diligence. The
Space Pirates that have invaded Tallon IV present the
biggest threat, but the creature list is pretty huge
overall. Wasp-like insects swarm Samus when you near
their hive, snarling Baby Sheegoth -- the guard dogs
of the icy Phendrana Drifts -- charge you at first
sight, and mechanical drones unleash rapid gunfire
onto you if alarmed.

That is but a small portion of the list, and there are
other foes that cause trouble in a more subtle way.
For example, one particularly neat beetle-like
creature vacuums up Samus in Morph Ball form and
ejects you out the nearest exit. As a whole, the
controls work perfectly for the game style, and combat
can still be very intense and satisfying. As a matter
of fact, artificial intelligence is handled pretty
well and ramps up as you progress deeper on your
journey. Namely, the Space Pirates begin to take cover
when attacked, leaping huge distances to gain a better
vantage point. They can be very aggressive, sometimes
working in teams. If you have any apprehension that
the said lock-on system will not provide a challenge,
think again. Things get very difficult. The only qualm
we have with the combat, is that you must repeatedly
engage in the same battles. It's meant to be faithful
to the previous Metroids, where enemies reappear after
you leave a room, but with the increased difficulty
and complexity it can seem unfair at times. It's
debatable, however, and once you've honed your skills
enough it shouldn't pose a major problem.

Additionally, you will have to face off with about a
dozen mini-boss and boss figures. On a much larger
scale than figuring out basic enemies, the bosses all
have some weakness that must be exploited. As you
acquire more skills, the requirements for defeating
each boss become more imposing. Equally impressive is
that nearly every boss figure towers high above Samus.
We found the collection of foes to be some of the best
and most cleverly designed we've faced in a great
while. It's another element of Metroid Prime that
exudes the kind of polish that Nintendo so
consistently delivers to its Zelda series. Needless to
say, we were very happy with the boss sequences, and
we're positive you'll find them very gratifying.

In its entirety, the package screams sky-high
production values from start to finish. Everything
about Metroid Prime is absolutely amazing. Just as we
experienced total elation with Zelda's transition from
2D to 3D (The Ocarina of Time, 1998), we can now enjoy
that same caliber thrill with Metroid Prime, which is
every bit as fantastic as Super Metroid. Make haste,
and add Prime to your GameCube collection.

Graphics
Aesthetically, Metroid Prime is one of the most
gorgeous games we've ever seen. It owes its beauty to
two major components: art direction and a
technologically impressive engine. It is so extremely
rare that we see a game bring both elements together
so tightly. In Metroid Prime's case, the art direction
is probably the more fantastic of the two. Retro
Studios' artists have created a completely believable
style for this science fiction fantasy. Borrowing
concepts from the original designs in Metroid and
Super Metroid, Retro's stunning art vision is
generously spread across several uniquely themed
environments; the verdant rain-soaked overworld,
steamy magma-filled cavern, and hazy mining facilities
make up but a few of the diverse areas.
Even more extraordinary is that every new section of
the world you enter looks completely different thanks
to brilliant architecture; the Chozo Ruins are
off-kilter, dry, and crumbling, Phendrana Drifts'
walls are carved from ancient ice that radiates with a
blue glow, and Magmoor Caverns is a maze of
claustrophobic, lava-filled passageways. The attention
to detail continues to a more microscopic level, as
you can cast your gaze in almost any direction and see
something you may not have noticed before; flocks of
birds soar under the hot sun, indents or juts on walls
and flooring are cause for a more organic feel,
bridges are not square or obvious, but instead
intertwined branches or fallen rubble, and every wall
has a different set of cracks and chips. If Retro
Studios has proven one thing, it is how extremely
valuable artistry is for establishing the mood of a
game and immersing the player. There are few 3D
videogames that can hold a candle to this visionary
masterpiece.

Naturally, that accomplishment is only possible with
the backing of equally ambitious technology. The
programming team at Retro Studios has constructed a
flexible engine that is capable of drawing these
detailed and sometimes massive environments at 60
frames per second with no slowdown. At first glance it
may not seem like the worlds are high polygon, but
with all the subtleties and organic architecture there
is a lot going on. Furthermore, the character
rendering is truly jaw-dropping. Samus, the various
creatures, and the gigantic boss figures are all
tremendously detailed. There are a few in-engine
cut-scenes in the game that could easily be mistaken
for full-motion video. For example, one incident that
unfolds as you defeat the final boss will take your
breath away. Indeed, it's very often that Metroid
Prime will have you second-guessing how the engine is
capable of so much.

That's not to say it's perfect, however. Textures are
complex and plentiful, even crisp from far away, but
up close the quality falters. Furthermore, the
much-talked-about bump-mapping technique, used to give
textures more depth, is nowhere to be found. It seems
likely that these drawbacks are a product of keeping
Prime running at 60 fps with so much diversity and
intricacy. Nonetheless there are a host of other
effects that easily overshadow what's lacking. For
starters, the visor effects such as Infrared and X-ray
prove incredibly accurate. Unbelievably, every object
has a sensible heat signature; machinery displays as
dark blues and black while living creatures, lights,
and other heated objects light up in orange and red.
Likewise, the X-ray visor is so precise it even
reveals the bones in Samus's hand. There are also a
handful of atmospheric conditions that affect Samus's
visor: condensation builds from passing under a
waterfall or through steam, static and veins of
electricity brand the screen when Samus interacts with
energy-charged objects, and raindrops and splashes of
water create a temporary refraction of the world
around you. The numerous eye-popping effects -- so
many we can't detail them all -- pull you into the
world and don't let go.

Equally important is the lighting model found in
Prime. Nearly everything that moves produces
beautiful, vibrant lighting. The shots from Samus's
gun, the beams that radiate out of the Morph Ball, and
the varying overcast of colors that set the mood in
the environments exploits the very robust lighting
GameCube is capable of. It produces a lot of depth by
interacting with the detailed architecture, and the
desire for bump-mapping is lessened because of it.

To top it all off, those with a progressive scan
capable television can benefit from a truly gorgeous
display. Metroid Prime looks incredible with the
blazingly fast framerate and myriad of effects.
Unfortunately, there is no widescreen support.Sound
It should come as no surprise that Metroid Prime is
home to the best sound design yet on GameCube. The
Kenji Yamamoto composed soundtrack is every bit as
characteristic and pleasing as Super Metroid was
before it. For very good reason, too, as Yamamoto was
the original composer. The Japanese surprises with
incredibly versatility, twisting together light
atmospheric melodies that hang on the air and driving
industrial beats, which give it a distinct modern
tinge. As soundtrack done completely with MIDI,
Yamamoto proves that redbook audio can be overrated.
Heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes,
ominous electric guitar hooks, and many synthesized
effects produce a distinctly alien mood. More
impressive is that there are a lot of subtle audio
cues that affect the player during the experience.
When fighting the music gets very aggressive and
perhaps after you've beaten a boss you'll find there
is a more driving beat that parallels your excitement.
Naturally, many themes from the previous games have
returned too. You'll recognize them frequently, but
Yamamoto has been keen to add new flavor to them. The
same goes for the celebratory melodies heard when
kicking off your quest from your last save point or
finding a power-up. So, both fans and new Metroid
followers alike will find the listening experience
absolutely rocks.
Complimenting the high quality soundtrack, Metroid
Prime comes chock full of a sound effects library to
die for. There has been great attention to detail from
the foreign growls of the Space Pirates to the
screeches of the alien insects. Every mechanical sound
that Samus's Power Suit utters is almost exactly as
you imagine it would be. Add to that, the environment
around you is littered with random noises, whether it
is the hiss of a nearby steam vent or the cranking of
a nearby elevator there is a lot to absorb. The
atmospheres just seem to echo and blend perfectly with
the overlying soundtrack.

Mixed in Dolby Pro Logic II by a member of Dolby
itself, Prime is a stellar treat for the ears that we
can find few issues with.

Closing Comments
Metroid on the NES was one of the first epic games I
ever experienced. My brother and I, at the age of
about seven, spent weeks and months questing through
the password-enabled adventure. It had a certain charm
to it, and even if I couldn't describe it then it made
an impact on me. Then along came Super Metroid in
1994, and I was totally blown away by how brilliant it
was. It was a perfect videogame in my mind. It was
edgy, home to a fantastic power-up system, full of
awesome bosses, and the gameplay style was a soul mate
to me.
Needless to say, I have an unhealthy obsession with
the franchise. So, when Metroid Prime was finally
announced I was both thrilled and frightened to see
how it would turn out. But after several years of very
hard work, Retro Studios and Nintendo have translated
the same genius of Super Metroid into 3D with very few
casualties. Because of that, Metroid Prime has not
only become my most beloved title on GameCube, but
also one of my most treasured games of all time. I'm
not sure where I place it, but it's very high on the
list.

If I had to make one personal observation, it would be
that the change to first-person perspective was
brilliant for its move to 3D, but not perfect. I felt
comfortable (even in awe) 90% of the time, but there
are a few boss fights where it can frustrate. It's
extremely rare, but something you should be aware of
going into it. It's nothing that sours the overall
quality, though.

That said, I would recommend Metroid Prime as an
absolute buy -- skip the renting facade -- for every
owner of a GameCube. It's a real collector's item.
You'll want to keep this one even after your done
spending 30 hours with it. The only reason one would
avoid it is if action/adventures are not part of your
narrower taste in games. If you fall into that
category, you have no idea what you're missing out on.


Metroid Prime is an instant classic that you will use
to measure forthcoming software by.

-- Fran Mirabella III

Presentation
Metroid reborn in 3D, and an impressive sci-fi fantasy
to boot. Awesome menus. Design is great from concept
to execution. Few games are this polished. 10.0
Graphics
A stunning art vision that deserves major recognition,
jaw-dropping world architecture, and volumes of pretty
textures. At 60 fps with progressive scan support,
there are few that compare. 9.0
Sound
The original Nintendo composer delivers another opus
and fantastically designed sound effects compliment
the mood with Dolby Pro Logic II support. 10.0
Gameplay
A true masterpiece; an accomplishment that will be
recognized for years. It is Super Metroid in 3D, and
it's as complex and wonderful as any gamer could want.
Any self-respecting gamer must own it. 10.0
Lasting Appeal
30 hours to average completion. Requires much longer
to earn 100%. Unlock art galleries, difficulty
settings, and connect to GBA for extras. No
multiplayer, but like Zelda, do we need it? 9.0
OVERALL SCORE (not an average) 9.8