Enemies can almost all be locked onto, removing the focus on precision aiming. Because it doesn’t rely on visible light, it is also helpful for navigating pitch black areas, and will highlight enemies (assuming of course that they give off heat).Ĭombat meanwhile, while it may look like a traditional first-person-shooter, is less about running and gunning than it is about correctly applying the right weapon to the situation. When paired with the electrically charged wave beam, the thermal visor can then be used to identify and charge these conduits. For example the thermal visor can help detect the heat coming from conduits behind walls. These generally have multiple applications as well, both in combat and in exploration. As you progress other visors will also become available. And circumventing these obstacles requires Samus to investigate and use her knowledge of her own abilities rather than simply match the color of the gun to the door. While the color coded doors indicative of the entire franchise are indeed here in full force, progress more often feels naturally gated by legitimate environmental conditions. For example the material composition of a structure may prove weak to a certain weapon which can clue you in to solving a room or indicate that you’ll need to come back later with the appropriate tools. Some of this information will be vital to solving puzzles. It allows her to download data from computer terminals, while also translating archeological findings. By making use of her scan visor, Samus is able to catalog flora and fauna, in addition to structural and environmental elements of her surroundings.

Samus’s role in the Prime series (more-so than it is in any of the mainline Metroid titles) is that of an investigator. Yes there is certainly combat, but calling Metroid Prime a first-person-shooter both undersells its scope, while also setting up an expectation that won’t be met by its combat. The change in perspective grants it a feeling not dissimilar from classic first-person adventure games like Myst or Riven.

Metroid Prime takes Super Metroid (the most recent Metroid at the time of its release) and brings it into 3D by adapting the sidescrolling Metroidvania format into a first-person perspective. Given Metroid Dread’s position as the best selling game in the series (a title it took from Prime itself) I suspect many who were introduced to the series with Dread will be playing Prime for the first time via this remaster. Calling this a remaster, as the title screen so humbly does, vastly undersells the visual overhaul Metroid Prime has received.īut before digging into the technical details, it is important to address how Metroid Prime itself holds up in terms of game design decades after its original release. Instead, Retro Studios, with the help of an onslaught of support studios, has rebuilt everything in Metroid Prime to modern standards. For this reason, it would have been easy to remaster it with a simple texture update and a bump to 1080p, much like Tantalus has done with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. Because of this it's generally considered one of the games of that era that has aged the best. Metroid Prime presented its intricate puzzle box with a degree of micro-detail none of us had seen before. As you descended to the surface of Tallon IV rain splashed off Samus’s gun and collected on her visor. The bodies of Space Pirates, each scannable to determine cause of death as you pieced together the mystery of what happened here. A giant creature laying in the middle of the room that you simply had to hope was dead. It wasn’t just because it was dark, it was because everything about the atmosphere was convincing. Entering the abandoned Space Pirate frigate, I was terrified. I mean realistic in the sense that the world felt tangible. And I don’t necessarily mean realistic in the sense of being photoreal. When the original Metroid Prime released on Gamecube, it was one of the most immersive and realistic games I’d ever played.

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