Although only the game’s multiplayer was available at E3, the game has definitely come a long way from the First Hunt demo, at least gameplay-wise. The graphics look to be pretty much the same, but there is a lot more to go around than from the demo. While only a few battle areas were available in First Hunt, the final game will feature several different areas for combat between several bounty hunters. And yes, I said hunters, as in plural: the various players won’t be simply color-swapped Samuses (Sami?) but 7 other unique individual bounty hunters, some of which are most definitely not human. All will have the same weapons, and power-ups (to keep the game fair, of course) but the different player models should definitely keep the game interesting. Also, the differing characters will each have different abilities and inabilities in order to keep the game fair. There will also be numerous different gameplay modes as opposed to the simple standard Deathmatch, including a hacker mode, similar to a “king of the hill” style of game seen in numerous other online FPS games.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Metroid without a sizable single-player adventure, and Prime Hunters is looking to be most definitely capable of that as well. Although little is known about the story, the game will take place in between the events of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. According to Nintendo, the game will see Samus and the other bounty hunters racing to the Alimbic Cluster, the home system of the Alimbics: beings seeming to be similar to the Chozo and Luminoth from previous Metroid games. A mysterious transmission has been sent out from the cluster, calling all bounty hunters across the galaxy to clash in combat in order to obtain the “ultimate power”. Receiving the transmission, the Galactic Federation, as usual, sends out Samus Aran in order to take care of business. It is unknown as to how this story will play into the game’s single player, or if the game will make use of different storylines for the games’ different hunters, but hopefully that info will be revealed soon. However, what was revealed were some new aspects making their debut for the first time in the Metroid series, such as planet-to-planet travel using Samus’s trusty spacecraft. Also, the game will be far less of an adventure than Prime and Prime 2, with more linear areas and objectives, with much more of a base of a first-person shooter. From what I played from this game, and as was known from playing the First Hunt demo, this is a gameplay style the DS excels at, as the touch screen works very well with either the stylus or thumb strap for unmatched control on a handheld console. This is definitely one of the game’s selling points, along with the multiplayer mode, and should be well worth the price of admission.

There were a few snags I saw with the game’s development; however, the largest will be the lack of any form of the online multiplayer that will be seen in Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS. While this definitely will be missed, this doesn’t mean the game will be slacking with the multiplayer, as single-card download play across 8 DSes has been confirmed. In all, Metroid Prime Hunters is looking to be one of the highest-quality experiences to be found on the DS all year, online or not. The game is currently set for a release in Q4 of this year.

Eric Jones