Metroid Prime - BBC review

[Kenshi]

Or it could just be the guys opinion.

I can certainly understand where he is coming from in some respects.

Metroid Prime is a fantastically atmospheric and technicallly accomplished (from a gfx point of view) game, but I personally dont think it deserves the kind of lavish praised that has been heaped upon it.

I guess I had better don my flame retardent suit for daring to not love this game....

[Banana_render]

yes i think the word he was looking for to describe what was it... the game 'falling between two stools' ... was original....he is obviously not very good at playing the game if he has a 'click click bang' aproach.... i mean... a fantastic game and he describes the fighting as 'click click bang', i think he could give it more credit than that. I think i would take more refrence from Edge's review of the game (9 out of 10) rather than this obviously flawed report. The game controlls are obvioulsy going to be hard to get used to if you are used to standard FPS controls.... you wont expect the change.... but once you get used to them you can perform much more spectacular combat than your standard FPS. .... one word to describe this review is 'bull'. I see where you come from in some areas but that doesnt make the game any less to be honest in my opinion but i can understand why other may think differently, but even so i would not bring the game down to the level that Darren Waters has... anyway... ill stop talking now....

[zathras]

Or it could just be the guys opinion.

I can certainly understand where he is coming from in some respects.

Metroid Prime is a fantastically atmospheric and technicallly accomplished (from a gfx point of view) game, but I personally dont think it deserves the kind of lavish praised that has been heaped upon it.

I guess I had better don my flame retardent suit for daring to not love this game....

Phew! I've posted my thoughts in PAL gaming, and I agree with you mate. A bit underwhelmed by it at the moment. For me Half-Life and System Shock 2 did this kind of game better IMHO. Respawning ememies ok, but respawning gun-turrets? Hmmm.

[Treble]

I guess I had better don my flame retardent suit for daring to not love this game....

Heh heh. Don't worry mate - you won't get that on this forum.

[Banana_render]

Hi to all ntsc-uk people from another edge refugee.
Just saw this Metroid Prime review over at BBC. I hope I'm posting it to the right place.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/reviews/2868101.stm

Pretty horrible review, and yet another case of a "games journalist" who and slags off one of the best games of the year because he found it too hard. ft:

Umm, I didn't really like it - I found no reason to continue playing it after about 4-5 hours. If someone put me in charge of writing a review, I wouldn't have scored it very highly.

Does that make me a bad reviewer?

--Ed

yes it does because you have only played it for 5 hours... i would play the full game first

[Kenshi]

Phew! I've posted my thoughts in PAL gaming, and I agree with you mate. A bit underwhelmed by it at the moment. For me Half-Life and System Shock 2 did this kind of game better IMHO. Respawning ememies ok, but respawning gun-turrets? Hmmm.

Exactly. Some of it seems so primitive, which is so jarring given the amount of effort that (successfully) tries to create such a lush atmosphere within the game. System Shock 2 did do the atmosphere thing better, and I distinctly get the impression that Metroid Prime is trying to ape it in some ways.

The combat? Well its just a nuisance really isnt it? Its not particularly challenging or enjoyable, its just something you have to do. Oh look its a hored of space pirates, better hurry up and kill them, so I can get on with my exploration. The AI is terrible (worthy of a 2D SNES game and nothing more).

Still I played it last night, and marvelled at its prettyness and marvelled at the atmosphere. But the mechanics of the game itself? Nothing new, and pretty cliched.

[zathras]

Exactly. Some of it seems so primitive, which is so jarring given the amount of effort that (successfully) tries to create such a lush atmosphere within the game. System Shock 2 did do the atmosphere thing better, and I distinctly get the impression that Metroid Prime is trying to ape it in some ways.

Yes, there are certain platformy bits which are very similar to Half-Life too.

The combat? Well its just a nuisance really isnt it? Its not particularly challenging or enjoyable, its just something you have to do. Oh look its a hored of space pirates, better hurry up and kill them, so I can get on with my exploration. The AI is terrible (worthy of a 2D SNES game and nothing more).

Agreed. There's one bit I've just got to, where you have to work quite hard to defeat some enemies. Now that I can live with. But when I KNOW that as soon as I come back to this area, I have to do it all again, can I really be bothered? This puts me off exploring which is surely what the game should be encouraging.

Still I played it last night, and marvelled at its prettyness and marvelled at the atmosphere. But the mechanics of the game itself? Nothing new, and pretty cliched.

When people describe MP as a 3D update of a SNES game, I see what they mean. Perhaps this is my problem, the graphics are 2003, but the gameplay is dated, kind of a step backwards. Anyway with the risk of sounding like a moaning sod, I'm off to play some more.

[Banana_render]

aww god, im not even gona start on this, slightly ignorent comment on the AI to start with, first thing, half life is a FPS not a platformer/RPG/shooter, please dont compare.... and about the combat its the only game where ive been able to do multi combos on an enemy then roll between its legs plant a bomb and the jump around it ... lets be honest, it is slightly original if u can be bothered to experiment. And you dont have to fight enemys... just roll past if u want. i wouldnt call it that dated, its more of a 2d style structure transfered to a 3d platform, but apart from that, its a gr8 game so lets all shut up lol

[Kenshi]

aww god, im not even gona start on this, slightly ignorent comment on the AI to start with, first thing,

Why is it ignorant? The AI is very basic. The usual attack patterns, minimal responsiveness. Its doing nothing clever at all. Sure its not a crime, but I expected a lot more from a game that has been hyped to hell and back.

half life is a FPS not a platformer/RPG/shooter, please dont compare....

I cant see why someone shouldnt compare. If aspects of one game seem simillar to another, why shouldnt you compare? Or should we just pigeon hole everything into conveniant little boxes (something that you yourself find difficult to do with Prime)? Games seem to be fusing elements from previously distinct genres more and more now, so I think its pretty pointless to try and avoid comparisons. Whats wrong with saying "aspect x of game A is very simillar, but inferior to apect y of game B"?

In this case the comparison was of the platforming bits of Half-Life (clearly not a platformer) with the platform bits of Prime (also clearly not a platformer).

and about the combat its the only game where ive been able to do multi combos on an enemy then roll between its legs plant a bomb and the jump around it ... lets be honest, it is slightly original if u can be bothered to experiment.

Yes the morph ball is pretty cool. But the combat just isnt really doing it for me unfortunately.

And you dont have to fight enemys... just roll past if u want. i wouldnt call it that dated, its more of a 2d style structure transfered to a 3d platform, but apart from that, its a gr8 game so lets all shut up lol

I'd call it dated precisely because it is such a linear transposition of a 2D game to a 3D game. I can see why people like this, but again I've come to expect more from games that get the kind of rave reviews and critical acclaim that Metroid Prime has.

[vertigo]

And you dont have to fight enemys... just roll past if u want. i wouldnt call it that dated, its more of a 2d style structure transfered to a 3d platform, but apart from that, its a gr8 game so lets all shut up lol

Yes, actually, you do. I'm up around the 80% mark and find that nearly all the major locations in the game contain Chozo Ghosts that must be killed before you can do anything in the room because the doors are locked or you simply can't do the jumping or task to reach the exit while being shot at so much. When I get to one of these rooms and the music fades and screen darkens I just think oh god not again. Apart from this, I'm very much enjoying the game, I'm not bothered about minor enemy respawning apart from in the research areas because of the number of times you have to go back through there, but it's a new Metroid game, not anything else. So many people banged on about wanting a new Metroid game on the N64, now you have one and it's pretty much an excellent take on the Metroid universe, and now there's whining about respawning enemies and too much backtracking and can't be arsed to go here or there yet again after a few hours play. Why? Metroid has always done this since the first one, what more do you want? It's Metroid in 3D. It does exactly what it says on the box.

[Kenshi]

...but it's a new Metroid game, not anything else. So many people banged on about wanting a new Metroid game on the N64, now you have one and it's pretty much an excellent take on the Metroid universe, and now there's whining about respawning enemies and too much backtracking and can't be arsed to go here or there yet again after a few hours play. Why? Metroid has always done this since the first one, what more do you want? It's Metroid in 3D. It does exactly what it says on the box.

Fair comment. Prime and Fusion are my first Metroid games. But what I see and accept on Fusion (respawning enemies), I see too closely matched on Prime (albeit in 3D). I just think gaming should have moved on from replicating 2D experiences in 3D.

My $0.02. I certainly dont think Prime is a bad game, I just dont think it is the GREAT game that just about every review I seen of it paints it to be.

[scottcr]

So many people banged on about wanting a new Metroid game on the N64, now you have one and it's pretty much an excellent take on the Metroid universe, and now there's whining about respawning enemies and too much backtracking and can't be arsed to go here or there yet again after a few hours play. Why? Metroid has always done this since the first one, what more do you want? It's Metroid in 3D. It does exactly what it says on the box.

Exactly... I get the impression that the folks who complain about this stuff have never played a Metroid game. I just managed to get Metroid Fusion completed the day before I picked up Prime and the impression is... Prime is a perfect rendition of 2D Metroid gameplay in a 3D universe and I love it. Right down to the save points... and the platforming. I've never played a 3D game where the jumping is so intuitive. Jumping spoiled parts of Half Life for me, whereas in MP, it works perfectly...

Why is it that people are more forgiving of this stuff in a 2D game than they are in a 3D game? Re-spawning enemies? Well.. that's part of the Metroid gameplay mechanic. Once you power up, you *don't* need to kill the basts on the way all the time... you become more powerful and can quickly zoom through rooms with no regards for the enemies firing at you... this is part of the power of Samus.

Just played about 18% of it so far and my jaw unhinged. It's fantastic.... and as Edge said, the most accomplised update of a 2D game since Mario and Zelda.

[vertigo]

I get the impression that the folks who complain about this stuff have never played a Metroid game.

My thoughts exactly. In fact when some people have asked me if Prime's any good, I've always recommended they play Metroid 3 first if they haven't already. If Prime is your first Metroid game, I think there's a few things about the game that you just won't get, why it's constructed like that being the main one. If you go into the game expecting a FPS that roughly follows a level-by-level structure, it probably won't do much for you, but if you understand the premise behind Metroid, it'll click a lot more and make more sense.
Fusion's in it's own boat, it tried something a bit different, but I thought it was too heavily directed. Maybe it was meant to be more of an introductory companion so that Prime would be better understoon. It also had a bug in it that blocked off one last item at the end of the game even though all the doors were supposed to unlock upon completion, so I'm now stuck on a 99% save with no desire to play the game through again. ft:

[scottcr]

Fusion's in it's own boat, it tried something a bit different, but I thought it was too heavily directed.

Actually.. I quite liked the direction you had in MF. It worked well within the pickup and play requirements of a GBA game. Super Metroid can sometimes feel a bit too open ended.

In MP, with the hint system on, it gives you an idea of where you need to be heading towards (but you don't *have* to go this way if you don't want to), and I reckon this strikes a balance.

Either way, all are great games. I remember at the time of the US release, people were trying to stress that MP is not an FPS and shouldn't be compared to any other FPS, and I completely agree. It's a 3D first person platform adventure. Jumping from platform to platform is intuitive. As a result of the lock on feature, enemies are faster are more evasive.... and the bosses look fantastic.

[vertigo]

In MP, with the hint system on, it gives you an idea of where you need to be heading towards (but you don't *have* to go this way if you don't want to), and I reckon this strikes a balance.

That's one of the reasons I rate MP over MF, because it gives you a hint as to activity there, but it doesn't block everything else off, so you can think hmm ok, I'll go there later, but first I'll use my newly acquired Wave Buster to see what's behind those purple doors...
MF just said you WILL go here, you WILL do that, and while it did let you roam off a bit, I thought it was a bit too forceful. Not to mention that stupid bug, again.