IGN said:E3 2007: Hands-on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
It plays better than any first-person console game ever... really. And it's one of Wii's best lookers, too.
by Matt Casamassina
July 11, 2007 - For some reason, Retro Studios' anticipated first-person adventure sequel, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, doesn't photograph well. Many of the officially released screenshots of the title look bland, a complaint raised all too often by message board addicts. But we've just compiled two hours with a two-level demonstration of the title and we can tell you, it sure looks good in motion. The game runs in 480 progressive-scan and true 16:9 widescreen mode, which is a first for the series. The artistic presentation of the space stations, craft and planets that make up the universe is very impressive, seemingly more on par with the original Prime than its purple-drenched sequel. Textures are crisper and polished with extra effects such as specular highlights on Aran's ship, for example. Environments are larger and architecture more defined. And while it may seem trivial to some, the inclusion of bloom lighting goes a long way, as bright sources like lava and monitors now glow with welcomed style and realism. All of this and the title seldom dips below a fluidity of 60 frames per second.
We're realists. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption can't and doesn't look as good as some of today's cutting-edge games on more powerful consoles. But for Wii, a console that so far hasn't proven that it is even dramatically more powerful than GameCube, it's stunning.
Something has gone terribly wrong at a drifting space station. Terminal text displays an eerie message: "Cryogenic systems stable. Corrupted life support anomaly detected." The computer systems have become infected with some kind of new virus, they begin to malfunction and meltdown, and Dark Samus appears to be involved. A real-time cinematic showcases the beginnings of the storyline for Aran's latest adventure, and we catch a glimpse of Dark Samus as she breaks free from a room full of high-tech equipment, very probably signaling the start of the corruption that spreads across the galaxy.
Samus, though, is asleep. The long-time heroine of one of Nintendo's most popular franchises is also adrift in space and she's not wearing her trademark suit. The camera pans in on the blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty as she opens her eyes and looks around her cockpit. Just outside, we can see the vast expansion of space, stars twinkling in contrast to the great blackness. This is how Prime 3 begins and it seamlessly teaches you some of the game's integral new Wii controls from the comfort of Aran's ship. You can look around the cockpit with the nunchuk's analog stick and you can point to various switches and levers with the Wii remote. A simple tap of the A button may bring up displays, activate boosters, and so on. Retro Studios hasn't suddenly given you the freedom to roam the galaxy - this is still a very controlled situation created specifically to familiarize you with the basics - but it's very atmospheric all the same.
After you point to a center console, Samus places her hand on the device and her ship gains in speed and veers to the right, directly toward a fleet of Galactic Federation Fighters, giant-sized spaceships quite capable of blowing Aran to smithereens. Over the radio, one of the Federation soldiers audibly asks Samus to identify herself. Yes, there's voice work in Prime 3 and judging from the two-level demo, quite a lot of it. Once Samus is on foot again, she can freely walk through the space station and talk with all of its occupants. Naturally, the heroine herself remains mute, but now all of the mechanics and troopers have something to say and the acting is very well done and believable. Another button in the cockpit area brings up a display surrounded in an extraterrestrial alphabet. Here, you use the Wii remote to control Aran's hand so that she can select the right letters to identify herself to the fleet. With that done, she's clear to land on the floating galactic base called Flagship Olympus, where more tutorial controls and story await.
Before leaving her ship, Samus dons her trademark Varia Suit, which is immediately equipped with a number of abilities normally obtained later in Metroid titles. She can transform into morphball form. She can double-jump. She can charge her beam weapon. And she's got three visors available, including both the scan and battle, in addition to a third. Selecting the visors is handled intuitively with the Wii remote. You simply hold down the minus button and flick into one of three directions - left, right, or up - to transition to the various visors. When scanning, you can clearly see Aran's eyes reflected in the visor - not only during gun-muzzle flashes, but the whole time. The plus button is used to activate hyper mode, which seemed locked for the demo.
Samus controls better in Prime 3 than she ever has before. In fact, the heroine's tight maneuverability and speed nurture a level of accuracy never before possible in a console-based first-person experience. Retro has included three different sensitivity levels for fans, so if you're the type who prefers a big bounding box and slower turns, you can do that. However, we highly recommend that all gamers play Prime 3 with advanced controls, which shrink the bounding box so that Samus turns quickly when your on-screen reticule begins to stray in any direction. Previously, Call of Duty 3 was the benchmark for accurate controls in a first-person game on Wii, but Prime 3 blows that title out of the water. If you've played any FPS-style game on Nintendo's system before, you will probably be running and gunning in Corruption and absolutely loving the freedom and speed of the controls in a matter of seconds, not minutes. It really is the new benchmark and simultaneously proof that smart studios can really utilize the Wii remote and nunchuk for some dazzling results.
Having noted that, either we've gone crazy or Retro has actually loosened up the advanced control setting, not tightened it, since we last played the game in New York. It's still very responsive and maneuverable, but it doesn't seem quite as speedy as it was before. Perhaps we were merely so overjoyed at the working controls when we went hands-on at New York that our memory of the affair was distorted.
In Metroid Prime 3, you can lock-on to enemies by holding down the Z button. This function is not nearly as important as it was in the previous games since the new and improved manual aim is so responsive, but it's still helpful when you want to quickly cycle between foes. However, there is one invaluable new change to the mechanic that you can toggle on or off depending upon your preference. You can now lock-on to enemies and retail manual aim with the Wii remote, essentially enabling you to pinpoint shoot Space Pirates and other baddies if you so desire. If you'd rather not bother, turn it off in the options menu and forget it ever existed.
Press the 1 button at any time and you'll bring up the map, options and logbook screens, where you can easily change your control sensitivity and toggle lock-on with manual aim on or off. You can also reverse visor select and hyper mode to the plus and minus buttons if you prefer.
Walking about the Flagship Olympus, you will quickly notice that the environments and occupants are more interactive and that Samus is a figure to be respected. While some mechanics when approached will spout lines like, "I've got duties to perform, we'll talk later," Fleet Troopers are sometimes in awe of Aran. "Did you really take out an entire planet of Space Pirates," one such character asked us after we triggered a conversation with him. Meanwhile, there are all sorts of animated system checks and scan points that Samus must push with her palm, pull with her hands, or look into to be examined. You will regularly pull backward, twist to the left and then push forward again with the Wii remote to unlock doorways, and using gestures to activate these points doesn't feel gimmicky it all; it's highly immersive.
Eventually, the Flagship Olympus is attacked by Space Pirates and everything goes to hell. As you run through darkening corridors, you will see smaller craft crash into the Olympus, which breaks the airlock and causes troopers to be sucked into space. The environments themselves will become destroyed, creating new walkways and holes for Samus to explore and traverse, with the ultimate goal of getting off the doomed satellite.
The second level of the demo is called SkyTown Elysia and it takes place on another planet entirely - one whose mix or organic and high-tech environments hovers in a spectacular sky setting. The objective is to "get the Aurora back online" and "reach the Seed." The level itself is comprised of a network of hovering railways that Samus can traverse by first locking onto a starting point with her grapple beam and then riding the railway like a dangling rollercoaster. It's awesome. While locked on with your grapple beam, you can look around the environment, target enemies in your path, and blow them away. At certain points, Aran will encounter cannons that, when in morphball form, blast her across chasms so that she may continue onward. Also quite awesome. Eventually, you encounter Steamlord, a huge flying robot that fires green ripple lasers your way. He's surrounded by minions, whom he repairs just as soon as Samus blasts them, so you'll have to take him down immediately.
We had our doubts that Prime 3 would come together. Having spent some quality time with the game, though, it is rapidly becoming our most anticipated Wii project. Retro Studios seems to have nailed the controls and (perhaps more than ever) the atmosphere. We simply cannot wait to see and play more.
That's it ! More previews later. Discuss !
