| Metroid Prime Metroid Prime is the first game in the classic series since the release of Super Metroid in 1994 on the SNES. In it you play bounty hunter Samus Aran, and for the first time in the series it puts you in a first person perspective, right in Samus' visor. Her HUD displays all the vital information you need, such as how much energy you have, how many energy tanks you have, what visor you are currently wearing, the number of missiles currently in your inventory, etc. Choosing to put you in her visor instead of a traditional first person view works very effectively and is definitely more immersive than in other first person games. Anyway, you begin the game docking your Hunter class ship on a Space Pirate Vessel as it orbits the planet Tallon IV. It's here you notice how awesome the graphics are. Prime definitely has some of the best graphics on any system to date. But I'm getting off subject. Samus been sent here to find out what's going on, and of course it's not good. Eventually, as you make your way through the ship and defeat the enemies and boss inside it starts to blow up and you land on Tallon IV, stripped of most of your equipment. It's up to you to find and recover the upgrades needed to successfully complete your adventure, unravel the mystery of the planet and how it's inhabitants, the Chozo, dissapeared, as well as fulfill a prophecy.Two visors start you out on your journey, the Combat Visor and Scanning Visor. The Combat Visor is the standard view for most of the game that displays all the vital information. Wonderful effects bombard your visor as you make your way through the world of Tallon IV. Raindrops splash off of your beam weapons and patter onto your visor. Enemy innards are spewed against your visor as you incenerate their bodies, lava floods down your visor, static washes in it, and water vapor steams onto it too, all beautifully rendered. Activating the Scan Visor brings up a small magnifying rectangular reticule in the middle of your visor. You can use this to scan your surroundings and download information to your suit about the environment, creatures, equipment, Chozo Lore, Space Pirate Data and much more. You have only one weapon at the beginning of the game, your Power Beam.You use it to unlock doors and kill bad guys, but eventually you unlock three more beam weapons as well as the ability to charge up your beam weapons, missiles, missile combos, different bombs for your Morph Ball, more suits that increase defense and abilities and so on. Also for the taking are missile, bomb, and energy tank expansions. You'll need to collect as many as you can if you want to survive all of the enemies and challenges you'll be facing. It's a magnificent blend of adventure and first person shooting, though it has more in common with Zelda than it does Halo. Let's find out how this works out. Graphics- This is probably the best looking game on the Cube, and one of the best on any system. All of the effects that flood your visor, the bending of the world when you fire up a charged beam shot, and the vast array of creatures look fantastic. Each time you get a new weapon you're like "holy shaz, this thing's sweet!," 'cause it looks so awesome. And getting a new suit is even sweeter, because each one looks better than the last. All of the environments are creative and wonderfully designed, bringing to life the crust of Tallon IV. Space Pirates and Metroids are so lifelike and scary it's not even funny. The visor effects are great touches that make it feel as if you are in Samus' suit. Boss battles are gorgeous and epic. This game has the most eye candy I've ever seen. It makes Halo look like the original Doom. next-> |