N-Philes

Page 8

Jordan: I expect Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to be amazing. I really do. Which is why I'm not worried that I didn't see much new; I've got faith that Retro will pull everything off in the end like they did with the orginal Prime. Because I only played for a short time in a virtually empty area, I didn't even get to experience much of the new additions that I already know are in there. I know you can use the grapple beam to rip off enemy shields and I know you can even do that while simultaneously attacking other space pirates. I never got to try this, but even so, flicking the nunchuck attachment to move debris was one of the coolest actions I pulled off in Nintendo's booth.

Aside from that, Prime 3 controls pretty much how we all expected it to. Move around with the analog and aim Samus' arm cannon with the remote. The few enemies I fought were really easy to destroy, as they floated around and I simply waited for their shield to go down before shooting. Like most Wii games, it does take a few minutes of toying around to get used to, but once you do I can imagine this game controlling incredibly well.

Graphically, Metroid looked really nice I thought, but, of course, nowhere near what the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 were showing off. One thing I noticed, though (and it can be said about most Wii games), is that once you start playing and trying to manipulate your character on-screen, the graphics really do take a back seat. Still, atmosphere has always played a big role in the Metroid series, so hopefully Retro can get the game to look better over time.

 

Danny: Thanks to N-Philes PR, I didn't have to wait in line for more than an hour to play this game (demos that weren't time-limited to 5 minutes or less had terribly slow lines, or queues as Rogue would say). Back in September 2005 when the "Revolution" was revealed at TGS, Matt from IGN spoke kind words about a controller demo where Retro retro-fitted Metroid Prime 2 to use the nunchuck Wiimote combo. Almost a year later, I was playing a real next Metroid. Before that, though, I played Red Steel and had a pretty hard time controlling the game. I expected Metroid to be the same way, but it was significantly better. The main problem with Wii FPS control is how to combine aiming and looking/turning in the Wiimote's movement. One extreme makes you dizzy because the movement is way too fast and makes it difficult when you're trying to aim, and another makes it a chore to move and turns the control into a real struggle. Red Steel was more towards the "hard to move" extreme, Elebits was towards the "too fast" extreme, and Metroid was somewhere in the middle.





The demo set me in an easy level where I had to shoot Space Pirates and auto turrets, pull debris out of my way and use door levers with my left hand (nunchuk), and navigate classic morph ball puzzles. Shooting was pretty easy after a while but it still didn't feel better than a mouse and keyboard. Grappling debris and pulling it out of the way with the nunchuk felt gimmicky but still pretty fun, while turning the door lever and seeing Samus' metal-covered hand do what my hand was doing was awesome. The graphics were a modest step from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes with a couple new lighting effects and sharper textures, but according to a recent interview Retro will be focusing on the graphics during the last stretch of development so no one should be worried. This game should turn out great, but hopefully the controls will be very customizable.

To check me out playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, click the link below:

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