Metroid Prime 3 is simply one of the best games of all time
The Good:
- Perfect controls
- Beautiful artistic graphics and great soundtrack
- Great voice acting
- Superb boss battles
The Bad:
- Doors still take about 10 seconds to open
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After much, and i mean very much hype Metroid Prime 3: Corruption the latest game in the long running saga is here, courtesy of Retro Studios, the developers of the previous 2 games. Did it deliver? Yes. Was all the hype worthy? Yes. The last two games of the franchise are two of the best games ever, and Metroid Prime 3 is worthy of the legacy.
The story tells that Samus Aran, the beautiful space bounty hunter and some others friends are sent by the galactic federation to repair a computer infected with a virus, while doing so they get attacked by Samus' nemesis Dark Samus. During the attack she and the other hunters get corrupted with Phazon, providing them with new powers; these will be very useful during the adventure. With the risk of spoiling certain plot twist im going to stop there, all i can say is that her mission will take her to numerous places to destroy seeds and stop the corruption in the universe, and i have to give the story two thumbs up. The game is very story driven, it tells parts of the story by very impressive cutscenes, but you 'll also have to scan certain things on the planets to learn more.
The controls are perfect, the gameplay is easily one of the best for a FPS, in fact i dare to say that they're the very best console FPS controls. The normal controls are basically the same used by games like Red Steel, but even better. However the best control scheme is the advance control setting, thats the one i recommend for any hardcore Metroid players. You shoot with A and lock on enemies with the Z button but you can also freely move the targeting reticle during this. The different visors you get during the game are chosen by holding the "minus" button and chosing the one you want on the screen, it works great but you'll need some practice to do it. To enter hypermode (Samus' corrupted stage) you need to hold the "plus" button, but this last a certain period of time, so you can't use it for long. If you don't like it then you can change the buttons interface in the options menu. You’ll be glad to know that the motion controls work perfectly for every action. There are constant upgrades during the game, like the plasma beam and the grapple and it's great, you can progress without the fear of loosing them later.
There are all kinds of environmental puzzles classic of the series, but for this one, they're even better; you'll need to scan everything to find out what to do next. There's also tons and tons of enemies in Corruption, from the classic Space pirates, to new ones, and while they're not as hard as they look, it still is enjoyable to shoot them. The boss fights are some of the best in recent history, they're not hard, but they sure are enjoyable and they make you use your different abilities.
Graphically Corruption is amazing, it’s an upgrade from the previous game. Artistically it's one of the best looking games of all time; all the planets you visitt look wonderful and the lighting effects are superb, there are also other effects worth noticing like Samus' reflections in her visor, also other things like the lava and the water look superb and there are tons of little details that make this a beautiful game.
Technologically is a step over the last one, there are some clean looking textures and overall it looks great. The soundtrack is also superb and it helps to keep you in the atmosphere of the game. There's also voice acting, yes voice acting in a Nintendo game and it's great. The cast includes the likes of Chris Sabat (Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z) as the hunter Rundas. The game also includes an archivement system were you get tokens by scanning certain things like enemies or lore, you can buy extras with these tokens such as concept art, stickers for the ship and music from the soundtrack or you can trade them with a friend via the Wiiconnect 24 and it's good, makes you feel a sense of accomplishment during the game.
So far so good, the game has incredible graphics, music, voice acting, boss fighting and its incredibly deep in the atmosphere, though there’s a constantly annoying thing: The doors, they take too long to open and sometimes they'll leave you waiting for at least 15 seconds. Other than that the game is amazing.
The fact that it doesn’t have multiplayer doesn’t hurt this game, after all Metroid has never been about multiplayer experiences and this will last you a good 15-20 hours anyway. And you’ll comeback for more and more, it’s that good, it’s probably the best game in the series, a worthy get for all of those with a Wii and one of the best games of all time.