Samus' first Wii outing is almost here, and it looks great.
+ Spiffy
Amazing graphics; deep control system; controls add to the experience.
- Iffy
Controls might be confusing to novice players initially.
Nintendo's 3D Metroid series is nearly over. The final chapter in the trilogy is hitting the Wii in late August, and we've just spent the last hour of our first day of the show playing the hell out of it.
All indications are that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will be the best of the three games by far. Retro Studios has been hard at work developing the game and it's really showing just how much effort has been put in.
There's been a lot of thought put into how the Wii's unique control system should function.
For the most part, all of the additions are hugely beneficial to the overall ambience and atmosphere of the already exciting 3D Metroid universe. The idea here is that Retro is trying to get the gamer to think of the nunchuk and remote as substitutes for Samus' arms/weapons.
All of the original features from the series are here. From the get go, you'll have your Arm Cannon, Morph Ball -- complete with bombs -- and your Varia Duit double-jump.
The remote allows you to move your target reticule by pointing at the screen and to further move your field of vision by physically moving the remote left, right, up and down. Couple this with traditional character movement which is performed with the nunchuk's analog stick and you've got a set of
pretty powerful first-person controls which certainly haven't been seen on a home console before.
After a little while, we were able to deftly move run Samus around, while strafing, jumping and shooting like a pro. Adjusting the sensitivity of the controls improved things even further when we tweaked the level from normal to expert -- this essentially made all movement much more twitchy, excellent for veteran FPS gamers.
We dove into the initial level of the game, which as expected served as a tutorial experience.
Unlike the previous two games, you actually get to start the game inside the cockpit of Samus' bounty hunter spacecraft. It's a neat touch and adds a new level of coolness to the Metroid experience. Introducing the player to Samus' weapons involved checking out the scan visor, lock-on targeting system and basic charge-firing of the arm cannon. Getting past the first security door meant we had to scan, lock on and fire at four door-release clasps. This basic action provides the rudimentary basics for all combat in the game.
A loose attempt to explain the plot in the game sees Samus getting involved with a council of other bounty hunters in order to protect a planet from an impending space pirate attack. Her nemesis Dark Samus is all set to make an evil comeback but the real twist here is that our heroine has been exposed to high levels of Phazon which is coursing through her veins. This power can be used to enter a "hyper" mode meaning that Samus does more damage in combat and is more powerful overall, but this comes at a price.
Stay hyped up for too long and you'll be corrupted -- hence the title of the game.
We made our way to an initial meeting of the council of bounty hunters, only to find that the space station we were docked at came under heavy attack by space pirates before we'd really gotten a grasp of the larger picture. After some smaller encounters and strafing victories, we'd already picked up two energy tanks, a missile upgrade and a full level map detailing points of interest.
Not too long after the attack, we'd figured out that we needed to head back to our spacecraft in order to get down to the planet's surface and kick some serious pirate ass. Before we got the hangar, it was boss time -- a large bipedal Phazon monster that scanned as Berserker Lord stood in our way. It was a tough, long, drawn-out fight, but the key was nimble reactions, dodging and a healthy dose of well-placed charge beam shots and missiles. After felling the beast, we boarded the craft and hit the gas towards the planet's surface.
No sooner had we landed than the action began all over again. Tons of pirates poured from the sky in drop ships and assaulted us, but we fought valiantly and won the battle. Or so it seemed. Out of nowhere, we suddenly became pinned down by upgraded flying units that were bent on wiping us out. Just when everything looked like it was over, a fellow bounty hunter swooped in and wasted the ambushers. It was a pretty intense moment.
Our time with the demo had come to an end. We'd acquired the sweet grapple lasso upgrade which let us yank debris from critical paths in our way and also let us disarm shield-wielding foes too. All this and
we'd barely scratched the surface of the game. There's so much to be excited about, not least the excellent controls and silky smooth graphics, and we're convinced that when the final game releases later in August we'll be looking at the best addition to the series so far. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is bringing Nintendo's A game to consumers so be prepared for something very special, very soon.
só deu um misero energy Tank.
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Brutal mesmo
