I felt like Federation Force was one of those games I had to play online before the 3DS shut down, because its reputation among Metroid fans intrigued me. It was tough since everyone I asked to play it with wasn't interested, couldn't do it, didn't have the time, or straight up flaked out. It's mostly understandable, but it still hurts my feelings. Fortunately for me, rito and some strangers online were crazy enough to join me so that I could experience the game as it was intended.
Yeah, you can definitely tell Nintendo dropped this to shut up the Metroid fans. I wanted to like this game because the concept of a 4 player Metroid is interesting, but instead it feels half-assed. If you want to be put to sleep, play this game's missions and you'll be knocked out. Nothing cool ever happens. You just get dropped into a planet, do some lame puzzles, shoot some shit and watch boring cutscenes. The shooting doesn't fare much better. The stiff controls and weird aiming (which is something you shouldn't have in a first-person shooter) just makes the experience more dull than it needs to be, and I probably would have been more lenient to Federation Force if the shooting aspect was fun and moving didn't feel like your suit was filled with fuckin' cement. The game isn't worth playing for $40, let alone zero.
Yeah, you can definitely tell Nintendo dropped this to shut up the Metroid fans. I wanted to like this game because the concept of a 4 player Metroid is interesting, but instead it feels half-assed. If you want to be put to sleep, play this game's missions and you'll be knocked out. Nothing cool ever happens. You just get dropped into a planet, do some lame puzzles, shoot some shit and watch boring cutscenes. The shooting doesn't fare much better. The stiff controls and weird aiming (which is something you shouldn't have in a first-person shooter) just makes the experience more dull than it needs to be, and I probably would have been more lenient to Federation Force if the shooting aspect was fun and moving didn't feel like your suit was filled with fuckin' cement. The game isn't worth playing for $40, let alone zero.
Not really sure what possessed me to play Metroid Prime: Federation Force in 2022 other than morbid curiosity but wow, I really tried to go into this with an open mind and it is simply fucking dull. Without a doubt the worst Metroid game I've played. Other M was at least really interesting in the myriad ways it was bad and the twitchy action could be fun at times even taking into account the boneheaded decision to map everything to the sideways Wiimote.
This game takes the worst aspect of the original Metroid Prime games, the combat, and just sort of slaps it into a mission based, exploration-less, progression-less action shooter. I will say that I played this solo (as if any of my friends were buying a copy of Federation Force in 2022, lol), which I'm sure does take some enjoyment out of an experience that is clearly focused on co-op, but the way that the game is designed I don't feel like I missed much. Even Metroid Prime Hunters had the sense to give each character their own flair, in this game, you and anyone you might somehow manage to get to play with you get the basic beam/charge beam/missiles and a couple of other extremely throwaway elemental shot types to take on a grand total of around 5 basic enemy types and the occasional boss or miniboss. The level design doesn't even make for interesting shooting arenas, oftentimes enemies will be given all sorts of elevated terrain to leap around on that your stumpy jump can't reach, restricting you to a flat featureless plane on the ground to circle strafe in.
The blocky, chibi character designs obliterate any sense of atmosphere the game might try to build, though the bland, C-rate movie soundtrack was already doing a good enough job of that on its own. The final boss fight with Samus might be a bigger offense to her character even than Other M, where you get to see her brainwashed, hit with a growth ray that hilariously has been one of the main focuses of the bone dry, vapid plot up to this point, and then slowly, aimlessly roll around as a giant morph ball for 15 minutes as you try and take potshots at her with your dinky normal beam because anything else is not going to be accurate enough to hit her weak spot.
I kind of was hoping to come away with this having found a hidden gem, because I love Next Level Games. Every other game they've made has been at the very least "quite good" and Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of my favorite Switch games. Between Luigi, Punch-Out, and Mario Strikers, they seem to be genuinely passionate about the projects they choose to take on. I'm shocked so see how wrong it all went here and how soulless this entire project feels. Glad to see both Next Level and the Metroid series in a much better place now.
...If Stylux is really the main antagonist of Prime 4 hoo boy Retro is going to have to pull off a miracle to make me give a shit about what's going on with him
This game takes the worst aspect of the original Metroid Prime games, the combat, and just sort of slaps it into a mission based, exploration-less, progression-less action shooter. I will say that I played this solo (as if any of my friends were buying a copy of Federation Force in 2022, lol), which I'm sure does take some enjoyment out of an experience that is clearly focused on co-op, but the way that the game is designed I don't feel like I missed much. Even Metroid Prime Hunters had the sense to give each character their own flair, in this game, you and anyone you might somehow manage to get to play with you get the basic beam/charge beam/missiles and a couple of other extremely throwaway elemental shot types to take on a grand total of around 5 basic enemy types and the occasional boss or miniboss. The level design doesn't even make for interesting shooting arenas, oftentimes enemies will be given all sorts of elevated terrain to leap around on that your stumpy jump can't reach, restricting you to a flat featureless plane on the ground to circle strafe in.
The blocky, chibi character designs obliterate any sense of atmosphere the game might try to build, though the bland, C-rate movie soundtrack was already doing a good enough job of that on its own. The final boss fight with Samus might be a bigger offense to her character even than Other M, where you get to see her brainwashed, hit with a growth ray that hilariously has been one of the main focuses of the bone dry, vapid plot up to this point, and then slowly, aimlessly roll around as a giant morph ball for 15 minutes as you try and take potshots at her with your dinky normal beam because anything else is not going to be accurate enough to hit her weak spot.
I kind of was hoping to come away with this having found a hidden gem, because I love Next Level Games. Every other game they've made has been at the very least "quite good" and Luigi's Mansion 3 is one of my favorite Switch games. Between Luigi, Punch-Out, and Mario Strikers, they seem to be genuinely passionate about the projects they choose to take on. I'm shocked so see how wrong it all went here and how soulless this entire project feels. Glad to see both Next Level and the Metroid series in a much better place now.
...If Stylux is really the main antagonist of Prime 4 hoo boy Retro is going to have to pull off a miracle to make me give a shit about what's going on with him
Bro this game is literally impossible to complete 1 player. I went online and found ONE DUDE who could play with me and we still couldn't beat it
I liked the part where John Federation Force said "It's Forcin Time!" and Federation Forced all over those guys
I played, 1 mission and 1 blast ball game. This was enough for me to understand what I'm getting into here.
Metroid prime as a series I have issues with because it tries too hard to be Nintendos FPS series, their version of the Halos and CODs.
I hate this, I'm not a fan of FPS games in general I never have been.
I love metroid, as I love metroidvanias. I want to explore, I want freedom and non linearity. I don't want mission based levels, first person shooter combat, and way points.
I apologize to prime 3 as I quickly referred to it as the worst metroid game.
This is in fact the absolute worst metroid game. Prime 3 gets second worst :3
Move over metroid style savvy is my new favorite Nintendo series.
Metroid prime as a series I have issues with because it tries too hard to be Nintendos FPS series, their version of the Halos and CODs.
I hate this, I'm not a fan of FPS games in general I never have been.
I love metroid, as I love metroidvanias. I want to explore, I want freedom and non linearity. I don't want mission based levels, first person shooter combat, and way points.
I apologize to prime 3 as I quickly referred to it as the worst metroid game.
This is in fact the absolute worst metroid game. Prime 3 gets second worst :3
Move over metroid style savvy is my new favorite Nintendo series.
Saturday Morning Metroid.
It is absolutely overhated because of the timing of its release when the last game in 6 years was the godawful Metroid Other M. The game itself is okay, it's a mission based coop first person shooter on the 3DS so for what it's worth, it controls pretty well for the platform it's on. It has a lot of sphere based puzzles that often require you to push a ball toward its goal by shooting at it. Do not go in expect it to play like Metroid Prime or even Prime Hunters.
You're not missing much forgoing this game, but I don't think it deserves the hate it got. For what it's worth, it could be a fun game for four players but good luck finding anyone else wanting to play it.
It is absolutely overhated because of the timing of its release when the last game in 6 years was the godawful Metroid Other M. The game itself is okay, it's a mission based coop first person shooter on the 3DS so for what it's worth, it controls pretty well for the platform it's on. It has a lot of sphere based puzzles that often require you to push a ball toward its goal by shooting at it. Do not go in expect it to play like Metroid Prime or even Prime Hunters.
You're not missing much forgoing this game, but I don't think it deserves the hate it got. For what it's worth, it could be a fun game for four players but good luck finding anyone else wanting to play it.
This game is really fucking good and cool
This is one of the most cynical Nintendo games I've ever played in my life. It's like they thought people who like FPS games were just brainless fucks with no comprehension of fun or challenge. I'm glad nintendo scrapped Metroid Prime 4 and just let Retro make it because imagine the game we couldve got if nintendo handled it themselves. Holy shit
overhated for sure, can be fun if you have someone else with you although it can be dull in single player
Sacar esto después de Other M es tenerlos muy bien puestos. Respect.
Definitely not a Metroid game. If released on a console that was comfortable to play FPS's on I could see myself playing it casually for a bit more. However, both control options on the 3DS are a chore to play, if not downright uncomfortable. It is just an odd little blip on a brilliant franchise.
mid af bro but i kinda had fun which is fucked up
Claramente, o jogo foi criado pensando no modo cooperativo, e isso fica perceptível jogando em campanha solo. Há muitos inimigos na tela, o que acaba estendendo as fases e deixando tudo arrastado e entediante. Chefes, que poderiam ser derrotados facilmente com um amigo, se tornam dolorosos jogando sozinho.
It's really not bad, but Federation Force definitely wasn't what this series needed at the time. Give it a fair chance if you have a few buddies to play it with.
It's just kinda... there? I didn't not have fun playing, but it also drained me.
I'll say, though, the Federation Force trying to justify its own existence until space pirates would show up was pretty funny. They were made to fight space pirates just for there to be no space pirates to fight for the first few missions, so they end up doing random crap any other bounty hunter can do.
I'll say, though, the Federation Force trying to justify its own existence until space pirates would show up was pretty funny. They were made to fight space pirates just for there to be no space pirates to fight for the first few missions, so they end up doing random crap any other bounty hunter can do.
Wow! This, uh...
This isn't fun.
This isn't fun.
Rofl.
I'm not interested in whether or not this is "a metroid game." I had lots of fun playing through this with my best friend, and that's all that matters to me. The controls are better than MP:H, the mission system is bite sized for the platform, but still feels Prime-esue, and its fucking fun.
The game literally no one asked for, UNLESS it wasn't ridiculously looking as this.
I couldn’t finish this one, I’m sorry. I played this not too long after Prime Hunters, and I just couldn’t get through another game around as bad as that one. Granted, this time it was for totally different reasons; it controls worlds better, it doesn’t cause me physical pain, and its enemies aren’t quite as repetitive. It’s just that this game bored me almost to tears. I got through the first five missions and realized how little fun I was having, and that made me realize I don’t care enough to finish it. I really tried, but I have too much self-respect to continue playing.
Having not completed the game, I can’t comment in detail on most of it. Judging by what I was able to find online, I didn’t even get through a third, and the thought of playing more than three times as much as what I’ve already played makes me a bit sick. Having said that, I’ll go over what I disliked so much about the parts I did play.
The biggest problem with this game is its steadfast refusal to do anything interesting whatsoever without shooting itself in the foot. There’s a bit where you have to lure some giant monsters into cages, but they have finicky AI and it’s really irritating. The game rewards you for completing missions quickly, but it’s nigh-on impossible to do so on your first go round while also completing the bonus objective and scoring enough points for the completion time bonus to actually earn you an extra badge. There’s no way in HELL I’m replaying any of these missions, so the idea of going back to try for a better score is a bit moot. The game has a loadout system, but it rarely matters much what you take at the start because everything you need is obtainable in the level itself. There’s a perk system, but one of your perks is pretty much always taken up by the “extra stats if you’re solo” badge, the second slot didn’t feel especially impactful on its own, and the third slot isn’t obtained until incredibly late in the game, at least on a solo playthrough.
The combat here is just boring. It’s mostly the same as the console Prime games, without any of the interesting enemy design those games occasionally have, and without the atmosphere, exploration, and navigation that makes those games enjoyable in spite of their basic ass combat. It’s not even a particularly well-presented game, with a flat, generic chibi visual style, and a forgettable soundtrack.
Exploration is pretty much nonexistent thanks to the generous map and mission-based structure of the game. You don’t collect powerups that meaningfully change how you play as you go through the game. The world structure is as simple as it gets, and level design is super linear for the most part, with nary a shortcut to speak of.
It’s true this game is designed around co-op, but a game designed for multiple players that’s not even slightly fun when played solo isn’t a game worth playing co-op. Eventually it’ll become much harder to play co-op once online features become unavailable, so this point will also be rendered moot in time.
There’s just not much to say about this game other than that it sucks, and you probably shouldn’t bother with it. It does nothing notably right, lacks the Metroid series staples that even Hunters didn’t completely butcher, and is overall just kind of a worthless game. If it weren’t a Metroid game, I would feel the same about it, but the fact that resources were wasted on this instead of an actually interesting Metroid title stings a little extra. I don’t care at this point whether it’s better or worse than Hunters, all I know is I’m just too bored by it to even finish it, which is the most damning criticism I can give.
Having not completed the game, I can’t comment in detail on most of it. Judging by what I was able to find online, I didn’t even get through a third, and the thought of playing more than three times as much as what I’ve already played makes me a bit sick. Having said that, I’ll go over what I disliked so much about the parts I did play.
The biggest problem with this game is its steadfast refusal to do anything interesting whatsoever without shooting itself in the foot. There’s a bit where you have to lure some giant monsters into cages, but they have finicky AI and it’s really irritating. The game rewards you for completing missions quickly, but it’s nigh-on impossible to do so on your first go round while also completing the bonus objective and scoring enough points for the completion time bonus to actually earn you an extra badge. There’s no way in HELL I’m replaying any of these missions, so the idea of going back to try for a better score is a bit moot. The game has a loadout system, but it rarely matters much what you take at the start because everything you need is obtainable in the level itself. There’s a perk system, but one of your perks is pretty much always taken up by the “extra stats if you’re solo” badge, the second slot didn’t feel especially impactful on its own, and the third slot isn’t obtained until incredibly late in the game, at least on a solo playthrough.
The combat here is just boring. It’s mostly the same as the console Prime games, without any of the interesting enemy design those games occasionally have, and without the atmosphere, exploration, and navigation that makes those games enjoyable in spite of their basic ass combat. It’s not even a particularly well-presented game, with a flat, generic chibi visual style, and a forgettable soundtrack.
Exploration is pretty much nonexistent thanks to the generous map and mission-based structure of the game. You don’t collect powerups that meaningfully change how you play as you go through the game. The world structure is as simple as it gets, and level design is super linear for the most part, with nary a shortcut to speak of.
It’s true this game is designed around co-op, but a game designed for multiple players that’s not even slightly fun when played solo isn’t a game worth playing co-op. Eventually it’ll become much harder to play co-op once online features become unavailable, so this point will also be rendered moot in time.
There’s just not much to say about this game other than that it sucks, and you probably shouldn’t bother with it. It does nothing notably right, lacks the Metroid series staples that even Hunters didn’t completely butcher, and is overall just kind of a worthless game. If it weren’t a Metroid game, I would feel the same about it, but the fact that resources were wasted on this instead of an actually interesting Metroid title stings a little extra. I don’t care at this point whether it’s better or worse than Hunters, all I know is I’m just too bored by it to even finish it, which is the most damning criticism I can give.
blunder of the century
there's just not much to this game for me. it controls pretty weirdly, the missions are at their best okay and at their worst really tedious and unfun. it doesn't help that it's all we got from metroid after a pretty hefty hiatus but I don't agree with the "if it was a new IP/not metroid it would be regarded better!" sentiment I've seen because I think it's just a straight up boring and not very good fps game. not the worst thing in the world and most games are fine with friends but absolutely nothing to write home about.
After 7 years, Nintendo comes back with an spin-off title, rather a proper title, slapped "Metroid Prime" on it, only to appeal for a younger audience, but they failed horribly. Gameplay is decent, though. Blast Ball is a no-go for me.
not offensively bad or especially good in any way.
This was the first Metroid game that came out after being a metroid fan
I've waited 6 years for a new game
And we got rocket fucking league for the 3ds
I've waited 6 years for a new game
And we got rocket fucking league for the 3ds
game gets too much flack it's a fun co op shooter
This game is actually much better than I expected it to be, but the heavy focus on multiplayer, time of release, and the awkward control schemes were really a perfect storm for this game to be abandoned on release. I could see a follow-up to this doing much better on switch, but unfortunately I don't think we'll see one.
this game has the worst gyro controls known to man
they ruined metroid
(Review from Nov 2021 of the multiplayer portion) Surprisingly much better than I expected. Some of the stages are really well done, and there’s a decent incentive to replay some stages to get better scores and medals. I was able to play with two other people with Amiibo suits so it was probably the ideal setup, I’d be curious how good this is in Solo mode. The Phantom stage is so bad that I will actively not play it again, but the others I might dip into again and see how they are.