Metroid Prime Review

Hallelujah! The Cube is saved!

Version tested: GameCube

March snuck up on us like a second Christmas this year, with a barrage of new and exciting games across all formats. We must confess though that much of our excitement was centred on Retro Studios GameCube debut. Having spent several months labouring over a US version, we were excited to finally get our hands on the closely guarded PAL release this week.

The bitch is back

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot aug07b

Like all top releases, Metroid Prime is very much its own game. There's no need to be intimidated by the dynasty at work here. Anybody who reads the first couple of pages of the manual will understand pretty much the entire history of the series, and by the time you descend to the surface of planet Tallon IV, you'll have mastered the mechanisms involved in playing Prime.

Tallon IV is a bit like a certain ring-shaped world on another console, with the former occupants long since departed, and the surface laden with meticulously placed devices to aid progression, deposited in their wake. And also like said ring, it's a hotly contested place, with several species of aggressor and plenty of indigenous mutants, victims of the radioactive Phazon thrown up by the meteor strike that ousted the ruling Chozo.

The winged Chozo - sanctimonious, benevolent weirdoes that they were - prophesied that a great warrior would one day rescue Tallon IV from its plight. The manual implies that this is where you come in, as bounty hunter Samus Aran, arriving by spaceship on an orbital platform above the planet's surface.

Buccaneering

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot aug14b

This opening section of the game is more of a short, sharp tutorial, but it's also a microcosm for the rest of the game. By the end of it you'll have done much exploring; fought through corridors and concourses, past sentry guns, utilised the various functions of your suit and arsenal, rolled around in a morph ball, studied abandoned experiments and admired limp Space Pirate corpses strewn about the Metroid-plundered laboratories.

In the grandest of adventure game traditions, you'll come up against a few puzzles, overcome an early, sight-setting boss encounter with a giant, Phazon-chundering Parasite Queen, fight to escape through larva-infested tunnels or by platforming your way across lab gangways, all against the clock, and crash-land on the surface of the planet as the platform explodes into a million pieces. Quite an opening.

And as if the sights, sounds and tasks ahead of you weren't enough, there's a whole new control mechanism to contend with. Unlike Halo, and other console shooters, Metroid uses the left thumb stick for all movement, while the L trigger locks you onto a target and allows you to circle-strafe, or strafe normally in the absence of targets, and the A and B buttons control your beam and missile weapons. Only by clutching the R trigger can you look up and down. Is this restrictive, you're probably asking? Not really, because much of your sightseeing is just that - an exercise in scanning objects above or below.

Lie still for a second…

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot e3-08b

Scanning is one of the most crucial elements of Metroid Prime. Whenever you're faced with a new area, you hit left on the directional pad, locking Samus' visor into scanning mode. By holding R and wiggling the stick you manipulate a centred viewfinder, which casts holographic icons over actionable items. These then reveal clues about the surrounding area, activate objects nearby, or decipher Chozo text and shed some light on the sorry tale of Tallon IV. All the information is stored in a database which can be accessed at any time - and you'll spend a lot of time here unravelling the mysteries of Tallon IV.

What's more, scanning enemies and bosses reveals weak points. Enemies vary from level to level, but instead of just varying animations and susceptibility to ammo types, they have different attack strategies and you'll need to adjust your tactics accordingly. Flying bugs are best dealt with by lots of alternative tapping of lock and fire, but when you first meet Pirates with jetpacks, for example, you'll need to find some cover and return fire like you're Clint Eastwood.

It helps later on when you've amassed the various arm cannon upgrades - the plasma, ice, power and wave beams - which allow you to open doors of all matching colours, or when you can match them with items like the rocket launcher, freezing enemies and then shattering them like panes of glass.

Likewise, bosses are tricky to defeat, and far more than an exercise in ammo expenditure. In some cases, you'll have to look to the environment for ideas, whilst in others your thermal visor or scanner may provide clues.

The rules of Prime club

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot dec0217b

It's a very multi-faceted game as you can tell, but there are two central principles that drive progression. The first of these is that some new upgrade, a new toy to play with, could lurk around the next corner, and each of them is increasingly useful and exciting to use. Find the morph ball, and maybe you can get through those tiny tunnels to access the rooms your map insists you should check out. Find the thermal visor, and maybe you can get past that darkened room with its ghostly enemies. Find the X-ray, and maybe you'll spot something new to help you past your current dead end. Or perhaps if the next room yields some missiles, you can go back and open that 'blast door' outside.

Levels, if you can call them that, are linked by lifts and passages, and are labyrinthine and vast, rarely giving up all their spoils in one pass. The nature of Metroid has you backtracking all over Tallon IV, fighting the same respawning beasties and gradually figuring out puzzles, defeating bosses and accumulating enough kit to open doors or get through chinks to access new areas.

Often, you're faced with a problem you can't figure out, and you really have to scour your map - a scalable, rotatable 3D schematic accessed via the Z button - for unchecked rooms and forgotten doors. But almost always, a bit of lateral thinking, the application of a new upgrade or some visor inspection is enough to assure your progress. And at times, the game just wants you to leap around a bit! The amount of platforming required is often quite surprising; as you find yourself advancing up a massive, Phazon-rooted tree, scrambling round its trunk like a spiral staircase whilst scouring the adjacent walls for symbols to unlock the door at the top - another example of how the game keeps you on your toes, forcing you to multi-task like all good explorers.

Sensory overload

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot dec0216b

Getting back on track - though the reward structure is balanced and intelligent, the game's consistently alluring visuals are an equally important incentive to continue. They've been lavished much attention by gamers, journalists and even developers the world over, but it isn't until you experience the game for yourself that the hype makes sense.

There are a million and one awe-inspiring moments saturated with detail waiting to be uncovered in Metroid Prime. Each new area is like an art exhibit, from the summery, creeper-ensnared temple ruins, with dusty, crumbling masonry and bubbling Phazon lakes, to the lava-soaked, hazy Magmoor Caverns, so hot they require suit upgrades just to access, and the snowy canyons of Phendrana Drifts.

Everything Metroid tries, it conquers with aplomb. Thermal visors explode with flare and Samus' face grimaces in the reflection as rockets rip through a damaged wall, and alien innards splatter your targeting pane as you get too close to your victims. And the creatures of Tallon IV, both alien and indigenous, are varyingly rendered and each unique. Hornet-like buzzing nasties beat their wings and zip from the sky when clobbered; the mechanised Space Pirates go berserk when electrified by your Wave Beam, and as for the bosses…

Bleeding eyes

It really would be a crime to spoil these magnificent encounters for you. We've already touched on the gameplay implications of these face-offs, but from a visual standpoint the payoff is even greater. Even the first real boss, the giant plant Flaagrha, has multiple attack patterns, and squirms miserably as you exploit its Achilles' heel, before growing like a sunflower on speed as it comes back for more.

On the whole though, it's the incidental detail that provides the most memorable moments for crusty Metroid veterans like us. The sight of a dead Space Pirate slumped, bloodily against a wall; wires and the sparking electrical innards of a level poking through the ceiling; clumsily piled scrap metal in a corridor; or even just an "empty room", with cracked floors and creepers snaking their way around to the very top, where blocks have slipped from the masonry, dousing everything in light from the sky above - a location working harder to fit in than a thousand prefabricated gnome-ridden grottos in Halo.

Perhaps our favourite touches though are those on Samus Aran herself. Gases billow against her suit's visor; electrical attacks fizzle and char, as the bounty huntress raises her arm to protect her face; and the light even reflects off her shiny metallic ball shape as she rolls through tunnels like a marble chase-cam.

If there's a more beautiful game on Nintendo's console, then we haven't seen it, and if there's a better realisation of a sci-fi fantasy in gaming, we want to hear about it. It's a 3D update that relishes its 2D, cartoon past, and has had a comparable effect on us to that of Doom when we first played the shareware version all those years ago. No exaggeration.

Spellbinding

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All in all, there are many, many hours of exploration and fun to be had in Metroid Prime. It's a game that never stops giving, and you'll delight in virtually every activity it throws at you. It's a pure gamer's game, sheathed in the best aspects of everything you've played before across many genres. The secret is in the arrangement - the first bite, as they say, is with the eye, and this eases the process of chewing your way through the increasingly juicy filling.

Of course, one of the most difficult things about reviewing any console's best game - and that is what we're dealing with here - is ascertaining why it keeps your attention, not why it grabs you in the first place.

When it comes to Metroid Prime, however, I think it's an easier job than explaining Soul Calibur's undying attraction, or the magic behind Ocarina of Time. Simply put, no game has ever been so complete, adorned with so much beauty, and at the same time employed familiar aspects of multiple genres with such seamless belonging. It's a game awash with variety, and yet nothing feels out of place.

Almost everything is right and many tastes are indulged. There's a moody soundtrack, a hyperactive title screen, the Monkey-topping physics of the morph ball - and it even has GBA connectivity. Finish both Prime and Metroid Fusion, released in November, and you can swap Samus' Fusion suit into Prime and unlock the entire NES Metroid game on the GBA. Easily the best thing we've done with that cable so far.

Nintendo cries 'bank'

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot dec0221b

To be honest, we could go on about Metroid Prime all day, but we're sure you're pretty sick of reading glowing, superlative-bound reviews of the game you really must buy today. But the thing is, it's a game so mesmerising that it has stirred emotion in even the curmudgeonliest of games writers. It's as if every gamer with a copy of Word and an import Cube has tried to say something new, inspirational or memorable about a game which came out of nowhere and hit every single one of the right buttons. It's a game that's inspiring increasingly breathless masturbation of the world's vocabulary, and if it's good enough to remind us - the surly, anal, tempestuous critics - why we got into games writing in the first place, then that's a pretty flattering compliment, and should tell you all you need to know.

 

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot dec0228b

 

Kristan's take

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You might have heard about Metroid Prime. It's the game that kept US and import gamers happy over Christmas; the game that - in all probability - would have saved the machine's arse had it come out in Europe four months ago. There's little point waiting until the end of the review to tell you it's a good game, because you'll have read that already a hundred times.

What's possibly more useful is for us to try and pinpoint why it's so good, and maybe throw a few spanners in the works to point out a few misgivings that others may have glossed over, as excited gamers tend to when they passionately devote themselves to a game.

It's hard to know where to start when you're forced to pinpoint the game's excellence, such is the stunning amount of depth contained within Retro's classic. There. We said it already. Three paragraphs in and superlatives are flying around like Morph Bombs.

Lavish

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The easiest, most basic area to lavish praise on Metroid Prime is the graphics. It just oozes class on every level, and will consistently have you gasping in admiration at the endless attention to detail. Seeing the world through the helmet of Samus is a masterstroke from the off, giving Retro Studios the opportunity to show off some absolutely delicious effects. Everything looks incredibly convincing: emerge from underwater and droplets run off the front of your visor. Walk next to a volcanic vent, and sweat fogs up the inside. Walk near a cascading waterfall, and get covered in spray. They may be incidental touches, but they quickly immerse you into the environment, and make it all the more convincing.

On a similar level, there are vast array of creatures, ranging from scurrying beetles to giant mutated monsters, and everything in between, all supremely detailed, even at the closest proximity and a brilliant advert for the capabilities of the Cube. The variety in the scenery is tackled with aplomb too, and managing to display even those old fallbacks of Ice, Lava, and Desert with a degree of polish and detail that puts other games to shame. The overall look and feel of the game is sufficiently different from the common herd to make it feel new; which is always a pleasure after 200 Quake 3-based games.

The controls are also superb too, managing to make the most of the GameCube's pad, with a configuration that feels natural within minutes. At first, having to click the R button to look around feels like an unnecessary annoyance, but Retro has come up with a system that is not only different from its many peers, but in some respects is an improvement. The lock on system allows you to engage in some pretty hardcore fire fights, always giving you the impression that you're in control; and the ability to circle strafe, and dash, around your target makes combat entertaining, and never at any stage a chore. Sure, the boss fights can be a massive challenge, but you get there in the end, and like the rest of the game, the learning curve is very well judged.

Awestruck

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The sense of awe and wonder in the world of Metroid Prime is a feeling we've not had since the days of Half Life and the original Unreal. Scanning artefacts and creatures gradually gives you an insight into how this planet ended up in this state, and builds a narrative in an intelligent and almost subliminal way. It won't be to everyone's taste, and maybe the thought of wading through endless notes strikes you as a tad dull. Sometimes it is; sometimes you just long for a cut scene to tell the story in a more movie-esque, coherent sense, but in other ways the piecing together of scraps of information makes you feel like it's your discovery - your reward for looking in every nook and cranny.

Perhaps the strongest point of Metroid Prime is the way the upgrade system works. Almost everything you achieve in the game is rewarded with a new weapon, or upgrade, suddenly offering you the chance to go back to out of reach areas of old levels to scour for new sections and even more upgrades. The carrot and stick design works a treat, and even 15 hours in you'll barely be scratching the surface, desperate to claim the next unknown upgrade. Once you're fairly well equipped, it really begins to sink in how cleverly designed the levels are. However out of reach or inaccessible certain sections look, you know that you'll have the ability to reach them at some point. There's a massive amount of satisfaction for your unflinching efforts, and all the while displayed with a level of detail bordering on perfection.

Perfection? Not quite

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot dec022b

But. You were waiting for the but, and here it is. Despite the slightly hysterical coverage Metroid Prime has been getting everywhere, there are some areas that could have been improved and some that just downright annoy. The first is the game's insistence on respawning all of its enemies, no matter how many times you've cleared an area. Up they sprout, again and again, and it's plainly a tedious mechanic to make the game still feel alive and busy, even when you've slaughtered every living soul possibly dozens of times. This, in itself, wouldn't be an issue, were it not for the necessity to continually backtrack and revisit every part of every level multiple times, in order to use your latest gadget and reach some previously unattainable area.

In addition, the game's intricate level structure can, to begin with at least, trip you up. This is not a game that you can just breeze through, partly due to the fact that it's big, but also thanks to some questionable signposting. The game does, to be fair, occasionally chip in with hints of where you should be heading next, but often it merely points to a section of the map that you can't even access. More often than not, the real goal is to get your next gadget, thus allowing you to head for the area in question. It's no exaggeration to note that you can wander backwards and forwards through the game world for hours - tediously encountering the same enemies again and again - until the penny drops as to exactly what the purpose is. After a while you begin to learn the way the game wants you to play, but it can be a painful first few hours before a pattern emerges.

You could just as easily argue that the game's lack of narrative structure and decision to abandon the spoon feed approach of a check list of mission goals gives the game a distinctly refreshing slant: one of exploring a strange new world, gradually understanding what's going on as you search its hidden depths. This is all true, but in the context of a modern game it also contributes to making it more frustrating and long-winded than it would otherwise be. We don't recall anyone berating Rare for giving clear mission goals in GoldenEye; and somehow it just comes across as a needless omission. Certainly, the option of having such a basic facility as a set of mission goals would aid the less patient gamer enormously - or the less time rich gamer. Focusing the game on the time rich, patient, persistent hardcore seems bloody-minded for what is, nevertheless, a classic.

For many of you, some of you perhaps hardcore Metroid veterans, none of this will apply - but don't be surprised if you spend your first few hours with the game wondering what all the fuss is about - as Tom says, it's a gamer's game, and the wide-eyed noob may be in for a rude awakening if they're expecting another friendly, accessible Halo-style romp.

A landmark

'Metroid Prime' Screenshot aug02b

Despite all the early niggles, the bottom line is Metroid Prime is a landmark next generation title and builds itself into one of the best games we've ever seen. The true mark of its genius is that even when it annoys the hell out of you, the compulsion to keep on playing never wanes. The punishment-reward relationship is ever present, (and arguably has too much of the former and not enough of the latter at times) but the more you play it, the more abilities you unlock, and the more satisfying the game becomes. Would we buy a GameCube to play it? At the crazy prices doing the rounds at the moment it would criminal not to. Patience is a virtue; buy Metroid Prime and be virtuous.

 

Shop:Buy this game for £34.99 from the Eurogamer Shop.

10 / 10

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy

Comments (117) Latest comment 8 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • FWB #1 9 years ago

  • Killerbee #2 9 years ago

    Heh. My recent Cube purchase is now entirely justified. Hopefully this should silence (or at least quieten down) some of those who say the Cube has too much of a "kiddie" image. Great review. :)

    Edit: Reviews :)
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 09:38
  • Westy #3 9 years ago

    Metroid games have always had respawning enemies, its part of the series. Now where's the postman with my copy?
  • valli #4 9 years ago

    Hmmm... pack with black GC + Metroid for 199€. Very tempting!
  • krudster #5 9 years ago

    Westy, I appreciate that, but does that make it right, having to endlessly plough through enemies you've killed maybe 100 times before?
  • Westy #6 9 years ago

    Nobody has ever complained about it before. If the areas in the game are so big, it'd be pretty boring trecking back through them with nothing to challenge you. Just look at the trecking parts in Starfox Adventures - boring as hell.
  • Alastair #7 9 years ago

    Smid, I admire your one-handed typing skills!
  • Slim #8 9 years ago

    Wouldn't you run out of pickups if the enemeys didn't respawn?
  • Nemesis #9 9 years ago

    /gathers all the GC boys around for a group hug/

    10/10 and 9/10 from the lads. I was waiting for the EG review just in case, will now pick this fella up today.

    Question. Are you guys using the Wavebird? If so, how much rumble are we gonna miss out on going wireless...
  • otto #10 9 years ago

    The respawning enemies in Metroid Fusion make it easier in a way, as you can just sit tight and kill them over and over again to max out on health and missiles whenever you're running low.
  • krudster #11 9 years ago

    No, to be truthful the maps aren't THAT big, so the trekking isn't tedious, but fighting the same posse of baddies 79 times can be. Suck it and see. It might not bother you, but getting stuck and then having to potentially die several times before you get any further is a bit snoozeworthy. It's best just to point these things out, as everyone's so quick to lavish praise on everything without stopping to think what might become annoying. I just prefer the Halo style of seeing all the corpses laying around.
  • Whizzo #12 9 years ago

    Well this is my first Metroid title and I'm rather enjoying it, thank you postie this morning.

    The controls didn't take too long to get to grips with although I kept trying to look around with the C-stick for quite some time!

    It does look and sound absolutely fantastic. I assume the slightly plinky-plonky music towards the end of the station level is a nice throwback to the game's origins even if I hadn't played them.
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 10:31
  • Westy #13 9 years ago

    Edge gave it a 9 as well but didn't say anything bad about it as I recall. Can't understand why they didn't give it 10 based on the glowing review.

    Whizzo - the original Metroid music is in here, i remember it from Super Metroid all those years ago.
  • krudster #14 9 years ago

    Widescreen mode really isn't an issue here...it doesn't look at all distorted, unlike, say, Splinter Cell on Xbox.
  • Tricky #15 9 years ago

    Heh - kinda forgot this one was out today. Woke up this morning thinking I'd exchange a couple of games for something new and then realised this was out. It was going to be Panzer Dragoon Orta but the demo from X Box Magazine actually convinced me to not bother. So as of this evening, consider me fully Metroid-enabled.
  • krudster #16 9 years ago

    If this doesn't kick the Cube up the arse, sales wise, nothing will.
  • Viktor #17 9 years ago


    Although widescreen would've been nice, I've been playing it in 4:3 mode and no complaints - it's still the most beautiful console game ever.

    Best thing about it are the locations. It never feels like you run somewhere built for this game, but simply explore a planet that has been there for ages. The ruins of an ancient, enlightened civilization always make my cry tears of loss. It's strange.
  • krudster #18 9 years ago

    Wer, Tom gave it 10. I think it's fantastic, but it's not a 10 to me thanks to the poor signposting, endless backtracking and respawning enemies.
  • Alastair #19 9 years ago

    Wer, call me cynical, but did you read the review, or just scroll to the bottom to see the score? Were you aware that there are two reviews on the page?
  • Westy #20 9 years ago

    There's also the link-up features with GBA Metroid Fusion - you get the original Metroid if you hook up a completed copy of Fusion.
  • binky #21 9 years ago

    well thats answered my question.

    Metroid it is.
  • Alastair #22 9 years ago

    'There's also the link-up features with GBA Metroid Fusion - you get the original Metroid if you hook up a completed copy of Fusion'

    Have to complete Fusion first though :o(
    Curse that bit with the overgrown vegetation where you have to get past SA-X......
  • thebuzzard #23 9 years ago

    25 squid from argus :D
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 11:39
  • Westy #24 9 years ago

    Thats the hardest bit of the game, try freezing SA-X and then running (quickly).
  • #25 9 years ago

    Metroid. woo.

    Nice read there. Good work, Tom and Kristan.
  • Alastair #26 9 years ago

    'Thats the hardest bit of the game, try freezing SA-X and then running (quickly). '

    I do, I do!!!!
    Nearly got away a while back. I have read nearly every walkthrough on gamefaqs for tips. I'm sure some concerted effort will see me through. Glad it's the hardest bit, as it means I should get through the rest OK. :o)
  • Blerk #27 9 years ago

    Gnnnnnnnnng! Must. Not. Buy. Cube.....

    /falls over
  • Killerbee #28 9 years ago

    So would it be fair to say this is the Gamecube's Halo or GTA III? It'd be weirdly ironic if Nintendo's console's saviour wasn't one of the usual suspects like Mario or Zelda.
  • JabbaDaHut #29 9 years ago

    Heh - got this on the way to work today along with ISS2(second hand - £10!)and Eternal Darkness....I've only had the damn thing for a week!

    *Battles inner demons to stop taking a sickie and going home early*
  • Henrik #30 9 years ago

    I haven't played it, but the idea of a FPS/Adventure/Platformer set in space doesn't really make my blood rush south. 10/10 makes me damn curious though. You're essentially saying that this is as good as it gets?
  • malloc #31 9 years ago

    Thing that I don't get is why they localized it to Japan first before PAL, seeing as the game has never been as popular over there as it has been over here. Not to mention that the Cube is doing pretty well in Japan anyway, compared to Euro (esp UK) and the relase of the game earlier would have had major benefits.

    Actually it's obvious, Ninty like Japan better than Europe, and as they're based in Japan that's not a real problem, but better business sense to release it here first?
  • Viktor #32 9 years ago

    For me, this is the best videogame ever made. Pure and simple.

    The key is the Miyamoto dynamic: the player can discover things at his/her own pace, enjoy the feeling of exploration, gain new abilities which are better tools to explore and advance in the environment and in the end, tell the whole narrative through his/her own actions.

    And to add that the technical brilliance: the aesthetics are just marvellous, with the architecture and the textures surpassing anything made before.

    Just try it, I can't imagine anyone being disappointed.
  • Westy #33 9 years ago

    Some of the effects in the game are amazing, like the warping of all scenery when you use a charge beam. And they manage to do all this with absolutely no obvious loading.
  • krudster #34 9 years ago

    I think Nintendo Of Europe must be cursing its inability to release this last Christmas.
  • tiddles #35 9 years ago

    The game this really reminded me of was the first Tomb Raider. Metroid Prime has the same sense of atmosphere, the same compulsion to progress through some beautifully realised landscapes. Hell, the Phendrana Drifts music even sounds strangely familiar... Unfortunately, to my mind, it also shares TR's relatively uninspiring combat, but luckily that's not really the main focus of the game, and generally the controls are excellent.

    If you go in expecting this to the best game ever, you may well be disappointed, but it is still a brilliant game, so as long as you don't overcook your expectations the chances are you'll love it.
  • mal #36 9 years ago

    'Thats the hardest bit of the game, try freezing SA-X and then running (quickly). '

    I do, I do!!!!
    Nearly got away a while back. I have read nearly every walkthrough on gamefaqs for tips. I'm sure some concerted effort will see me through. Glad it's the hardest bit, as it means I should get through the rest OK. :o)


    I'm sorry to say that I've got past that bit and am now stuck fairly soon after finding that I can't get to the nav room after I snuck into sector 4 thru a secret tunnel.

    Really for the SA-X part there's no real knack to it, unlike the arachnid boss just before. Just don't get spin attacked by the SA-X, so freeze it in the first room, wait for it in the second room and freeze it again when it appears so that you're not faffing around with power bombs when it enters the room. Then run like buggery.
  • tiddles #37 9 years ago

    I'm sorry to say that I've got past that bit and am now stuck fairly soon after finding that I can't get to the nav room after I snuck into sector 4 thru a secret tunnel.

    Don't look at a walkthrough for this if you get frustrated - I did because it felt like I'd messed it up, but of course this is exactly what you're supposed to be doing - the way forward is just quite well hidden.
  • Westy #38 9 years ago

    Read as 'very well hidden'

    By the way, after reporting that Argos were dropping the GC the other day, are we going to report today that Argos aren't dropping the GC after all... :-)
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 14:09
  • Tiitiz #39 9 years ago

    Was in town ealier today to pick both MP and PDO and was wondering where the hell are the GC MP promotions?!?!? Saw a poster that looked like it came from magazine put on one shop window and that was it! Not even displayed well in the shop! just a normal game they are taking this for :/ Wanted to buy it in Argos or Dixons for £24.99 but neither have it or even going to stock it :/ So had to buy it at £37.99 from Gamestation :/

    Anyway... quite pleased so far (1hr 30mins play) but I just can not for the life for me get use to the control system or the pain in the arse back tracking :/ Maybe i'm just use to Halo to much. Story sucks so far but maybe that unveils later into the game I don't know. Looks lovely and smooth nearly as nice as PDO.

    Would play more but I'm away for the weekend and I don't think im gonna rush right back to it just yet :/

    I want to add that I have never been a Metroid fan so you fanboys don't go bashing my personal thoughts ok :p

    Anyway have fun all and laters! :p
  • mal #40 9 years ago

    Don't look at a walkthrough for this if you get frustrated

    Oops, too late. I checked out gamefaqs just after I posted that comment. Never mind, I'd got so frustrated with that bit that I'd given up playing the game (temporarily at least). It proves that I'd discovered most of the hidden parts but I was just missing what was right under my nose. Strange, because I thought I'd bombed everything in that room.
  • hahakid #41 9 years ago

    speaking of the Argos GC thing:
    (from xengamers.com)

    Speaking about the spike in demand, Argos' marketing director Paul Geddes said, "The demand has been unbelievable. We've struggled to keep up and cleared out most of our overstock. It's been an unbelievable increase in demand. The previous Saturday we sold 100, this Saturday this leapt to almost 5,000."
  • Alastair #42 9 years ago

    For an alternative view, the BBC review is here.
  • Machiavel #43 9 years ago

    Why do the various BBC game correspondents sound like disgruntled Foreign correspondent rejects?
  • otto #44 9 years ago

    That BBC guy is incredible, I've never seen him write a positive thing about the Gamecube since Day 1, and he always manages to get in some Xbox reference. I swear he's a Redmond plant.
  • Westy #45 9 years ago

    I swear he's a Redmond plant.

    Isn't everyone these days?
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 16:25
  • Nemesis #46 9 years ago

    Would you rather be a Redmond plant or a Redmond bush?

  • bionutz #47 9 years ago

    about bbc Is this guy ( Darren Waters
    BBC News Online ) a real gamer? Doesn't certainly sound like it.
    By the way, how are the controls, similar to Goldeneye? The thing I hate about cube is the gamepad...
  • bionutz #48 9 years ago

  • FWB #49 9 years ago

    Why can't I side step? why do I have to press a button to look up? a lock on button? why surely I can aim for myself!

    Cannot comment on Halo, but I do agree. You can side step by holding onto L (or so the manual says, yet to try it out), but TS2 style controls would've been nicer/ With that said, The current system does help push it into further away from a FPS experience and a 3D platform/adventure one.
  • krudster #50 9 years ago

    The BBC online chap has clearly had a 30 minute session on it and evaluated it on that. Fools. He makes it sound like a generic load of crap. Sure the controls are different, and perhaps the option to allow users to change it to the TS standard would have been good, but come on, it's doing things differently, it's defying convention in a good way. The changes of approach should be applauded, as it makes the game feel distinct and different from the FPS herd. And to just lazily bracket it as being an FPS is massively wide of the mark. While it would be plain stupid to deny its FPS leanings, there's so much more going on here.
    It delivers that sense of awe with Half Life (and some of the creatures, come to that) but that's about it.
  • mal #51 9 years ago

    By the way, how are the controls, similar to Goldeneye? The thing I hate about cube is the gamepad...
    Sort of, I think. I'm only going from the review since I haven't had chance to pick up a copy yet, but it sounds like the left stick works the same as in goldeneye, though if you hold down the R trigger it turns into the left stick of a more modern FPS to allow you to look up and down. You can strafe using the left trigger (or circle strafe if you're locked on to something).
  • tiddles #52 9 years ago

    It delivers that sense of awe with Half Life (and some of the creatures, come to that) but that's about it.

    Don't forget the room just before the final boss which was obviously designed by the guys who were sacked from Valve as punishment for the Xen levels...

  • Viktor #53 9 years ago


    It's a pity that so many people are unable to suss out the fact that if a game is played from the FIRST-PERSON perspective it DOES NOT automatically mean it's a shooter.

    I would categorize Prime an exploration platformer, with combat spicing the travel.
  • jimbo #54 9 years ago

    gamecube is a kiddy platform with kiddy games built for kiddies.... except for this awesome game I envy that makes me want to go get a cube and metroid!!!!! give me a blowout price baby i'm there!! (always wanted that rogue leader game too)!!!!!!
    wheres that article about the release of that advance wars2??????
  • jimbo #55 9 years ago

    ADAVANCE WARS 2 JUNE 23RD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • mal #56 9 years ago

    It's a pity that so many people are unable to suss out the fact that if a game is played from the FIRST-PERSON perspective it DOES NOT automatically mean it's a shooter.

    Pff. That's just semantics. The problem I have with FPS games is not that they're shooters ('cause I lurve 2d and third person shooters) but that they're controlled from the first-person perspective. So MP may not be a FPS but I'm still biased against it for the same reason I don't like FPSers.

    Mind you, I'm biased towards it by the fact that it's a metroid game and that it's getting such stonking reviews everywhere except at the BBC. Oh boy oh boy.
  • Emma Roids #57 9 years ago

    I wobble my swollen chalfonts at the UK stores that dropped the Cube.
  • rare_uk #58 9 years ago

    Wot the hell are Chalfonts - dictionary.com didn't know either.
  • Westy #59 9 years ago

  • ssuellid #60 9 years ago

    Chalfonts (from Chalfonts St Giles) is British rhyming slang for piles.

    www.pro bertencyclopaedia.com/slang.htm
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 20:12
  • krudster #61 9 years ago

    Phew, I thought she might have just been large breasted!
  • krudster #62 9 years ago

    But then look at the name again.... (H)Emma Roids.

    *badaboom tish*
  • Pirotic #63 9 years ago

    Great game, the way your visor steams up when near a waterfall and the water flows off the visor when you come up from underwater left me smiling :p

    and to update - to my delight i stood infront of a steam pipe and it made my visor freeze up :p
    Edited by 1 at 21/03/03 @ 22:16
  • otto #64 9 years ago

    Chalfonts = two villages, Chalfont St Giles & Chalfont St Peter actually, ask Mugs... ;)

    /me was born in Chalfont St Peter

    *pride*
  • binky #65 9 years ago

    had half an hour go so far. seems class :) cant wait to play more in the morning
  • krudster #66 9 years ago

    I think it was Mugs that reprimanded me for suggesting it was an FPS at heart; but the mighty Mugs soon showed me the error of my ways...
  • binky #67 9 years ago

    Amazing game so far!

    dont know what ur on about tho.... the controls are spot on!
  • Slim #68 9 years ago

    Why should a console first person game control like a pc one? I'm sick of games like halo and timesplitters trying to emulate a mouse and keyboard with those little sticks, it's shit.

    BBC an authorative games review source? My chuff!
  • binky #69 9 years ago

    Halo's controls are class. i love the dual stick shinanigans. I also have an xbx and many games so suck my joystick :p
  • sam_spade #70 9 years ago

    GAHHH!

    Can someone show me the passage in the games design bible where it says that jumping challenges in FPS games are fun?
  • Westy #71 9 years ago

    AS lots of people have said, its not an FPS!
  • sam_spade #72 9 years ago

    I don't get this resistance to the FPS tag. Are good games not allowed to be FPSs?

    99.9% of the rooms in Metroid Primes require something to be killed. It's in a first-person perspective. To my mind that makes it a FPS because I do more killing than exploring.
  • Whizzo #73 9 years ago

    As far as I'm concerned it's an FPS as well and I have to agree having to do jumping around stuff in first person isn't a great idea. There should be a way of switching to third person when you do your jumping around.

    It's a great game though whatever it "is".
  • lucky_jim #74 9 years ago

    It is basically an FPS, although I can understand the resistance to tagging it as such (even though I like the genre) as the game places more emphasis on exploration. I've found the looking system a bit annoying at times, particularly when the game makes you do platformy jumpy bits, as you can't easily see the ground under your feet. Still one of the best games I've ever played though, even if it *just* falls short of grabbing the "Jim's favourite ever game" crown from Halo.
  • silentbob #75 9 years ago

    Its not a FPS in the same way Deus Ex isn't. The gameplay emphasis is much more to do with exploration and adventuring. The shooting bits are indeed first person, but enemies are tackled in a fashion much more akin the tge likes of Zelda than Half Life. Plus, if you took a percentage of the time spent actually shooting stuff (excluding doors) it would be a small portion compared with exploration.

    And yes, of late the tag FPS has come to mean shoddy, production line, seen-it-all-before PC shooter and I'd rather not have a pice of gaming genius such as this be tarnished with that monicker.
  • Viktor #76 9 years ago


    Metroid Prime controls are perfect for Metroid Prime.

    Halo controls are perfect for Halo.
  • Dabs #77 9 years ago

    100!

    Oh, and as a side-note, I'm tempted to get a GC now what with all these Argos/Dixons shenanigans. Thing is - apart from Metroid and SMS (and Zelda in May)what game would my fellw good EG folk recommend I get with it?
  • ekko #78 9 years ago

    Super Monkey Ball (1 or 2) is also a must for any GC owner with friends.
  • Pirotic #79 9 years ago

    i got rid of pikmin, didnt draw me back in and ended up never touching it again.

    "Pikmin 2 : Online Smash" should be cool, i think that the name they've decided on now anyway - hmmmm online!
  • Ciaran #80 9 years ago

    If you get the Cube, you should also consider picking up Eternal Darkness sometime Dabs. (EG review) It's genuinely scary, original, and just plain good. I've already finished it twice, and am now two thirds of the way through a third time, so I can get to see the über-ending. That's about 32 hours right there. What more could you want?
  • Whizzo #81 9 years ago

    I would also recommend ED, it was the game I got with my Cube from Argos and while I've not completed it once yet it's been a lot of fun so far. Going insane has never been more entertaining! :-)
  • ssuellid #82 9 years ago

    Another one to buy then?
    My first post on my new phone. :)
  • bystander #83 9 years ago

    "Chalfonts = two villages, Chalfont St Giles & Chalfont St Peter actually, ask Mugs... ;)

    /me was born in Chalfont St Peter

    *pride*"

    Small world, I lived in Chalfont St. Peter for around 15 years and I went to all three local schools.

    I've just moved away from CSP recently though.
  • caligari #84 9 years ago

    "That's about 32 hours right there. What more could you want?"

    Heeeeeem hem hem...a lady friend maybe?
  • AOFanboi #85 9 years ago

    I would buy this if I wasn't already too preoccupied with Animal Crossing (running on Freeloader), Phantasy Star Online (the "offline" game, haven't bought the adapter yet) and Eternal Darkness.

    The 'Cube definitely has it.
  • otto #86 9 years ago

    cor small world bystander!

    My parents moved back to Chalfont a couple of years ago. (I grew up in Beaconsfield.)
  • dafunksta #87 9 years ago

    It seems clear to me that many people commenting here just haven't played any of the Metroid games. This is simply that - a Metroid game - but this time from a first person perspective. Retro and Nintendo have done an unnervingly good job at recreating the mystery and exploratory action of the originals. Those of you who make the comparisons to Zelda are spot on, it's just that kind of game.. there is no point in making comparisons to Halo (worth nothing though is the fact that Halo's 3D Engine has a very low frame rate in comparison to this beauty!)

    I'm undecided over the control issue though.. during the sun loving plant boss battle I was instinctively attempting to look with my right thumb.. and needed 3 retries to get used to the controls. Now after playing it for several hours I can understand why they are trying to distance themselves - to encourage a slightly different approach to the game but would have preferred the option of customising the controls.. at least to see if it made the game 'feel' better for me.

    Laters,

    D.
    Edited by 1 at 23/03/03 @ 11:41
  • lost_soul #88 9 years ago

    I was just playing MP and thought this really reminds me a lot of Zelda, there is more shooting and jumping and it uses a first person perspective, but the basic gameplay is explore, collect some power up to gain access to a new area, explore some more.
  • Dabs #89 9 years ago

    Animal Crossing, Pikmin or Eternal Darkness sound the most promising. I think I'd prefer to give AC a try but is it due for a European release? If not, I'll probably just go for ED and wait for Pikmin 2. With these slew of recent ace games though, I can't see why it would continue to be so unpopular sales-wise.
  • Westy #90 9 years ago

    FPS or adventure, its still a superb game - call it what you like.
  • #91 9 years ago

    hm hm hm hih hihi hh . .ahahha ahhaha ahaha.
  • Viktor #92 9 years ago


    Playing the US version of Zelda, I have to say it's very very special.

    For me, two best games of all time are now on the Cube. Who would've thought a few months ago?
  • bystander #93 9 years ago

    "cor small world bystander!

    My parents moved back to Chalfont a couple of years ago. (I grew up in Beaconsfield.)"

    I don't suppose they worked at any of the schools in CSP?
  • otto #94 9 years ago

    heh, nope. Small, but not *that* small... ;)
  • Shinji #95 9 years ago

    I meant to give the PAL version of Prime that my housemate picked up "a quick go" yesterday. Five hours later.... What an amazing game. Again.

    The thing is, I have a deep suspicion that Zelda IS going to be as good as, if not better than, Metroid Prime. Desperately trying to resist the temptation to import it at the moment...
  • eviltobz #96 9 years ago

    why not just pre-order it from th eg shop shinji? ;)
  • JabbaDaHut #97 9 years ago

    Played this pretty much all week end to get a really good inpression of it. Really really enjoying my first Metroid experience! I would have to class this as a FPS but so different from any other FPS out there. I loved Halo(and still play!) but the comparisions made between the two is crazy....
    Great game but with some contol issues...possibly due to Halo/Timesplitters play time??

    And have enjoyed ED alot too...Not checked it out for long though - Too much Metroid I guess! :o)
  • Shinji #98 9 years ago

    eviltobz - That's a good idea. Such a good idea that I think I might just do it. Then the evil importing gremlins who live in my cupboard won't have any hold over me any more....
  • Alastair #99 9 years ago

    I hope no one jumps on me for making this comparison, but for some reason Metroid Prime is reminding me of Turok 2* (without the fogging! lol) Could be the Chozo ruins remind me of the Port of Adia and the fact that they both have jumping elements to them.

    Have played for about 3 hours now and am getting used to the controls, but still find myself trying to strafe with the c-stick when in the heat of battles!
    Only bad thing about this purchase is that my list of unfinished Cube games just gets longer: Rogue Squadron, Resi Evil, SMS, ED, Tiger Woods....

    * I really liked Turok 2 so this is a favourable comparison!
  • eviltobz #100 9 years ago

    you're not alone with the growing pile of unfinished games. i have a stack of em for the cube, another bunch on the xbox, and a few more for the ps2. and some dreamcast, gba, n64, ps1 and pc. technically you could probably add atari jaguar, lynx and st to that list too. oh well, maybe i'll get made redundant soon so i can sit at home and play all day :)
  • Alastair #101 9 years ago

    Oh, yeah, I was only talking about Cube. I think my list of completed games would actually be a lot shorter!! :o)
  • Blerk #102 9 years ago

    Each to their own, I guess. Reviews are opinions and one man's 'best ever game' is another's 'bag of shite'. For instance, lots of people on here insist that Super Smash Bros is a fantastic game, but I really hate it.
  • sam_spade #103 9 years ago

    Well if you don't want to scan. Do what I did and don't bother.
  • Chewy #104 9 years ago

    Blerk: True the BBC site reviewed this and wasn't overly impressed with it either.
    <A href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/reviews/286 8101.stm">here</A>

    I'm tempted to buy the Cube at the current prices anyway. It might be worth it for Metroid, Zelda & Mario alone.
    Edited by 1 at 26/03/03 @ 14:01
  • pjmaybe #105 9 years ago

    Yeah but look at the fat twonk they've got reviewing it, Chewy. Previous gaming experience probably stretches no further than Microsoft Train Simulator (and if one person on here DARES tell me that they enjoyed it...ohhhh god, the wrath I'll unleash will make the coalition forces look like they can aim straight!)

    Peej
  • eviltobz #106 9 years ago

    erm... i enjoyed it.

    i actually haven't even so much as seen it, but i wanna watch the pretty fireworks :)
  • Chewy #107 9 years ago

    Easy Peej, I just thought people should know. :)

    Anyway, If I bought another console then I'll have more games that I haven't finished. Short attention span I think.

    Ok, apart from Zelda what other AAA game is coming out for it?
  • Moztan #108 9 years ago

    How about F-zero (from sega), Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles (Squaresoft), Resident Evil 4 (Capcom), Mario Kart (Nintendo)... Oh, did I point out that these are all exclusives... Plus 20 EA games are underway, some with GBA-connectivity.
  • gonrico #109 9 years ago

    ppl if there were no enemy respawn, think how boring the game would be!


    This is the best game ever. If any disagreas BRRRINNNNG IT ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • krieg #110 9 years ago

    Final Fantasy VII is and always will be the greatest game ever... EVER
  • krieg #111 9 years ago

    final fantasy VII will always be the best, i recommend all people who even REMOTELY like rpgs to get it, it is square's finest
  • Alastair #112 9 years ago

  • Emma Roids #113 8 years ago

    I have just bought Metroid Prime for £19.97 seeing as the fine chaps/chapesses at Nintendo dropped the price and the winter is here and its bastard freezing.

    Very good isnt it.
  • Kami #114 8 years ago

    "Boring game"

    Umm... have you even played it? I personally don't think anyone can find this game boring... unless you don't like FPS anyway.
  • Tiger_Walts #115 8 years ago

    Who claims this tard?
  • Blerk #116 8 years ago

    He's right on one count, though - that opening music is fantastic!
  • onyxbox #117 8 years ago

    I though Metroid was going to let me down (when I first got it) but as I progressed it just kept getting better and better and by the time I finished it I felt like I had played a truly great game.

    It's a classic, I loved it and it should definitely not have been Halo (totally different kind of game IMO).

    Halo is a straight shooter, all you have to solve in it is how do I kill everything (which due to the AI is incredibly deep) where as in Metroid the emphasis is on solving the puzzles and exploration ect... it just so happens to have a lot of shooting in it....

    Anyway... why am I talking about this... everyone knows the deal... they're just different and they’re both AAA games.
  • gonrico #118 8 years ago

    Alastair, are we the only ones who like Turok 2?
  • gonrico #119 8 years ago

    I claim the tard. Woah boy!