Metroid Prime really brought the Metroid series into full view for me, and it's what sparked my research on the series.
The opening cutscene is the best, ever.
It introduced Phazon, the coolest toxin since the T-Virus.
The weapons were great, especially the Plasma Beam, which has always been my favorite, ever since i found it in Metroid Fusion, the locales were lush and beautiful, or barren and beautiful, depending, and the enemies were fear inspiring creatures, for the most part.
Scarabs sucked.
But i digress.
How, i wondered, could they top that with Metroid Prime 2?
They didn't, but it is just as good.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is so nice, a different start, midpoint and finish even with some of the trappings of the series.
The movement is the same, as are the controls, and most of the general idea is kept....but i was in for a surprise.
The weapons.
Where are Samus' beautiful weapons, the ones that gave her the status of 'walking tank'?
The Wave Beam, the Ice Beam, and the beloved Plasma Beam?
Gone.
All gone.
But replaced with beams derived from the same formula.
Chart;
Light beam = Plasma Beam:
The same effect and art, but colored white.
Dark Beam = Ice Beam:
Again, same effect, different art, it looks like some wierd wheel lacking a rim in normal shot form, and it takes the form of a bunch of dark matter globules in charged form.
It also travels at roughly the same speed as the Ice Beam, which pissed me off during the Adult Chykka battle.
Annhilator Beam = Wave Beam:
Remember the bit where you could activate Power Conduits with the Wave Beam?
Well, the Annhilator activates Sonic systems, making it the Utility beam, just like the Wave.
They also require ammo, which was odd, but i only ran out once in the entire game. <3
Oh yes, they did wisely keep the Power Beam, which, as always, will kick ass when you need it.
The weapons aside, the movement systems are excellent, and the Gravity Boost is especially fun.
When you press B after a Space Jump, you'll rise through the water, and it's required several times.
The Boost function now will propell you from a Spider Ball track, a welcome addition, and, the triumphant return of the masterpiece weapon in the game, the best in all creation...the Screw Attack!
Yes, it's back in almost full glory <3
It can only be used five times in succession UNLESS you're wall jumping, and then it's infinite.
All i have to say is, the controls can be a little messed at times, but it's otherwise good.
The Scanning part of combat and recon was made easier with the fact that you don't have to lock on to a tiny symbol, and can instead lock on to the whole object!
Always nice for when you have difficulty finding the symbol to lock on to.
The enviroment is great fun, too, the first bits are like walking onto the set of Starship Troopers XD
All in all, gameplay is good, but there are a few problems.
The air in Dark Aether is toxic, so in a boss fight, the toxic air + the Boss' attacks can = PWNED.
You have to be fast and good.
The Dark Beam moves slow as shit.
It's difficult to lock on to a constantly moving enemy without possibly getting hit (Hello, Amorbis!) or damaged by the air.
Oh, and if you're bad at First Person combat, you'll fail miserably in this game.
But then, fuck you, why would you buy something you suck at?
That's like signing a contract to be a quarterback when you can't throw the football properly.
Gameplay score:9.7
Sound:
The sound...well, the sound is a mixed bag.
The music can be kind of yawn inspiring at times, though not bad, and especially in Multiplayer is it boring; the only track of interest for combat is "Hunters".
All in all, the music is okay, but not as good as the original.
The sound, the sounds of Aether, on the other hand, are just as good as the original.
The crisp, clear beat of a War Wasp's wings or the sound of an automatic rifle being fired(By a zombie) is something i particularly enjoyed.
Not to mention, each visor has a different accompanying sound, like the original, as does each weapon.
The Power Beam is relatively untouched, while the others sound exotic, genuinely original to the series.
Except, of course, for the Light Beam, which as mentioned before, is a whited out version of the Plasma Beam, and sounds about the same.
The sound of robots moving and attacking(especially the noise of those ceiling crawling things...shit, i can't remember their names), of Preeds exploding, of Space Pirates expressing their displeasure at getting their asses thoroughly kicked, is something that registers a new feeling while retaining that old Metroid magic.
Sound score:8.4
Graphics:Ahhh, now here is a real selling point.
The graphics were something that a lot of people balked at with the original, due to conditioning, being used to 2D, and thinking all of the trappings of said engine would damage the overall feel.
Though, as with the music, not as good as the original, it comes within probably .2 of it.
The main problem i personally had was the fact that some enemies looked radically different.
I mean, the Space Pirates went from being semi-anthropormorphized bugs, lean, mean, evil son of a bitching death machines, to beetles that vaguely resemble Mr. Crow from UT2003.
And what kind of a retarded race has a heart outside of their carapace?
Aside from that, the enviromental graphics...well, one can't say they're better or worse, but rather, different.
I mean, with Tallon IV, they had to portray a biological paradise run rampant with destruction, but still relatively intact as a whole.
With Aether and Dark Aether, they had to portray a biological paradise and a civilization brought low by war, barely even the same, and a horrible, toxic wasteland full of monsters bent on the destruction or assimilation of all other species.
They really portrayed the poisonous world well, with the very air being full of purple mist(Dark Matter wind, basically), and the trees and water rotten, degenerate and toxic.
In that, they did a wonderful job.
So to say that they did graphically worse than the original is wrong.
My only problem was the changing of the Space Pirates and some other enemies, nothing else.
Graphics score:9.8
In closing, i would like to say that Retro delivered excellent multiplayer, with six different enviroments and all the weapons from the game.
Thank you, it's been a really historic moment for the series, getting it's first Multiplayer, and you delivered it well.