TheSpaceBetween
Member
It's hard to believe that we have not gotten what is generally viewed as a good to great Metroid game in 10 years. I know GAF prefers Echoes, and that's fine as it's a fantastic game. I do think, however, that Corruption did do a lot right and features some of the series best moments and features. Allow me to glow a bit some on the things I loved about this game.
Art Direction
This is one of the most beautiful games ever made from an artistic standpoint, in particular the environments. Long gone are anything resembling generic videogame tropes (ice, fire, forest, desert, etc), and in their place are fantastically realized environments. I love the scorched lands of Bryyo with it's strange ultraradiated mushrooms and massive statue work of Bryyonians past. And from there you go to the serene floating city on Elysia. The swirls of color in the clouds serve as a backdrop to the insanely detailed pods and spires, each of which is individually designed with creative geometry and color. The best comes at the end of the game on Phaaze. This level just looks bizarre but beautiful at the same time, and really embodies the essence of the original Metroid's goal of making the environments feel like living, breathing things.
Controls
This was the game changer here. While the Prime Trilogy has these same fantastic controls available for Prime and Echoes, those games were not designed around them. Here, the enemies and puzzles are designed in ways that compliment the controls. For example, there is a group of enemies that hide behind shields, and one by one they lower them to attack you randomly. Quick reflexes and precise pointer controls allow you to easily dispatch of them. Most of the enemies were designed in a way that took advantage of the pointer controls. There were a lot of fun and unique ways the controls were implemented to make a more engaging experience. I loved the little door lock puzzles where you had to twist the wiimote to line up the lock releases. And of course giving a little flick to jump in morph ball mode was a welcome addition. I have a hard time playing FPS games without these controls now!
Contextual Storytelling
This game was the culmination of what the series did with environmental storytelling. Yes, there was some exposition here and there, and I know that bugged some people, but there were a lot of cool story moments shown through the gameplay. Seeing the Hunters do battle with Space Pirates above you while you traverse through a morphball tunnel. Ridley flying overhead during the battle as you make your way to the generator and the Federation Marine shouting "What the heck was that!." Receiving the notification that your ship is taking damage... And while you are making your way back you receive updates on the damage... And then finally you see Ghor through the window beating the hell out of it... You then proceed to make the long walk down the hallway as you prepare for battle. Entering the Metroid quarantine room, all encased in their holding cells... You walk by dozens and dozens of them just thinking, "This can't be good..." And sure enough, power out, queue creepy music, glass breaks. Great stuff, and there are more moments like that as well.
Contextual Missions
This is something I appreciated. Each of the three main areas had the same end goal: Destroy the phazon seed spreading corruption on each planet, similar to Echoes, where the goal was to restore the energy to each area. With Echoes though, it was the same each time- Collect three keys to reach it. With Corruption, there were multiple unique macro and micro objectives to keep things interesting... Whether it was finding parts to assemble a bomb, upgrading your ship to destroy turrets preventing you from your goal, or making your way through a Pirate Infested cargo supply route to reach the shield generator, having these varying objectives made progression through the game very satisfying.
Boss Battles
While I feel Echoes was most consistent in this regard, Corruption has my favorite individual boss battles. Rundas and Gandrayda are my two favorites in the series, and Ghor and Meta Ridley (at the beginning) aren't far behind. The fights with the hunters are all absolutely fantastic, and a big improvement over the Dark Samus fights in Echoes (which I am comparing here due to the scale of the foe). And what I love about these fights is that they are pure arcadey action more in line with the 2D Metroid games, and less Zelda style puzzley bosses that the Prime series often features. I feel Corruption balanced both styles of bosses very well. Oh, and those Rudas and Gandrayda themes are just sooooooooo good!
All in all I feel it's a fantastic game and a worthy conclusion to my favorite trilogy of all time. I absolutely cannot wait for Prime 4, and I hope they can do the series justice following Retro's incredible work. Again, it's hard to believe this game is ten years old, but hopefully we'll be playing the next great Metroid game in just a few weeks. Happy Birthday Metroid Prime 3!
Art Direction
This is one of the most beautiful games ever made from an artistic standpoint, in particular the environments. Long gone are anything resembling generic videogame tropes (ice, fire, forest, desert, etc), and in their place are fantastically realized environments. I love the scorched lands of Bryyo with it's strange ultraradiated mushrooms and massive statue work of Bryyonians past. And from there you go to the serene floating city on Elysia. The swirls of color in the clouds serve as a backdrop to the insanely detailed pods and spires, each of which is individually designed with creative geometry and color. The best comes at the end of the game on Phaaze. This level just looks bizarre but beautiful at the same time, and really embodies the essence of the original Metroid's goal of making the environments feel like living, breathing things.
Controls
This was the game changer here. While the Prime Trilogy has these same fantastic controls available for Prime and Echoes, those games were not designed around them. Here, the enemies and puzzles are designed in ways that compliment the controls. For example, there is a group of enemies that hide behind shields, and one by one they lower them to attack you randomly. Quick reflexes and precise pointer controls allow you to easily dispatch of them. Most of the enemies were designed in a way that took advantage of the pointer controls. There were a lot of fun and unique ways the controls were implemented to make a more engaging experience. I loved the little door lock puzzles where you had to twist the wiimote to line up the lock releases. And of course giving a little flick to jump in morph ball mode was a welcome addition. I have a hard time playing FPS games without these controls now!
Contextual Storytelling
This game was the culmination of what the series did with environmental storytelling. Yes, there was some exposition here and there, and I know that bugged some people, but there were a lot of cool story moments shown through the gameplay. Seeing the Hunters do battle with Space Pirates above you while you traverse through a morphball tunnel. Ridley flying overhead during the battle as you make your way to the generator and the Federation Marine shouting "What the heck was that!." Receiving the notification that your ship is taking damage... And while you are making your way back you receive updates on the damage... And then finally you see Ghor through the window beating the hell out of it... You then proceed to make the long walk down the hallway as you prepare for battle. Entering the Metroid quarantine room, all encased in their holding cells... You walk by dozens and dozens of them just thinking, "This can't be good..." And sure enough, power out, queue creepy music, glass breaks. Great stuff, and there are more moments like that as well.
Contextual Missions
This is something I appreciated. Each of the three main areas had the same end goal: Destroy the phazon seed spreading corruption on each planet, similar to Echoes, where the goal was to restore the energy to each area. With Echoes though, it was the same each time- Collect three keys to reach it. With Corruption, there were multiple unique macro and micro objectives to keep things interesting... Whether it was finding parts to assemble a bomb, upgrading your ship to destroy turrets preventing you from your goal, or making your way through a Pirate Infested cargo supply route to reach the shield generator, having these varying objectives made progression through the game very satisfying.
Boss Battles
While I feel Echoes was most consistent in this regard, Corruption has my favorite individual boss battles. Rundas and Gandrayda are my two favorites in the series, and Ghor and Meta Ridley (at the beginning) aren't far behind. The fights with the hunters are all absolutely fantastic, and a big improvement over the Dark Samus fights in Echoes (which I am comparing here due to the scale of the foe). And what I love about these fights is that they are pure arcadey action more in line with the 2D Metroid games, and less Zelda style puzzley bosses that the Prime series often features. I feel Corruption balanced both styles of bosses very well. Oh, and those Rudas and Gandrayda themes are just sooooooooo good!
All in all I feel it's a fantastic game and a worthy conclusion to my favorite trilogy of all time. I absolutely cannot wait for Prime 4, and I hope they can do the series justice following Retro's incredible work. Again, it's hard to believe this game is ten years old, but hopefully we'll be playing the next great Metroid game in just a few weeks. Happy Birthday Metroid Prime 3!
