Tuesday April 27, 2004
another occupational hazard
Written by gatmog at
09:06 PM
Categories:
gaming![[can we expect an engine upgrade, samus?]](http://www.toase.net/gfx/metroidprime2-02.jpg)
The reaction to the scanned Metroid Prime 2 screenshots was like reopening the old wounds sustained when the original was released. With the introduction of multiplayer, it has some riled up enough to call it a "Quake clone" or that it's trying to be Halo. Even the controls scheme itself has been brought back out for public flogging - it seems that a game that looks like a FPS should, in fact, be an FPS. But it should be pretty fucking clear to anyone that's actually played 'Prime that it is not. And as you well know I'm completely happy with the way things turned out.
Along with official screens the new title has been released at Nintendo's site: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I'd say the subtitle is very fitting, given that multiple power suits will be running around in multiplayer mode. Unfortunately the comparisons to Halo don't stop at the multiplayer, either - someone has already compared the mysterious figure in the silver power suit wielding a pulse rifle to the Master Chief. There's always room for interpretation, but give me a break - is every science fiction game since Halo's release going to be compared back to it?
I trust that Retro Studios uses the Metroid universe such that they would at least integrate the multiplayer component into the main game's story. There is probably a very good reason why there's more than one person sporting the power armour - perhaps the Chozo's technological secrets have been unearthed by another force other than the Space Pirates. Maybe it's the Ing, a new race as noted by the official site, who have come to use this technology to fuel their war machine on the planet that hosts Echoes' setting. Once again Samus will have to regain her power suit's upgrades and weapons, and I'm pretty curious to see the reason for losing them this time.
To lay underneath the red sky there
Well, I hope that this time you actually start full-powered and work your way through. Samus is "The Hunter" afterall, and should be feared. It would open up more possibilities, but it might screw with the balance. Eh, we'll see. If anything, as Zero Mission has proved, there's always room for some suitless action (though I hope not... it could end up as monotonous as Red Faction's "stealth" segments).
Although I share some of your sentiments, somehow I doubt it. The tested formula of regaining lost abilities is prevalent even in Symphony of the Night as well as Metroid Prime - the game gives you a taste of what is possible, then takes it away and makes you want to get it back. Personally, I have no problem with this design decision if it's made once again for Echoes. It's the execution that's important - simply asking you to go get your Ice Beam or Gravity Suit back would be a lot more boring if you didn't have to explore incredibly designed worlds or have proper motivations. Take Metroid Fusion, for example, which is probably the best set-up for a Metroid game so far. You're still just trying to get your fully loaded suit back, but you have a pretty compelling reason - you have a full-powered clone of yourself chasing you, while trying to get to the bottom of the X infestation. Similarly, Metroid Prime attributes your loss of powers to a suit malfunction, which takes you to the Chozo world of Tallon IV. While uncovering the mysteries of the ancient society that built your armour in the first place, you're also retrieving your lost abilities. I admit that I really enjoyed the stealth action of the "suitless Samus" level at the end of Metroid: Zero Mission, but it was still fairly superficial when compared to the original game's intent. From what limited visuals we have of Echoes, I can't see any improvement over the engine - 'Prime was pushing the Gamecube when it was released. I have always seen Metroid as an adventure, so the story will be what makes or breaks this game.
