The Official Metroid Prime 3 Reviews Thread

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Well, I can say that I have now seen... AND played Metroid 3 - in AUSTRALIA.

Yes - my friend modded his Wii, and the game runs fine. There were some initial scares, but he eventally just went for it. From what we can gather, the new firmware does NOT brick modded Wiis at all.

...

Anyway - my impressions of the game (my friend was 6% through, so this is the area we played):

GFX - it starts off looking like an enhanced GC title, but gets more and more impressive as you play it more. The geometry definitely stands out, and the textures are well varied, colourful and well done. What impressed me the most was the rock-solid 60fps frame rate. Its fantastic having a game that looks this good, run so smoothly - all of the time.

The more you play it, the more you will be impressed. Little effects everywhere. Lots of reflections. Nice bloom lighting. Swarms of flying enemies, nice particle effects, etc.

I thought some of the enemies looked poor - sort of plastic, and out of place. And my friend swears that the animation of the enemies bites (he is a professional game animator, so I take his word for it - but then he says that Bioshock anims are even worse).

Its obviously based on the same engine that Echoes uses - and the map and some other sections look unchanged.

I didn't think that bump mapping was used (much - or even at all), and that it would have added a lot to the environments. The lighting was nice without being mindblowing. Not a lot of local lights, or obvious lighting effects from weapons (etc..).

Still - it looks great, and easily the prettiest Wii game IMO. I was watching this on a LARGE LCD display, so it had jaggies and isn't exactly the best display for a Wii title (would look better on my TV IMO).

 

CONTROLS - Natural is the word I would use. I was playing Red Steel a couple of days ago, and the controls in that felt 'ok' - but I was fighting them. Never in this. Looking around and aiming was so easily - I was circle strafing & aiming within 20seconds of getting the Wiimote in my greasy little paw :)

Switching visors rocks - its so easy & natural. I also wonder if they were forced to use stackable beams because they ran out of buttons... maybe.

Never been a fan of dual shock/analog - part of the reason I moved away from FPS titles on consoles. There is no comparison - this feels exactly how a Wii aiming/Metroid game should feel - and its great.

 

GAMEPLAY - only saw/played for a few minutes, but the game is obviously still Metroid. I can see how this would either be a good or bad thing to people. Dislike Metroid - and you won't like this. Love it - and you should, although the game does appear less "hard-core" than previous titles (simple because it is harder to get lost, and easier to get around - thanks to your ship).

(complaining its less fun is a little like saying that a game has been ruined because checkpoints have been added - and there was less backtracking if you died).

Its obviously got a lot of new stuff versus the old Metroid games. The context actions looked/worked great (grabbing/ripping panels off). Its great seeing enemies use pretty laser whips.

My friend (who is ultra picky - and owns a 360 & PS3) loves it. He played the first Ridley Boss, and loved that as well. He also has Bioshock, and was playing Metroid instead (he might be sick of Bioshock by now - he likes it without loving it I think).

 

Two summary points:

 

1/ Played enough of it now. Can't wait for my real copy. I will also be buying a new TV (720p Plasma) to play the game on. That should be some indication of how I view it.

2/ I can understand some of the harsher reviews now. That doesn't mean I agree with them - the game isn't perfect, but its really, really awesome - and a 9.5/10 for me at this stage. But I can see how someone could make their comments. Much of it comes down to whether you like a "Metroid styled" game in the first place.

(I also think it shows they have only played the first few hours of the game and stopped in many cases - esp. Variety :>)