THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE WII VERSION PLAYED ON WII U
You know what, i'm just gonna come out and say it: Metroid had a rough transition to 3D. Everyone always regards Metroid Prime as one of the best Metroid games and it kickstarted a whole debate over which style of Metroid is better. But honestly, Metroid Prime is just a rough game that tried too hard to just be Super Metroid but in 3D (which granted, there wasn't really any other reference at the time).
To start with the positives, i do think this game is an alright first attempt at what it was trying to do. Rough, but there was legitimate potential. And early on, the game is actually pretty good. Combat is nice, the game manages to achieve the same atmosphere that Super had and it was generally really nice to see Samus' missions from the first person perspective. I really liked scanning those logbooks and getting the story and worldbuilding through a non-traditional way (pour one out for those poor Space Pirates who attempted to replicate Morph Ball technology only to be met with fatal results). Oh and the Wii motion controls actually worked really well. Very nice.
But i played through the game more and more, the cracks started to show and where it's most apparent is in it's backtracking. Backtracking is a Metroid staple but in the 2D games, it was fine because you move through the areas pretty fast. But my God, if you're gonna make me backtrack in an FPS, either give me teleport stations or don't make me move slow as shit. Why is backtracking in an FPS even a thing? This is particularly at it's worst during the Phazon Mines (worst area in the game btw) where you have to backtrack like three different times to like three different areas. And to make matters worse, once all is said and done, once you've gotten every major upgrade, you still have to backtrack to get 12 pointless mcguffins in order to let you access the final area. I wasn't gonna do that btw, i just went and downloaded an 100% save cause lol. It also just doesn't help that this game is trying too much to be Super Metroid but in 3D. Super Metroid is already the weakest of the 2D Metroids but at least Super Metroid played really nice and really only had the "what the hell do i do now" moments that drag it down. Metroid Prime has those same moments plus tedious backtracking and quite honestly boring bosses. Never seen a Metroid game drop the ball on it's bosses like this before.
It's honestly a shame cause like i said earlier, Metroid Prime does start out strong. It just sorta, falls apart the more you play and while i have more Metroid games i have yet to play, i can say, as of this review, that this has been my least favorite Metroid experience so far.
See you next mission.
You know what, i'm just gonna come out and say it: Metroid had a rough transition to 3D. Everyone always regards Metroid Prime as one of the best Metroid games and it kickstarted a whole debate over which style of Metroid is better. But honestly, Metroid Prime is just a rough game that tried too hard to just be Super Metroid but in 3D (which granted, there wasn't really any other reference at the time).
To start with the positives, i do think this game is an alright first attempt at what it was trying to do. Rough, but there was legitimate potential. And early on, the game is actually pretty good. Combat is nice, the game manages to achieve the same atmosphere that Super had and it was generally really nice to see Samus' missions from the first person perspective. I really liked scanning those logbooks and getting the story and worldbuilding through a non-traditional way (pour one out for those poor Space Pirates who attempted to replicate Morph Ball technology only to be met with fatal results). Oh and the Wii motion controls actually worked really well. Very nice.
But i played through the game more and more, the cracks started to show and where it's most apparent is in it's backtracking. Backtracking is a Metroid staple but in the 2D games, it was fine because you move through the areas pretty fast. But my God, if you're gonna make me backtrack in an FPS, either give me teleport stations or don't make me move slow as shit. Why is backtracking in an FPS even a thing? This is particularly at it's worst during the Phazon Mines (worst area in the game btw) where you have to backtrack like three different times to like three different areas. And to make matters worse, once all is said and done, once you've gotten every major upgrade, you still have to backtrack to get 12 pointless mcguffins in order to let you access the final area. I wasn't gonna do that btw, i just went and downloaded an 100% save cause lol. It also just doesn't help that this game is trying too much to be Super Metroid but in 3D. Super Metroid is already the weakest of the 2D Metroids but at least Super Metroid played really nice and really only had the "what the hell do i do now" moments that drag it down. Metroid Prime has those same moments plus tedious backtracking and quite honestly boring bosses. Never seen a Metroid game drop the ball on it's bosses like this before.
It's honestly a shame cause like i said earlier, Metroid Prime does start out strong. It just sorta, falls apart the more you play and while i have more Metroid games i have yet to play, i can say, as of this review, that this has been my least favorite Metroid experience so far.
See you next mission.
averypaledog
2 years ago