Review: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Game: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Nintendo Wii by Retro Studios

Premise: In this third installment of the Metroid Prime series, Samus Aran returns to conclude the battle with her malevolent counterpart, Dark Samus. Players travel to a variety of worlds while collecting power-ups and battling Space Pirates, mutated monsters, and rogue Hunters in order to rid the galaxy once and for all of the corrupted influence of Phazon.

Visuals and Audio: The game is a joy to look at, but unfortunately the graphics have not improved much beyond the days of the original Metroid Prime on the Nintendo Gamecube. More than ever, it is painfully clear how the Wii's lack of HD support will hinder it in the future, since this game would look truly magnificent given the high resolution it deserves. Excellent sound effects and background music do much to fill this gap, however, and with the visuals combine to form worlds that are brimming with their own unique vibrancy and life. Additionally, the soundtrack is comprised of both new tracks and remixed ones from older Metroid games, something that is sure to give old-school fans of the series a kick.

The Good: It's a Metroid game, which is essentially synonymous with quality. Excellent gameplay, an engrossing narrative, and the ability to play as one of Nintendo’s dearest and most badass characters always impress. Of particular note for this game, though, is its control system. Metroid Prime 3 has refined the use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck in first-person shooters, with the control stick on the Nunchuck being used for lateral and forward movement (much like the WASD keys in first-person PC games) and the Wii Remote used to point at different areas on the screen in order to make Samus change her field of vision (like how the mouse is used first-person PC games). After the mountain of frustration that was Red Steel’s control system, it is great to see a game that can pull off first-person on the Wii successfully.

The Bad: While the controls are great they can take a little time to get used to, and even then it is annoying when you accidentally point the remote off screen and Samus’ field of vision just sticks there.

Why You Should Play This Game: Three reasons.
1.It is a goddamn Metroid game.
2.To check out the nifty FPS controls available to the Wii.
3.(Mild spoilers) You get to fight Ridley….twice. I have always loved kicking that giant, fire spewing pterodactyl’s ass, and now this game has given me the opportunity to do it twice in one play-through. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Retro Studios.

Rating: 46 out of 51 Missile Expansions