Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

[mr_sockochris]

Done about 6 hours on this today and I?m absolutely loving it. The first thing you notice as soon as you start is how much more effort has gone into the cutscenes. It is far more action packed, there?s plenty of voice acting and there are a great deal more cinematics than ever before.

The biggest difference here from the GC versions is obviously the controls and I?m pleased to say they are wonderful. If every First Person game could control this well the Wii could have some killer FPS?s. The aiming feels so right, especially when you change to the slightly ?looser? advanced mode. Shooting can be mapped to either A or B (the default is A ? Shoot, B ? Jump) but I just left it as it is and am happy with it. Swapping visors is done well, you simply hold the minus button and flick the remote in the direction you want.

The stick moves Samus, the Z button does the lock on just like the L trigger in the GC games while the C button turns you into the morph ball. The nunchuck is also used for the grapple beam commands, whether its in combat, for swinging across giant gaps or pulling away debris blocking a path. Beams now stack like Super Metroid so there?s no beam switching in this one, but after 2 games of it this is no big loss as it gives the game a different feel.

Infact, the game itself feels a lot more different from Prime than Echoes did. The game now takes place on multiple planets which you can fly between. It still essentially works like one big game world but having your ship means you?re not backtracking for miles on foot. There?s still plenty of backtracking and exploring, it?s just made less repetitive given then more focused level design that generally contains itself within one planet rather than having you go from one environment to another and back again like Prime/Echoes did. The ship actually plays an active part in the gameplay too as you can call in air strikes on certain targets to help clear blocked paths.

I don?t really want to say much more as Metroid is something that needs to be discovered personally but needless to say I?ve come across some great power ups, some huge boss fights and some absolutely stunning level design. Seriously, if there?s one thing that this does better than any other Metroid it?s the imagination when it comes to the environments. Everything looks so alien it?s a joy to behold, especially when you activate a switch or destroy a wall and you see all this alien architecture animate infront of you.

Ok, now back to playing some more....

[Rossco]

Sounds ace man, glad to hear the enviroments are top notch again, always something that made Metroid such a joy of a game.

With Bioshock one week and this the next, we really have been treated well!

Roll on Monday for me.

[arcnas]

well 3 hours in and its already the best thing ive played this year so far, ive always liked metroid and it all feels very samey apart from controlls, fantastic

[jimtendo]

I've only put about 2 hours into this now (just got up to the bit where most of the E3 demo is shown) and so far finding this good.

Though aiming is a bit of a sore spot with me, since sometimes i lose track of the aiming (usually when panning sideways) and have to wave the remote back on screen to align it again.

Also i thought the standard sensitivity (there's only 3 settings for this: beginner/ intermediate/ advanced) was a little bit on the slow side, so i changed to advanced... which was too twitchy for me :/
so back to intermediate then.

Other than that, it's been fine.
Apart from trying to scan in the heat of the moment, when i always forget to hold the - button and select scan... i'm just sooo used to the NGC version ;p

[MattyD]

The ship actually plays an active part in the gameplay too as you can call in air strikes on certain targets to help clear blocked paths.

Ooooh lawdy! Do you get to do this in combat at all?

[mr_sockochris]

Kind of. It's not something you can do at will, you have to go into the ship visor mode and scan an icon to activate it so if there isn't an icon to scan it can't be used but at least a couple of times so far I have been caught in a big battle and I went into the ship visor mode and there just so happened to be an icon to activate it so I managed to clear them all with a giant air strike Mainly it's used for destroying huge iron gates or taking out shield generators, but I'm sure it has other uses I've yet to discover. When I think about it, I do remember finding a missile upgrade for my ship increasing my capacity from 3 to 4 so maybe it can be used more often than I think....

[MattyD]

I think I'm about to mess my pants. Hurry up, Canadian / UK postal services!

[Fargo]

What are the environments like, have they returned to the more organic style of the original prime or are more like the environments from echoes?

[bootmonster]

Only had the chance to play this for about an hour or so last night, it is very smooth and the controls do feel a lot better than I thought they might. It is a lovely looking game too, I don't know why some reviews have dissed the graphics?!

Gonna get into this properly over the weekend, but it is definitely more familiar if you have played Hunters than the two GC games. Online multiplayer is a missed opportunity though

[mr_sockochris]

What are the environments like, have they returned to the more organic style of the original prime or are more like the environments from echoes?

There's a bit of everything but its certainly more organic than Echoes was. I just found this secret area and lets just say it really reminded me of Prime 1 Of all 3 games this is definitely the most 'alien' looking of the bunch, some of it is just plain weird. It's amazing what imagination the guys at Retro have

[briareos_kerensky]

Had my first three hours with it today...oh wow, felt like playing Prime for the first time years ago, probably even more intense.
The way you start the game is absolutely brilliant and the willingness to give the whole universe more substance is very intriguing. I've only done with the first part of the first planet but exploration and puzzles are there, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the game.
Controls are sharp, though they require a bit of learning...waiting for Corruption I finished Prime and Prime 2 (the first left due to Meta Ridley) and locking, for example works in a different way (at least in advanced mode): it locks onto the enemy and your point of view, allowing strafing and precise, straight jumps, but you still have control of the targeting reticule, meaning that you can miss shots if you don't keep everything lined up. Some times I found myself hitting down on the d-pad to access the scan visor or hitting multiple times B to shoot, but it's nothing time will cure.

Wrong sides: oh so many upgrades early in the game! Energy Tanks should be sought as the most precious treasures in the game and there you have some of them lying around during the very first map. I haven't also like that falling into bottomless pits only removes two energy units.
Fighting feels alright, fights with Pirates are good but bosses felt a bit too easy right now.
I guess I'll give veteran a shoot to see which feels more challenging.

Graphics are wonderful, something that the GC could only dream, even if polygonal count is not on par with other nextgen consoles.
The first two maps are a bit plain (hypertechnological stuff is getting boring), the first alien planet is simply magnificent, with its tall buildings, winding paths and rails, pits and open areas.

[mr_sockochris]

Wrong sides: oh so many upgrades early in the game! Energy Tanks should be sought as the most precious treasures in the game and there you have some of them lying around during the very first map. I haven't also like that falling into bottomless pits only removes two energy units.

In its defence, Hyper Mode drains health like nobodies business so you NEED a few to begin with more than any other Metroid game. I'm at about 9hrs now and I only have 6, maybe 7 tanks which is about normal

[Kotatsu Neko]

Got my copy today and am loving it so far. Amazing production values and genuinely impressive visuals, particularly in terms of art design and animation. The very Halo-ish intro is interesting as it really shows just how important great art direction really is, and how absolutely atrocious Halo's art is.

And the controls are fantastic. Truly the best FPS controls anywhere outside of a PC.

[Synthesthesia]

Got my copy today and am loving it so far. Amazing production values and genuinely impressive visuals, particularly in terms of art design and animation. The very Halo-ish intro is interesting as it really shows just how important great art direction really is, and how absolutely atrocious Halo's art is.

And the controls are fantastic. Truly the best FPS controls anywhere outside of a PC.

Standard shipping or registered (fedex etc?)

Hoping to get this in the morning if i'm lucky!

[Kotatsu Neko]

DHL Express.

And the more I see of this the more impressed I am. I can see where all the time went in development, this thing just glows with quality. It's a huge leap over the previous Metroid Primes in production values and really has the feel of a massive event game.

I love the controls too, and how Retro have clearly been so confident in them as to use precise aiming, gestures, and real 3D movement throughout the game. No baby steps here, they were straight in at the deep end and it all works wonderfully.