Back in 2002, many skeptics were afraid that bringing Metroid into the third dimension could be a disastrous thing. I was one of those skeptics.

Being the old-school gamer that I am, my list of all-time favorite games is largely comprised of classics from the SNES era. Thus, to say that Super Metroid is one of my favorite games of all time is clearly an understatement. Absolute perfection in platforming form, Super Metroid took a fairly mediocre series and turned it into a work of art. So, creating a format that would evolve the series into 3D seemed daunting, if not impossible. Retro Studios, a second party developer for Nintendo, took the task personally upon themselves and what ensued was a game that blew away any and all expectations.

Metroid Prime was one of the major reasons to own a GameCube and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes followed in its footsteps to bring a longer, darker, more difficult version of the game. Now, Nintendo’s bounty hunter babe Samus Aran is finally closing out the Prime trilogy in flying colors on the Nintendo Wii. As the unique “first person adventure” can obviously garner further polish from the control capabilities of the Wii, this game looks to be a true masterpiece. But does it hold up to all of the hype?

Prime Time

Before launch time, the Wii looked to have a slew of launch titles that would blow away the competition. As Wiis hit the shelves, people began to find out that fully using the Wii’s functionality would take a little longer than wii’d expected (I know, that pun got old last year). For instance, the hit title, The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess was an excellent game, but it didn’t really show off the Wii’s capabilities aside from a polished fishing game and the ability to precisely aim your precious items. Also, people drooled over the idea of having an FPS that controlled like a mouse using the Wii’s controls but at launch we were given Red Steel and Call of Duty 3, two games that just felt a bit sluggish and certainly didn’t give you the control of a PC shooter.

Thus, we’ve been waiting for the time where a game would show some of the more interesting and intuitive ways to use the Wii’s special control scheme, and also a time when someone would create an FPS system that actually functioned well on the Wii. Metroid Prime 3 succeeds in both of these tasks by providing you with a cohesive control scheme (but still not perfect by any means) and some very clever ways to implement Wii controls giving the player more “control” of their game. Examples of clever implementation include small puzzles that use subtle Wii controls such as twisting the Wii-Mote to crack locks, pull levers, push buttons, and weld wires. Each of these intuitive control uses pulls you further into the game and adds to the overall realism.

Also, Retro has succeeded in providing some other more noticeable additions to the control scheme using the Wii controls (aside from the obvious aiming improvements). The first of these involves using the Nunchuk’s motion sensors. After locking on to a target, players can thrust the nunchuck forward to project Samus’s grapple beam. This allows you to not only grapple across holes but even use your beam while in combat to pull off enemy shields or move parts of the environment.

Another improvement helps to make Morph Ball navigation swift and fluent. By thrusting the Wii-Mote upwards, you can perform a ball jump technique that allows you to quickly move through morph ball regions; don’t worry, though, you’ll still have to use the heralded bomb jump to reach some remote powerups. Overall, these subtleties help to prevent monotony in the game’s flow, making the game feel more like and adventure than an action FPS.

Move to Improve

As for aiming your beloved blaster, Retro has succeeded in making the Prime combat system even better. As opposed to the previous track record of Wii FPS titles, Corruption’s controls are actually quite responsive and further approach the feel of a PC mouse. However, you won’t notice the improvement unless you change the aim option to advanced mode. Though there is still the problem of not being able to perform a 180 in an effective manner, Prime’s controls make up for this with its lock on feature (that has been essential in the last two games). Once locked on to an enemy, you can quickly dash left or right in order to move frantically during hectic moments and pull yourself out of a dire situation. Also added to the lock-on system is the ability to freely shoot other targets around Samus’s current lock. This increases the difficulty by forcing players to improve their aim but at the same time it makes disposing of foes a much easier task if you’re skilled enough.

Weapon upgrades are always an essential part of the Metroid series and previous Prime titles made use of the plethora of buttons on current console controllers, giving players a variety of weapons and techniques at their disposal. In Corruption, however, button quantity is far scarcer using a Wii-Mote and Nunchuk. Retro solves this problem by making beam and missile upgrades actual enhancements rather than further weapon choices. So, if you get the plasma beam or the ice missiles, each upgrades your current charge beam and missiles respectively. Rather than allowing players to choose the most effective weapon for their foes as was the case in previous Prime titles, Corruption helps keep the combat flowing by giving you less weapon choices. As for the visors, choosing one is as easy as holding down the minus button and pointing the cursor at your desired choice.

I do have a complaint about the combat system, though it is very minor and more of a preferential criticism if anything. My complaint involves the existence (or lack) of gun combo upgrades. In previous Prime games you could find additional upgrades for each individual gun providing a variety of massive attacks at your disposal. For instance, you can upgrade your original charge beam to use Super Missiles or upgrade your plasma beam to unleash a flamethrower (at the cost of your missile supply). In Corruption, the lack of weapon choice comes at the price of not including these upgrades in the game.

To make up for these upgrades Corruption does provide the combat enhancement, “hypermode” where Samus taps into the phazon corruption within her body and allows her to unleash powerful attacks and be invulnerable at the cost of an energy tank. Upgrades to hypermode allow Samus to perform other super attacks while corrupted (initially you can just shoot your gun). I personally loved hypermode because with enough skill, corruption can last for almost an entire minute whilst you rock your opponents and gain all of your life back in the process. However, once I mastered the technique, the game immediately dropped in difficulty. In fact, aside from the last boss, I found this game to be a walk in the park compared to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which was a little bit disappointing.

More Than Meets the Eye

While the game’s intuitive control scheme is obviously the biggest improvement to the series, this game also sports some other notable enhancements. For one, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous. It’s easy to see the difference in graphical power between a GameCube and a Wii if you compare Corruption to either of the first two installments in the series. Also, the environments are as scenic as ever from tribal planets to futuristic sky towns to abandoned space stations. If you were looking for a nominee for current best graphics on the Wii, Corruption would take the cake with its detailed art and pop-in absence.

With all of the impressive graphics and environments, it’s amazing that this game still runs at 60 frames per second. I never experienced an ounce of slowdown in my entire session of gameplay, even amongst some highly intense battles. However, all of these graphical triumphs do come at a price: a few times throughout my journey I was forced to wait for extended periods of time just for a door to open between rooms. It is nice that these doors encompass any load times throughout your journey but when you’re forced to wait as much as 20 seconds, it can ruin the flow of the game and even be a further nuisance if you’re attempting to escape a room without fighting the enemies within.

As for the soundtrack, it’s equally as amazing as the game’s appearance and Retro made sure to further the series’ tenure of providing eerie music to strengthen the mood. The music fits seamlessly throughout your adventure in a marvelously atmospheric soundtrack that rivals that of the original Prime. Plus, there are a few remixed songs from Super Metroid and the original Metroid Prime to add a sense of nostalgia to the mix. Sound effects are equally appealing and voice acting is strong throughout the title. All in all, the game’s presentation aspects are truly legendary aside from…

Progressive Corruption

My biggest complaint about the game involves its progression. Not true to the Metroid series, this game holds your hand throughout its entirety (much like Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance). Don’t get me wrong, this can be good at times, but in my opinion, the defining factor that separates Metroid from the other platforming/adventure/FPS/whatever titles out there is the fact that it forces you to explore meticulously throughout the environment at hand. Sure there was a hint system in Prime 1 & 2 and you can turn it off in all three of the games but in neither of the first two titles did you have Aurora units and generals commanding you throughout the game (or at any time through the game for that matter).

And that’s another point that makes this game feel like less of a Metroid game than any of the previous ones: amongst all of the interaction that Samus has with other humans and creatures, Corruption never gives you a sense of being lost in an unknown environment. In fact, your ability to move from planet to planet via your ship takes away this feeling entirely. Don’t get me wrong, moving around on your ship does prevent a lot of needless backtracking; it’s the fact that it takes away the ability to interconnect areas (which was one of the coolest parts of previous Metroid titles in my opinion) that makes this game feel less like Metroid.

Call me crazy but one of the parts of Metroid’s format that appeals most to me is the eerie thought of being stuck in a place where the only answers arise as you explore further into the wilderness. And as the epic galactic space war continued throughout Corruption—generals barking orders, troops and other bounty hunters being sent to help Samus with her mission, ships fighting off hordes of space pirates—I sometimes found myself wondering whether Retro was portraying this game as action or adventure (the latter being more suitable for a Metroid title).

I’m Having a (Morph) Ball

Despite my personal opinions about the game’s format, I still had a blast playing through this game. Getting all of the upgrades and playing through on Veteran were musts for me on my first time through and after seeing the last area and defeating the last boss, I can say that I am very satisfied with Samus’s first debut on the Wii. Whether or not we’ll see another title in the near future is yet to be determined but until then, Wii owners have another solid title to add to their library. Highly Recommended.