Metroid Prime is everything you'd expect from a metroid game.
A lot of people expressed concern over a 3D metroid. It just looked like a run of the mill first-person shooter. But let me remind you something; the original metroid looked like a 2D action game, but played like an adventure. This took that same concept, but upgraded it a generation. Now action games are generally first-person shooters, which metroid resembles, but it still playes like metroid. You still explore a planet in a vaguely linear fashion with missile packs, life paks, and other upgrades spread about your adventure. Even the little spiky guys who circle platforms are back. Same with the original metroid music. So rest assured Metroid is still Metroid.
The autotargetting works real well, which is nice because it makes you feel like a badass without having to do as much work. Which is not to say the game is easy. Some of it is, but osme of it is really hard, and I have't even attempted hard mode yet. One thing that people have mixed reactions about is scan mode. I like it as a means of scoping out a room for secrets and what not, but I've heard that scanning superfluous things is taken into account when going for the 100%, which is not cool. I mean if you want to know what every friggin computer screen says be my guest, but I don't think it should be considered for 100%, because it's not really an object or anything to help you on your journey. I didn't mind it too much because I was never one to go for the 100%. I can't fathom doing it without a walkthrough, and doing it with a walkthrough sounds like a chore. so what if you get a better ending? You could use that time to get a job, make money, and fly to europe and meet a beautiful french woman. That's about how much time it'd take you to find the 100% without a walkthrough.
The visuals are real nice. i'm not a techy when it comes to graphics and sound (which is why I rarely mention them in my reviews), but metroid did look nice and ran real smooth. I also liked how the cutscenes were real brief and used the in-game engine. Ridely flying over the ice canvas and casting his shadow was particularly woundrous. And the game's visuals are pretty inventive. Like the sunken ship, and chozo temples. Parts of the game had a Myst-like quality to them, but it is an action game, so not everyhwere can keep up that level of wonder. most of the tunnels and hallways are decent enough, but nothing too spectacular. Still, considering they had to upgrade Metroid to the third dimension is looks very metroid-ish.
I did have one pretty big problem with metroid prime though. And that is the pacing. They show off too much too soon. The first half of metroid prime was quite possibly the greatest video game I'd played (or very close to it), and the reason I got a GC. But after that there's a lot of backtracking and you get to see new stuff less and less. by the time I was about 75% through the game I had seen just about everything save the final 2 bosses, but still had to run all over the planet collecting stuff. And there was one occasion where I missed an object and had to travel clear to the other end of the game to collect it, a task that took 45 min which I recieved little to no joy from. Backtracking is fine if there's a whole new area to open up, but if you have to walk clear to the other end of the game to open a small room and get a new gun or something it just feels like the designer's are trying to drag the game out. And it's not that the game map is too small. It's pretty huge actually, but they coulda paced it a little better.
If you were never one for the older metroid games then metroid prime will not change your mind. One problem I always had with the series is that the "puzzles" aren't really puzzles, but just close observation. that's still true here. It's nothing new, but if you dig metroid then metroid prime more than lives up to what metroid can be. I look forward to metroid prime 2 later this year.
9/10
up Donnie"
