Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Review for the Wii console
By David Mume
The trilogy is finally complete with the debut of this Adventure/first person shooter game. When planning to make Metroid Prime for Nintendo 64, Nintendo planned out new ideas for this sequel of Super Metroid for Super Nintendo. They were going to make it a first person shooter! Previous Metroid series games were side scrolling action/adventure games, and this would be something new to try. Attempting to keep the original quality from previous Metroid series games, Nintendo labeled it in the "Adventure" First Person Shooter genre in order ensure players that the Metroid Prime series would be somewhat like the originals fans loved. Metroid Prime was so complex and advanced, it would take years to construct. So, Nintendo waited for the Nintendo Game Cube and started right away. Ever since 2002, the Metroid Prime series has launched a whole franchise, and has appeared on many consoles, including the Nintendo DS, and of course, Wii.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption takes place right after Metoird Prime 2: Echoes, and before that, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Metroid Prime. With that in mind, his game has quite a background of characters and adventures Samus Aran (the character you play) has journeyed. So just for Samus' sake, this game really gave her little more personality than parts of the previous series. Samus' starship also played more of a role in the game then in previous games, giving it also a new look. They have brought back old enemies, changing them slightly by modifying them to fit the story of the game.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Metroid Prime series really has a lot to it, so it's most recent game outta have an interesting story! What I liked a lot about this game was that unlike others, this game revolved around moving to different places and even planets in order to move on with your spaceship. In prior games, you would have the tedious chore of walking through the games immense terrain and constant rooms until you found an elevator to transport you to a different section of the planet. With the ship (and an upgrade for your suit) you may call upon it in certain areas to land, so that you can save and use it to fly. Anyway...back to the story. The characters Samus interacts with are quite important, and there aren't many characters that don't get to have their moment to shine. These characters are usually other bounty hunters and army marines that assist you in your quests. Another amazing thing about the story is it's like a sci-fi movie video game in the sense that you are traveling by spacecraft, battling "aliens" and with using your special space suit, traveling through new and unique environments. It really does give new meaning to "To boldly go where no man has gone before". I wish I could more explain the incredible story behind this game, but I don't want to spoil it for you all, so get the game and see yourself.
Controls for Metroid Prime 3 are just amazing. Probably the best first person shooter controls, ever made. Moving and shooting is a breeze...using your Wii remote to point to the edges of the screen to look up, left, and turn left and right. Feels smooth, and natural. You use the Nunchuck's control stick to walk forward, backward, and sidestep left or right. A asset brought from Metroid Prime is the ability to customize the control scheme. You may either use A to fire and B to jump, or B to fire and A to jump. Though using B to fire and A to jump was more fitting for the Wii remote, I mainly used A to fire for it's ease of firing rapidly and also because I'm used to prior Prime games that use that button combo. You can also switch the Plus and Minus buttons uses for the Scanning Visor, and Hypermode. The Visor switching in this game is about as similar as it could get to Metroid Prime, with the unique Wii remote in mind. While holding down select (which isn't as hard as it might seem) you just easily point to a section of the screen: Center of screen, Combat Visor, left part of screen, Scanning visor, etc. Hypermode is a brand new addition to the game, and has a lot to do with the plot so I won't give it away, but basically what it does is powers you up immensely and doubles or triples the power of your normal attacks and allows you to destroy things that you could never before. But, there is a drawback: each time you use Hypermode one of your energy bars is used up (a quantity of your health) and you have a slight possibility of being corrupted...which will be explained in the game's story. The lock-on feature is kept from prior games except that, instead of having your cursor locked directly at the target, the center of the screen only is "locked on" to the target, allowing you to still orbit around what you are locked onto, but making you aim with your Wii remote to fire. The morph ball is back, too. Pressing C will put you in a third person perspective view as a small ball that you can control with the control stick and go through various puzzles and mazes. They have also stalked up with some new abilities and uses for the morph ball. I must say the following: this game really does feel like a Metroid Prime game controls wise, and once you try it, you'll know what I mean!
The game play is very unique from many other current games for Wii. It's a combo of action and adventure, making you fight many monsters and odd creatures, but also making you make use of your terrain in finding out how to get that certain part on your 3-D map. There are many spots in which I found myself truly stuck in a spot and having to go back and forth until I found out what I was supposed to do next. Usually, when you encounter an enemy, you lock-on to it and start firing rapidly, with occasional charged beam shots and missile firing. Some enemies even require you to change into your morph ball and use a mine to destroy them from a vulnerable spot. One thing I like about the enemies in this game are that, unlike previous usual enemies, these aren't small and annoying. Rather than countless small, annoying enemies that you fight in the beginning of an area and have to defeat again, they have a smaller amount of more difficult enemies which is much better in my opinion. It makes fighting enemies very fun and when you see one you get fired up, quickly transforming a nearby rock in to a spot in which to find cover or hide behind. If you cannot find out about a way to defeat a particular enemy, just scan it with the Scanning Visor! This gives you data to put in your "log book" on the pause screen to view for more information on how to defeat it, what species it is, and where you might find one. You can really scan everything and obtain all sorts of information. Another nice thing about this game is it's very straight forward with many side paths along the way. Meaning, you will always have a way to go, but can either make some side stops for coveted missile expansions and energy cells (upgrades for your health), or any other bonus items that are available. Like I mentioned before, the characters in this game have a lot to do with exactly where you go in your game and determine what missions you must accomplish. Something that really brings them to life is that Nintendo chose to add voices to the text on the screen. The characters actually speak, which makes it a lot more interesting then just text moving on the screen. However, you can still read text aside from listening to their voices if you with to obtain information faster then they can speak it. Another element that new for the Prime series
are the interaction with marines during combat. Often times you are fighting side-by-side your fellow marines and that feels really great. It puts a sense of purpose, and makes you want to protect them as they fight aside you. For you Halo players, this feature should seem very familiar to you.
The graphics are spectacular...undoubtedly the best in the Prime series so far. The amazing realism of the grassy lands, fiery volcanoes, ice peaks and other surreal realms in which are to complex to explain. Another cool addition is that when walking just out of water or through a water fall, droplets of water drip from your visor with accurate realism. When going near radiative enemies, your visor goes static, when going near colder atmospheres your visor gets slightly foggy, and when a flash arises from in front of you, your visor reflects the reflection of your face. The immense outer space in this game is something to look upon, with it's multiple planets and stars. The space ship also looks amazingly real, and Samus herself looks really cool in her sci-fi space suit. The enemies look scary and each have their own unique look which makes them exciting to look at.
The sound is just as great as the graphics. Dynamic sounds that really capture the feel of the obstacle projecting it. The sound of your ship landing, of Samus firing, of water trickling down a rock etc. are all believable and with the combination of graphics, characters talking and controls, you really feel in the game. The one sound factor that I think they lacked was the Wii remote's speaker. They didn't use it and that was disappointing to me. But almost everything else made up for it, sound wise.
The difficulty in this game is something to ponder...because, in a sense, it's easy, yet it is hard. My logic in that is that Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes were much harder (surprisingly) then Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Perhaps it's the controls scheme that makes it easier...maybe the crystal clear, understandable plot...maybe just how hard the enemies are, how difficulty the mazes were to figure out, and the tactics in order to perform these tasks were just an entire degree lower than the previous games. Now remember, I'm not saying this is a easy game (remember me saying "it's easy, yet it is hard"?), I'm simply comparing it to prequels of the series. From an overall standpoint, from a 1-10 rating of how difficult Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is, I would estimate about an 8.2. Setting the difficulty rating for Metroid Prime about 8.8.
Unfortunately, Metroid Prime 3 is such a big game that, they really had no room for a multi-player. However, if you have Wi-Fi, you can send credits that you find throughout the game to your friends and give them special credits that let you unlock bonus content, apps, and tools. It would be nice if they had at least multi-player Wi-Fi, though.
Overall, I would rate this game a 9.4. Amazing game length, gripping storyline, amazing combat. This is a great game to add to your collection especially if you enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I do think that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess could both learn something from the other...but that's another story. Also, Metroid Prime 3 does fitfully wear it's T rating for violence and one D word in the beginning of the game, but both defects are minor and are easily looked over to compare with this amazing game!
By David Mume
The trilogy is finally complete with the debut of this Adventure/first person shooter game. When planning to make Metroid Prime for Nintendo 64, Nintendo planned out new ideas for this sequel of Super Metroid for Super Nintendo. They were going to make it a first person shooter! Previous Metroid series games were side scrolling action/adventure games, and this would be something new to try. Attempting to keep the original quality from previous Metroid series games, Nintendo labeled it in the "Adventure" First Person Shooter genre in order ensure players that the Metroid Prime series would be somewhat like the originals fans loved. Metroid Prime was so complex and advanced, it would take years to construct. So, Nintendo waited for the Nintendo Game Cube and started right away. Ever since 2002, the Metroid Prime series has launched a whole franchise, and has appeared on many consoles, including the Nintendo DS, and of course, Wii.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption takes place right after Metoird Prime 2: Echoes, and before that, Metroid Prime: Hunters and Metroid Prime. With that in mind, his game has quite a background of characters and adventures Samus Aran (the character you play) has journeyed. So just for Samus' sake, this game really gave her little more personality than parts of the previous series. Samus' starship also played more of a role in the game then in previous games, giving it also a new look. They have brought back old enemies, changing them slightly by modifying them to fit the story of the game.
Like I mentioned earlier, the Metroid Prime series really has a lot to it, so it's most recent game outta have an interesting story! What I liked a lot about this game was that unlike others, this game revolved around moving to different places and even planets in order to move on with your spaceship. In prior games, you would have the tedious chore of walking through the games immense terrain and constant rooms until you found an elevator to transport you to a different section of the planet. With the ship (and an upgrade for your suit) you may call upon it in certain areas to land, so that you can save and use it to fly. Anyway...back to the story. The characters Samus interacts with are quite important, and there aren't many characters that don't get to have their moment to shine. These characters are usually other bounty hunters and army marines that assist you in your quests. Another amazing thing about the story is it's like a sci-fi movie video game in the sense that you are traveling by spacecraft, battling "aliens" and with using your special space suit, traveling through new and unique environments. It really does give new meaning to "To boldly go where no man has gone before". I wish I could more explain the incredible story behind this game, but I don't want to spoil it for you all, so get the game and see yourself.
Controls for Metroid Prime 3 are just amazing. Probably the best first person shooter controls, ever made. Moving and shooting is a breeze...using your Wii remote to point to the edges of the screen to look up, left, and turn left and right. Feels smooth, and natural. You use the Nunchuck's control stick to walk forward, backward, and sidestep left or right. A asset brought from Metroid Prime is the ability to customize the control scheme. You may either use A to fire and B to jump, or B to fire and A to jump. Though using B to fire and A to jump was more fitting for the Wii remote, I mainly used A to fire for it's ease of firing rapidly and also because I'm used to prior Prime games that use that button combo. You can also switch the Plus and Minus buttons uses for the Scanning Visor, and Hypermode. The Visor switching in this game is about as similar as it could get to Metroid Prime, with the unique Wii remote in mind. While holding down select (which isn't as hard as it might seem) you just easily point to a section of the screen: Center of screen, Combat Visor, left part of screen, Scanning visor, etc. Hypermode is a brand new addition to the game, and has a lot to do with the plot so I won't give it away, but basically what it does is powers you up immensely and doubles or triples the power of your normal attacks and allows you to destroy things that you could never before. But, there is a drawback: each time you use Hypermode one of your energy bars is used up (a quantity of your health) and you have a slight possibility of being corrupted...which will be explained in the game's story. The lock-on feature is kept from prior games except that, instead of having your cursor locked directly at the target, the center of the screen only is "locked on" to the target, allowing you to still orbit around what you are locked onto, but making you aim with your Wii remote to fire. The morph ball is back, too. Pressing C will put you in a third person perspective view as a small ball that you can control with the control stick and go through various puzzles and mazes. They have also stalked up with some new abilities and uses for the morph ball. I must say the following: this game really does feel like a Metroid Prime game controls wise, and once you try it, you'll know what I mean!
The game play is very unique from many other current games for Wii. It's a combo of action and adventure, making you fight many monsters and odd creatures, but also making you make use of your terrain in finding out how to get that certain part on your 3-D map. There are many spots in which I found myself truly stuck in a spot and having to go back and forth until I found out what I was supposed to do next. Usually, when you encounter an enemy, you lock-on to it and start firing rapidly, with occasional charged beam shots and missile firing. Some enemies even require you to change into your morph ball and use a mine to destroy them from a vulnerable spot. One thing I like about the enemies in this game are that, unlike previous usual enemies, these aren't small and annoying. Rather than countless small, annoying enemies that you fight in the beginning of an area and have to defeat again, they have a smaller amount of more difficult enemies which is much better in my opinion. It makes fighting enemies very fun and when you see one you get fired up, quickly transforming a nearby rock in to a spot in which to find cover or hide behind. If you cannot find out about a way to defeat a particular enemy, just scan it with the Scanning Visor! This gives you data to put in your "log book" on the pause screen to view for more information on how to defeat it, what species it is, and where you might find one. You can really scan everything and obtain all sorts of information. Another nice thing about this game is it's very straight forward with many side paths along the way. Meaning, you will always have a way to go, but can either make some side stops for coveted missile expansions and energy cells (upgrades for your health), or any other bonus items that are available. Like I mentioned before, the characters in this game have a lot to do with exactly where you go in your game and determine what missions you must accomplish. Something that really brings them to life is that Nintendo chose to add voices to the text on the screen. The characters actually speak, which makes it a lot more interesting then just text moving on the screen. However, you can still read text aside from listening to their voices if you with to obtain information faster then they can speak it. Another element that new for the Prime series
are the interaction with marines during combat. Often times you are fighting side-by-side your fellow marines and that feels really great. It puts a sense of purpose, and makes you want to protect them as they fight aside you. For you Halo players, this feature should seem very familiar to you.
The graphics are spectacular...undoubtedly the best in the Prime series so far. The amazing realism of the grassy lands, fiery volcanoes, ice peaks and other surreal realms in which are to complex to explain. Another cool addition is that when walking just out of water or through a water fall, droplets of water drip from your visor with accurate realism. When going near radiative enemies, your visor goes static, when going near colder atmospheres your visor gets slightly foggy, and when a flash arises from in front of you, your visor reflects the reflection of your face. The immense outer space in this game is something to look upon, with it's multiple planets and stars. The space ship also looks amazingly real, and Samus herself looks really cool in her sci-fi space suit. The enemies look scary and each have their own unique look which makes them exciting to look at.
The sound is just as great as the graphics. Dynamic sounds that really capture the feel of the obstacle projecting it. The sound of your ship landing, of Samus firing, of water trickling down a rock etc. are all believable and with the combination of graphics, characters talking and controls, you really feel in the game. The one sound factor that I think they lacked was the Wii remote's speaker. They didn't use it and that was disappointing to me. But almost everything else made up for it, sound wise.
The difficulty in this game is something to ponder...because, in a sense, it's easy, yet it is hard. My logic in that is that Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes were much harder (surprisingly) then Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Perhaps it's the controls scheme that makes it easier...maybe the crystal clear, understandable plot...maybe just how hard the enemies are, how difficulty the mazes were to figure out, and the tactics in order to perform these tasks were just an entire degree lower than the previous games. Now remember, I'm not saying this is a easy game (remember me saying "it's easy, yet it is hard"?), I'm simply comparing it to prequels of the series. From an overall standpoint, from a 1-10 rating of how difficult Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is, I would estimate about an 8.2. Setting the difficulty rating for Metroid Prime about 8.8.
Unfortunately, Metroid Prime 3 is such a big game that, they really had no room for a multi-player. However, if you have Wi-Fi, you can send credits that you find throughout the game to your friends and give them special credits that let you unlock bonus content, apps, and tools. It would be nice if they had at least multi-player Wi-Fi, though.
Overall, I would rate this game a 9.4. Amazing game length, gripping storyline, amazing combat. This is a great game to add to your collection especially if you enjoyed The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I do think that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess could both learn something from the other...but that's another story. Also, Metroid Prime 3 does fitfully wear it's T rating for violence and one D word in the beginning of the game, but both defects are minor and are easily looked over to compare with this amazing game!
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