This game is massively unplayable... I just loaded it up for the first time and can't understand how anyone played it with the controls. What were they thinking with this ridiculous lock-on and no free-look? Isn't the C-stick a second analog stick, or is it just an arcade stick? That would start to explain the insanity of Prime's control scheme... but still...

Am I crazy, or is this game terrible just because of it's controls? The rest of it seems really good, but I'm totally unable to play it.

You can see your reflection in your visor. It is the Citizen Kane of video games.

I like how any game not released in the past five years is "massively unplayable".

On the one hand, that's not what the guy's saying.

On the other hand what the guy is saying is just plain wrong so I ask myself why bother defending a misinterpretation of what he's saying?

I know, but I've seen a couple of comments like that, recently. Somebody said the same thing about BioShock, a game that, last I checked, was actually quite playable.

Get used to them. This is one og yhe greatest games of all time, you're sorely misding out on the controls that are different, not bad.

Editing this in a minute.

Not if I quote you first! Metroid Prime is great, if you can't get past the controls being slightly different from a standard FPS then go play something worse.

I'm not going to say that Prime was completely unclunky even back in the day, but the game is built around those controls, and it's a fantastic game. Great level design, puzzles, etc. At the time is was incredibly atmospheric, and was a great example of telling a story in a game without any dialog. Okay, I guess there are the scanner logs, but you know what I mean!

The game was brilliant when it came out, and it still is. If you wanna dissect a shitty Metroid game, let's start with Other M, shall we?

So's Metroid Prime. In fact this is making me want to go play it right now.

But mostly I was just recounting my thoughts as I looked at your comment. I thought that it was odd I felt so compelled to correct you, under the circumstances...
What I'm saying is one could consider my previous comment to be an examination of the human condition. It was performance art.
Or perhaps I'm just another internet guy who's a bit anal about stuff like that.

Loved this game, still love it, I'll fight you.

Well, what if I go and tell the OP that Metroid Prime controls weirdly because it's a slower-paced game that's focused on exploring, not twitch-shooting a bunch of guys in the middle of a battlefield like a Halo or a Doom or whatever? And that if he's expecting the latter, that's not quite what he's going to get? And that the term first person adventure is kinda dumb, but I'll be damned if it doesn't fit this game's weirdness to a T?

Don't get me wrong, I would like to see the game playable with a mouse and keyboard or a more standard FPS control scheme, but there are no problems with the one it has. At no point does it feel like the controls are working against you or like they were used as a crutch to make the game harder or whatever. No, instead many bosses take place in a circular area and the combat centers around dashing around your enemy while solving the boss's puzzle. Many regular enemies revolve around you revolving around them, too.

Even if, say, they chose a lock-on system because every FPS on consoles except Halo controlled terribly at the time, they have used what they have incredibly well.

If it really, really bugs you, try to get a hold of the Prime Trilogy on the Wii, which has a traditional Wii shooter control scheme. But really, duder. Use this one. It's as perfect as the rest of the game is, just different and weird. And this game is definitely different and weird and interesting in some brilliant ways, so stick with it. You will not be sorry. And if you are sorry, then God help your poor, depraved soul, because clearly you don't enjoy good things.

As a complete aside, I was going to edit that post because I woke up from a nap and checked GB on my phone, not planning to post anything.

I didn't like the controls at the time so I get that, especially now, but don't say unplayable please. Tired of hearing hyperbole man. Saw someone in another thread say the gameplay part of a game was "amazing" but because he didn't like parts of the story it was "Hot garbage"

People were flipping out and jumping out of windows with hysteria. I bought it a couple years later, but before I became a 2D Metroid fan. Wasn't too into it but maybe it's time for another shot.

As a disclaimer, I really liked Other M.

@believer258: I wasn't saying anything counter to Metroid Prime being awesome, other than that; carry on. A good thing to do on forums to irritate people is quote them when they say something they'll regret and say "saved" before they delete it. Obviously all you had was a typo and I was just being silly.

I think I just realized the TRUE reason why Metroid Prime has the name Metroid Prime. Because it's the PRIME Metroid game. I mean, it has "Prime" right in the name!

Super Metroid mayne.

It has a reflection system. Deus ex doesnt even have that!

It may be super, but it ain't PRIME.

Ah, it was a misunderstanding. I wasn't concerned about the typos, I had more to say on my phone and kinda thought you were quoting me to say several things of your own. Then I thought "well, what if I expand on what he said?"

Ooooops.

gahhhh quiet down.

Super Metroid is the better game, but when you're getting to this level of sheer brilliant quality then it kinda doesn't matter. Both are unbelievably "Prime" or "Super" or whatever adjective you want to bring up. I know mooseymcman is being silly but I've already typed this so whatever.

I do genuinely like Prime more, but I played that first, usually like polygonal games more than 2D ones, etc. Also, yes. Silliness.

It is one of my favorites. One of the best I've ever played. The controls might feel weird in comparison to FPS, but they fit the game perfectly and its all designed around them very well. Give it a chance and you'll see, it's just a PRIME game. :P

Nah yeah I'm playing.

But I think the fact that you didn't play Super when it came out makes you miss out on why it was so amazing, to be honest. It was pretty mindblowing at the time and its amazing how forward thinking it was with a lot of things, like how it told story naturally and pushes you to learn how to play without being hand holdy.

Sorry to fly off the rails!

@artisanbreads: Yeah, totally. I just don't like it as much as Prime. From the point of view of already having played Prime 1, Prime 2, Fusion, and the original Metroid (maybe Zero Mission too, I don't remember exactly), Super Metroid wasn't the mind blowing experience it was for so many others. Still a great game though.

Well, I guess a lot of people played the original Metroid before Super as well. For the record, I have not played Metroid 2.

I remember it taking maybe 1/2 an hour to get used to the controls first time I played Prime. After the initial awkwardness, everything was gold. This person is the reason game developers don't take chances anymore.

Metroid Prime 1 might probably be my favourite game of all time, but I'm benevolent and won't punish you this time. You can thank me whenever you want

Metroid Prime's controls have always been insane, but people loved it when it came out. The Wii version is probably more playable.

@believer258: I think Super Metroid is too different from Prime to be directly compared; Metroid Prime is a game like Myst crossed with an FPS and Zelda; whilst Super Metroid is merely the best platformer of all time.

Metroid Prime is one of my favorite games of the past 10 years, yet I still yearn for another 2D Metroid game.

When it came out? It was considered one of the greatest games of all time. It won numerous game of the year awards, and quite a few sites and people claim it is the best game on the Gamecube if not the best game of that entire generation. As a couple other people have said, try getting hold of the Wii version if you want more standard controls. They updated it and 2 with standard shooter controls using the WiiMote. I've honestly never played it and I have my doubts that it holds up as well as some people here are saying but the Wii version is at least an option if you are willing to pay the price.

Also, to put it in perspective, when Metroid Prime came out the dual analogue shooter had only just been invented by Halo. Up to that point the gold standard for console shooters was Perfect Dark on the N64 (Or Goldeneye depending on your preferences). And if you think Metroid Prime is unplayable, try playing one of those. Anyways, Halo had only just come out so the whole concept of dual analogue controls was really new and no one else had really done it all that well. Shooters were still considered mainly a PC genre. Call of Duty was still PC only. Half Life, Unreal, Far Cry, Doom and so forth were all only on PC. The PS2 controller was terrible for shooters because of its loose analogue sticks, and the Gamecube controller was just not set up well for dual analogue gameplay. So looking back at it today, yea, normal dual analogue controls seems like a no brainer, but the entire idea of having a good FPS on a console was still so new at the time that I'm sure Retro didn't feel confident it would work. If you recall (or maybe not) GTA on PS2 also had lock on controls without the now standard aiming mechanics. It was Saints Row on the 360 that first put third person shooter controls into an open world game. Shooters on consoles are so ubiquitous now that it can be hard to remember that it was really only this generation that they became the force that they are and that is only because Call of Duty 4 was such a major hit. People love to hate on COD these days, but COD4 pretty much defined this generation of consoles. The AAA shooter would simply not exist in its current form without that game. Enough history, though. The answer to your question is that it was a huge success at the time.

I also loved this game, I also still love this game, I will join her in her quest to fight you. Come at us.

But seriously, I was a PS2 person but I remember playing this game and thinking it was worth buying a Gamecube for. Luckily, I just let my friend borrow my PS2 and I borrowed his Gamecube.

Never played the Metroid games as a kid, Prime was the first one I played and I thought it was fantastic.

Well, actually... Half Life, Unreal, and Doom all had console versions well before Metroid Prime came out and Call of Duty and Far Cry hadn't been released yet. I think.

I'm not sure why I'm all nitpicky today.

Well, actually... Half Life, Unreal, and Doom all had console versions well before Metroid Prime came out and Call of Duty and Far Cry hadn't been released yet. I think.

I'm not sure why I'm all nitpicky today.

I had to have been in 7th or 8th grade when it came out and I loved it. Such an immersive game. I do remember the controls being a pain in the ass, but I also remember it being something that you kind of just got used to.

@pyromagnestir: I'm aware of that. I meant the upcoming versions (or first iterations) of the franchises were PC only, as in Half Life 2, Unreal Tournament 2003, Far Cry, Call of Duty and Doom 3. They hadn't been released but were only announced for PC and none of them ended up coming to the Gamecube and only Call of Duty came to the PS2. The rest did eventually see an Xbox version (except for Unreal which had its own series in Unreal Championship) but the point is that no one was doing shooters on consoles and especially not on the Gamecube.

This was the main point here... no riffs against the game otherwise it seems to be amazing in terms of design. However, not having freelook is crippling.

You know what FPS had different controls but still had good ones? Killer7. Say what you want about the game but it wasn't impossible to control it. The issue is not difference in controls, but general clunkyness.

I enjoy many games that are not about twitch shooting... I don't really enjoy the ones that are that much. However, there is no reason why you should not be able to turn at a good rate in an exploration game.

None of these relate to the controls... I said right in the OP that everything besides them seems great... I guess people just read thread titles and autorage.

While I don't agree completely with your argument that good console FPS controls were too new to be in Prime (I think GoldenEye controls way better than Prime), I'll admit that you've convinced me (along with some of the saner responses in this thread. I'm going to take another crack at the game, I think I'll try the GC version again before buying the Wii one. The one thing I don't understand (It would be great if someone could clarify) is how the Wii could have standard shooter controls. Doesn't it only have one analog stick?

@wgoldie: Yo uh...dawg? I don't actually want to fight you. I, and I'm assuming @artelinarose as well, was joking about that. Chill.

@wgoldie: Maybe you should change the thread title.

Actually, they do. Other M had this shitty thing where you had to use the Wiimote you were holding sideays to shoot missiles by aiming it like a lightgun. So yeah.

The controls took some getting used to, and the game does not hold up as a classic like Super Metriod, but it is still a great game. They captured the atmosphere fantastically which was most important. Taking a 2D game to full 3D like they did is an amazing accomplishment.

@wgoldie: The Wii mote is motion controlled. You move the Wii mote like you would a remote control at the screen.

Personally, I hate this, but most people seem to be fine with it.

Also, let me give you some advice, from personal experience. If you make a thread with a strong opinion as the premise, DO NOT start quoting everyone who disagrees with you and lambasting them for why they're wrong. Never come out swinging, it always ends with people writing you off as an asshole.

lol, glad i'm not the only one. This was one of the games i bought a gamecube for, threw it in and it was one of the worst games i'd ever played in my life. And this was back when it was relatively new, game was seriously overrated in my opinion.