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| Source // MobyGames |
The Metroid Prime trilogy wouldn't be complete without a thir- what do you mean there's going to be a Metroid Prime 4?
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was, by most accounts I've read, crying out for a sequel to fix its problems. I didn't know it had any, other than the usual iffy controls that I wasn't used to - despite having played Metroid Prime where, for some reason, I felt like a kid again.
From what I saw in the first two games, I was interested. Perhaps not in the story or the characters, but in how the games felt to actually play. At some point, I'm sure I'd get back to them for a little more gaming, but now there's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and if I want to conclude the trilo- continue the story, then I'm going to have to strap on this Wiimote.
Ugh.
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
Fun Times
I've got Corruption for the Wii, so I'm able to faff about with these new-fangled motion controls first hand, and let me say that it's a very good thing that they start your story off in the safety of your spaceship.
I think maybe what appeals to me about the Metroid Prime games is that they don't look like they come from Nintendo. They're not grimdark or hard science fiction looking titles, but they're not bright and colourful Mario games, either. They're for a bit of a more mature audience - not ridiculously so, but just enough for me to be on board with, and when I'm sat in a ship and can swing my view around and, eventually, try to extend my arm and interact with the controls, you've got my attention.
It's a really simple gimmick to immerse a player into a first-person game, but you've got motion controls, why wouldn't you? The absolute best thing that has happened to No Man's Sky, as an aside, was VR support. I'd be playing that so much if it weren't for the bloody base building and the motion sickness, and, actually, the funny ship controls when using the move controllers. Anyway, I'm rambling.
Samus is in space for reasons unknown, presumably related to the previous entries to the series that I've not finished and know nothing about. Do we need to know the events of the last game here?
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| Source // MobyGames |
From what little I gather, a space virus has infected the space Internet and these mercenaries - ourselves included - are tasked with stopping it. Bit weird, but I will admit to not following along with the story already by this point.
Most of my time was spent trying to control Samus, not follow along. My notes read "the controls are pretty God awful, but I must commend them for trying." I think that's probably a bit harsh, and is more indicative of my first Bambi-like steps through the ship, trying to get my bearings.
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| Source // MobyGames |
At this stage in the series, I should be a mercenary skilled in all kinds of activities. Walking shouldn't be a problem, but thanks to the Wiimote and nunchuck set up, it can be. You point the Wiimote at whatever is interesting, press the appropriate buttons to either shoot or interact with it, and hopefully, you'll succeed at whatever it is you intended to do.
Again, however, I've written that interacting with some things, especially levers and whatnot that require you to push or pull something, are more of a hassle than they should be. I even wrote down that it just looks wrong, because my right arm reaches out to pull at a lever, and Samus' left reaches out to perform the action. It was a few sentences later that I remembered she had a ruddy great big gun on her right arm preventing her from using it like I was able to use mine...
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
Frustrations
We get to use that gun arm as some space pirates or something come and steal something from us. It is here where we get to see how well the Wii can provide for first-person shooters with its pointer, compared to the dual-analogue setup of competing consoles. I've seen some reviews say you'll never want to go back to an analogue stick, but my notes say that the Z-targeting half works and that I was frustrated when it wouldn't.
If an enemy is in sight and somewhere near your pointer, you can lock your camera onto it and follow it for an easier time of shooting at it. It sounds great. It just didn't feel it. I never got the impression that this was the best way to control an FPS, just that this was how Corruption is going to work, you better be on board with it. Get used to it.
Could you get used to it? Yeah, of course. Everything comes together with a bit of practice. Did I want to get used to it? Ehhh...
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| Source // MobyGames |
After turning into a morph ball and flushing ourselves out of an airlock, Corruption was looking like it offered much more of what fans of the series would be used to, and as I followed along with what I was supposed to do and where I was meant to be, I encountered the almighty huge first boss you're thrown up against.
Sadly I've no screenshots of it, but I am amazed that the Berserker Lord went down before I did. It wasn't a pretty fight - I've got an awful lot of practice with these controls if I want to get anywhere in this game - but it went in my favour. I'm a veteran video gamer after all.
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
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| Source // MobyGames |
But I didn't go any further. My notes blame either a hint of motion sickness or simply having looked at screens too long that day, and that was that. I had dipped my toes into the motion-controlled world of Metroid Prime 3 and lived to tell the tale... that I wasn't fond of it.
So all these screenshots of other planets, new visors, morph balling through the skies... I saw none of that, and likely never will in person.
Final Word
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, so far, at this admittedly early stage, is a step too far for me. I don't know what's going on with the story and suspect I need to be filled in with events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I've written down that you can scan everything, like in those last two games, but that switching between scanning and shooting is a chore that I'd rather not do if I can help it. I'm hard to please, what can I say?
But, yes, I do have to commend the developers for making the motion controls work. Just because I don't like them and/or have a hard time adapting to them, doesn't mean they don't work. If and when you get on top of them, you'll be able to play what looks like another great Metroid Prime title that has you spanning the galaxy in search of this and that, probably backtracking to pick it all up before using fancy new weapons and equipment to defeat the Internet virus, or whatever. I really don't know what's going on with the story.
What I do know is that for the best experience, you're going to need to go through the first two Metroid Prime titles first. That much is obvious, and I don't even know how they actually relate to one another. If the time comes when I've done that, then Metroid Prime 3: Corruption might get itself another shot.
It looks to continue what the first two games did, but with new controls for a new console. If that sounds good enough for you, great.
Fun Facts
There's an awful lot more voicework in Corruption compared to earlier Metroid games to help players feel connected to the characters. If only I could remember who any of the characters were...
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, developed by Retro Studios, Nintendo, first released in 2007.
Version played: Nintendo Wii, 2007.