METROID PRIME Review - 9.8 from IGN! (1 Viewer)

[Morgan Jolley]

For TS2, I have it set up so if I press the aim button to go into Aim mode, it changes it so one joystick controls my body movement (forward, backward, strafe left/right) and the other for aiming precisely. It works really well.

And for most console games, Auto-Lookahead makes it so the view when you're just walking around stays where it is for a default, so you don't have to constantly adjust it. Just hold down the aim button without moving the aim and you'll see that it puts it in line with an enemies head, so just shoot away and you can get headshots off.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Morgan,
Sorry, but if you haven't spent years playing PC first-person shooters with a mouse/keyboard like many of us have, then your opinion that a thumbstick/joystick setup can match it for speed/accuracy carries no weight.
What is your point of reference? What is your experience?

And for most console games, Auto-Lookahead makes it so the view when you're just walking around stays where it is for a default, so you don't have to constantly adjust it. Just hold down the aim button without moving the aim and you'll see that it puts it in line with an enemies head, so just shoot away and you can get headshots off.

I'll pass on dumb-downed shooters with automatic control settings and levels that exist on a single horizontal plane.

 

[paul_v]

Any mouse/keyboard FPS player will beat a gamepad user hands downs. FPSs were born on the PC and will be king on the PC. When I first saw Halo I was like "uhhh ok what's the big deal? Been there done that!"

 

[Dave Bennett]

Played the demo of Metroid Prime today at Gamestop after I picked up my copy of RE 0. The graphics were good but didn't look spectacular, though I think this has something to do with the crappy small TV attached to the kiosk. Controls seemed odd to me at first but I quickly adjusted. Once I got used to them they were actually pretty intiutive, though I couldn't figure out how to look up. I got stuck though because there was a forcefield with broken switches and I had no idea what to do. I think I'm gonna wait on this one and perhaps try and rent it. It's good but I've never played through any of the Metroid games before so I'm not sure if I'd enjoy the gameplay. In any case, those worried about the graphics and controls have little to fear. If only there had been a playable demo of Nightfire

 

[Morgan Jolley]

What is your experience?

I've played TFC extensively (don't own it, but at school we used to have daily hour-long team battles with up to 20 kids, long story), I've played R6 and Rogue Squadron on my PC in first person mode, plus I once played a bunch of FPS games (mostly Half-Life, Q3 Arena, and Deus Ex) at a friend's house. Every once in a while I would play another FPS at school on the network (Unreal Tournament was a popular one).

 

[Steven_V]

Well I don't know why there is a keyboard/mouse discussion going on in this thread, but I'll add that the mouse/keyboard is the best control for a PC FPS. Since the majority of PC systems are set up on an office desk which can hold the keyboard and mouse.
However, my console is hooked up in my living room where I sit on my very comfortable couch when I game. The keyboard/mouse isn't going to do a damn thing for anyone in this type of setting.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

BTW, I just received the Gamers.com newsletter in my e-mail and the following was in it:

"Probably the most fun I've ever had playing a videogame."
"It's like the best title from six years in the future fell
through a time warp."
"It is simply mind-blowing on so many levels -- you must
experience it."
"Get this game -- even if you have to buy a GameCube to
play it."

"Within a few minutes of sitting with Mark in his dark
office, it was clear that Retro has done something very
special indeed. It's a remarkable game. It's beautiful.
It's incredibly well designed. And you know what? It
really is worth buying a Cube to play it. This is the
GameCube's Halo.only more so"

That's cut and pasted from the e-mail. Sounds pretty damn amazing.

 

[Chris Flynn]

This is the GameCube's Halo.only more so

While I have no doubts that Metroid Prime is the best game for Gamecube at the moment, without multiplayer and without an actual strafe action this doesn't even come close, or is even in the same ballpark as Halo.

Not that the two games are comparable since the only thing they share is a first person perspective.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I've played TFC extensively (don't own it, but at school we used to have daily hour-long team battles with up to 20 kids, long story), I've played R6 and Rogue Squadron on my PC in first person mode, plus I once played a bunch of FPS games (mostly Half-Life, Q3 Arena, and Deus Ex) at a friend's house.

Well, you must not be very good.
I spent about 4 years playing PC FPS online every day. I'll take you on with a keyboard/mouse any time that you want to use joysticks. Wagers are welcome.
And Halo and Metroid are apples and oranges. Hell, apples and onions. Sharing a first-person perspective doesn't even put them in the same genre.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Can't both Halo and Metroid Prime be great games without putting the other one down?

I think that comparison had less to do with the types of games they are and more to do with their importance. Halo was (and pershaps still is )the best reason to buy an Xbox, just as Metroid Prime may turn out to be the best reason to own a GameCube.

As a regular first-person shooter goes, Metroid doesn't quite stand up to likes of Halo mostly because of the control in the game. However, it's quite clear that this game doesn't strive to be a pure shooter. It's an exploration game with some shooting in it. That's a big difference. If the primary emphasis was on action, then the lack of a separate side-stepping motion would indeed be a big loss. As it is though, I suspect most people will adopt to the control scheme in Metroid Prime after playing it for a little while.

Furthermore, the lack of a multi-player option doesn't bother me one bit, nor should it bother anyone else. No Metroid game has ever offered a multi-player mode. Why should we expect one in this game? Again, it isn't meant to be an all-out fragfest. It's an exploration game. A mulit-player mode wouldn't work well in that format. Finally, let me say that if the game plays as brilliantly as everyone says it does, then who's really going to care about the lack of a multi-player mode?

 

[Joseph Young]

it isn't meant to be an all-out fragfest. It's an exploration game. A mulit-player mode wouldn't work well in that format.

Both excellent points. The screenshots released thus far show us a first person game. Our previous experience with such games tell us we need to 'strafe, fire, jump, frag, tilt, etc.'
What people who have actually played the game are saying, is that the core gameplay elements don't require Quake, UT, et al. controls. In other words, it appears to be an evolutionary use of the FP perspective. There are ocassional boss battles that reveal some limitation in the control scheme, but from what I heard those incidents are few and far between. If the game is garnering such positive reviews across the board, yet only involves the use of one analog stick for movement, we have to acknowledge this as a new kind of first-person exploration.
And yes... multiplayer, as 'bada**' as that sounds, wouldn't make any sense. Why attempt to stage a fragfest in a game whose controls are geared toward an entirely different approach to movement? Were it attempted, it would most likely be termed lackluster and awkward.
Metroid is an adventure game, not a FPS.
Joseph

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I'll take you on with a keyboard/mouse any time that you want to use joysticks

It all depends on the game. If we're playing a PC FPS, then the game is made for the keyboard/mouse combo, so using dual joysticks wouldn't be the default method for playing. If we're playing a console FPS, then the game is made for joysticks, so the keyboard/mouse combo might not be as easy to use as joysticks. The design of the game has something to do with how easy it is to play it with either method.

Also, I said I thought joysticks were better for general movement, albeit more difficult to have pinpoint accurate shots. Joysticks are also arguably more comfortable.

About Metroid...

I don't think Metroid is being compared to Halo in every sense, but I think that the graphics, amount of fun, overall quality of the gameplay, and significance to the respective console are the aspects that are being compared. Since it's not out now, we can't say that it is or isn't a fair comparison.

 

[James D S]

After hearing the bad news about the absence of, or at least convoluted, strafing, I'm gonna have to demote this to a renter. I've been burned too many times with frustrating control schemes to take another chance. Especially when the control scheme in question is from a Nintendo game as Super Mario Sunshine's erratic controls constantly distracted me throughout the game - I never "got lost" in the game.

If it turns out that the controls don't pose a problem for me, brother, you better believe Prime will be in my library by week's end.

I have to admit, I'm a bit annoyed that after Bungie developed, or at least made popular, a control style that utilizes two sticks, why anyone would want take a step back and reintroduce what is essentially a shift button for the x-axis. Someone said "evolutionary," but sounds to me it's more like "de-evolutionary."

Hope I'm wrong 'cause it's been too long since I've gotten in touch with my feminine side with a little Samus action, if you know what I mean.

Fingers crossed...

 

[Steve Lockwood]

Sounds good! I want it.

 

[Mark Evans]

Woof, and there's a 9.7 from GameSpot as well. Everything makes it sound like a perfect 3D version of Metroid. That may be the coolest phrase uttered ever!

James, you might want to read the Gamespot review first, the way they describe the strafing there doesn't make it sound all that tough to me...

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The GameSpot video review is VERY good.

One interesting thing that I saw in it was the ability to see Samus' hand manipulating the switches and such in her right arm when using the x-ray visor.

 

[MikeAlletto]

The gamespot video review IS very cool. There still isn't strafing though, there is lock on and rotate around a point sidestepping, but no free range sliding side to side movement. But after watching the video I don't think thats much of a big deal anymore.

 

[Dave Bennett]

When I played the demo I was able to strafe without being locked onto a target. All I did was lightly press L(not so hard that it clicks but just gently) and then strafe left and right using the control stick.

 

[Graeme Clark]

Happy Metroid Monday everyone! I can't wait to get my hands on Prime!

 

[GlenHaag]

Woohoo. I got the call from my local EB today. It's coming in tonight.
Thank goodness I'm already all payed up. I'll just get my copy and blast some funky new aliens.
Glen