Metroid Prime 3, a tricky review to do, mostly because I have read previews, reviews, and all sorts of articles on the game and I don’t agree with a one of them.  I’m not much of a Metroid fan.  I’m not much of a Metroid fan.  I’m not much of an FPS fan.  Heck, when it comes down to it, even sci-fi based games really aren’t my cup of tea, however, if there is ANYTHING I can tell you, its that I love this game.  I think Nintendo did their very best to make a game that combines the best of all Metroids, and they passed the test with flying colors.  But with so many negative articles out there, it’s hard to see the game for what it is.  Most of those articles though make outrageous claims that I can only begin to surmise, were made without actually PLAYING Metroid Prime 3, and with the increasing number of review based scandals out there, it really wouldn’t surprise me.  I can tell you a good portion of the statements you’ll find in random reviews out there are kind of bupkus, myths at best.  Luckily there are two people I know who make it their business to prove or disprove myths, Adam and Jamie from the Myth Busters (copyright Discovery Channel).  Unnnnfortunatley they were unavailable for comment, so I’ll just have to do this review in Mythbusters style in their place.

Myth #1 – Metroid Prime 3 has counterintuitive controls that make the game difficult to play.

Status – Plausible

Metroid Prime 3 is a showcase of just how good the Wii works for shooting games.  Dual Stick analog control is mimicked due to the interaction of the moving crosshair and Samus’s rotation being controlled via the Wii’s location input, and Samus’s actual movement in 3 dimensions being controlled via the Nunchuck analog stick.  The problem many gamers have is that their movements for aiming are far too wild.  All you have to do is move your wrist slightly to move the crosshair.  Or geez, if it’s really bothering you turn the sensitivity down in options.

Metroid Prime 3 also does a magnificent job of simulating mouse based FPSs as well.  The cursor is essentially a mouse anyway.  You move the pointer and click.  It’s as simple as that.  Point.  Shoot.  Aim at bad guy.  Kill bad guy.  Some players dislike the fact that you can’t reliably aim with the Wiimote, however this is not true.  If you really want to help your aiming skills, treat the Wiimote as if it were a gun.  Line the point of the Wiimote up with the on screen crosshair and the back of the Wiimote.  This synergy between three points will keep the Wiimote alignment as you move your hand and arm.  Though requiring much more movement (generally your whole arm instead of just your wrist) it feels a lot more like you are in the action, and you can figure out where you are shooting easier.

The Plausible in this myth comes from Metroid Prime 3’s button placement.  The A button is shoot and the B button is jump which is just ENTIRELY backwards for the Wii.   The trigger should ALWAYS be the fire button, and even more than that, should always be the button you are using most often.  Pointing the Wiimote at the screen and repeatedly tapping A as if you were a hillbilly on a TV binge REALLY hurts your wrist after a while, but the simple compressing of your pointer finger generally does not.  There are some bosses in Metroid prime three that had my wrist aching so much I had to stop playing.  This does detract from it a bit.  Also the lack of a controller remap options menu hurts it even more.  The game’s control scheme would be perfect if you could just swap those two buttons to your liking.  The most you can do is choose to invert A and B which helps but not much.

Myth #2 – Metroid Prime 3’s game system disappoints prior fans of the series due to its simplicity and lack of options.

Status- BUSTED

Metroid Prime 3 gives gamers exactly what they want, but you have to look way back into the series’ history to figure that out.  Ok first of all, that beam ammo bullcrap from Metroid Prime 2?  Gone.  Thank god.  Missiles are your main form of ammunition, and you’ll love it.  Now here is the kicker, rapid beam switching from Metroid Prime 1?  Also gone.  Buzwhaaaa?  You may be saying to yourself?  Well self… fear not, because Metroid Prime 3 has adopted the system of perhaps the greatest Metroid of all time, Super Metroid.  That’s right; the inventory management screen is back, essentially.  Your beams no longer have to be switched in and out, because they stack on top of each other, adding the effects into one ultra cool space beam of awesomeness.  They take a page from the book of Metroid Fusion and do the same with Missile Upgrades, allowing you to get the awesome Ice Missiles very early in the game.  At that point, EVERY missile you fire will be an Ice Missile.  It does MORE damage, adds a slow and freeze area of effect, increases its homing capability and dosen’t cost any more to use than a normal missile.  What’s not to love?

The criticism of this system comes from the fact that there are few “multiple weapons” in Metroid Prime 3.  In fact, like Super Metroid, there are very few multiple stand alone items at all.  Instead Metroid Prime 3, like Super Metroid, just keeps making Samus’s abilities better, so you don’t have to choose.  Although this removes the cool beam switching effects, and strategic weapons management, I really do believe this makes the game feel more like Metroid proper.

There are fewer visors than before, and that seems to be screwing with people as well.  You basically start with the Scan Visor and the Command Visor.  The Scan Visor does what it always has done, scans stuff around you and gives you information.  It also activates switches and control panels that Samus can’t operate by touching them.  The Command visor allows Samus to command her ship at long distances, allowing it to pick her up at remote areas, and perhaps more importantly go on bombing runs to destroy your enemies, but it dosen’t do much more than that.  The only other Visor you pick up is the X-Ray visor, and it’s the only Visor that lets you see hidden things.   The thing is, it lets you see hidden, EVERYTHING, so there is no need to be switching around between visors.  In addition, it’s very sharp, and gives a nicer X-Ray ish sort of feel than X-Ray visor in the first Metroid Prime, without hindering gameplay.

The lack of visors has some people up in arms but I think it was needed.  Visors were basically a gimmick in the first two Metroid Primes.  It was a lot like, oops I have reached a dead end and I can’t see anything, let me switch to a visor.  The thing is, it was repeated TWICE in both earlier Metroid Primes, once for each of the Visors.  Metroid Prime 3 eliminates this by making the puzzles more enjoyable, and limiting the visor count to 1, bringing the gameplay closer to exploration like the original Metroid.

Lastly, the game has a new inclusion “Hyper Mode” this allows Samus to trade her life energy for immense power for a short period of time.  Though a relatively new addition, this almost feels like a reverse “Crystal Flash” from Super Metroid.  By sacrificing on hundred units of energy, Samus can fire the phazon beam (from the final boss fight of Metroid Prime 1 and 2).   This beam hurts and it hurts well, but each shot depletes her energy.  Also, there is a chance she will be “corrupted” while in this state, and her energy will increase!  Sounds good, but if you let your energy get to max (and it rises quite fast) you die.

Overall, the game is a lot more about upgrading.  Your grapple can be upgraded to act as a tether, lasso, rope swing, and for heavy objects.  You can get the screw attack, different beams, different missiles, different suits, and different weapons for your morphball, so on so forth.  By the end of the game, you have an ultra Samus you can be proud of, but that’s still quite a ways off.  You literally get an upgrade 2 seconds before the final boss, and another upgrade 2 seconds before the rooms that lead up to that boss, so it takes a while.