Taste-Test: Metroid Prime: Echoes

Well, we all know what game really grabbed our attention at Nintendo’s press conference this year at E3. Alas, it was not playable, so I come to you with what I was going to come to you with originally – the sequel to Nintendo’s smash hit Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime: Echoes.

The plot runs like this – taking place after Prime, Echoes has Samus traveling to the planet Aether, contracted by the Galactic Federation to make contact with missing Federation troops believed to be on the planet’s surface, and render assistance if necessary. Aether, however, exists in twin dimensions – one “light”, one “dark” – as a result of a Phazon meteor strike. As you can guess, this adds a new gameplay element to Echoes, as Samus must travel between the dimensions throughout the game. But, on to the actual demo.

The level I played was in the light side of Aether, reminiscent of the Phazon Mines from Prime, but muted – much more earthtone in nature than the Mines. It was a short while before I came across the presence of everyone’s beloved Space Pirates on Aether, which let me test out the combat mechanics in the game. Except in the weapons area, which I’ll get into afterwards, nothing seems to have changed from the predecessor. The controls are the same, the lock-on is as solid as before, everything’s all good, folks.

As for the weapons, Samus’ inventory reflects the nature of her environment. To wit, she started off the level with a Light Beam and a Dark Beam to complement the Power Beam. Whether they are default weapons, or acquired at an earlier part of the game is something I’m not sure of at this time. The Dark beam didn’t get a large workout from me on the floor, mostly I ended up using it to burn off some barriers while in the light world. Missiles and the Morph Ball (and the bombs accompanying it) were present as well, though I had no Super Missile-like shots with any of the beams, Power, Light, or Dark. Again, something that may be addressed in other parts of the game. The Light beam, however, got quite a bit of use. After defeating the Pirates and accessing the right controls (Yes, the Scan Visor is back too.), I went through a portal to Dark Aether where the Light beam is, quite literally, life itself. The atmosphere of Dark Aether is hazardous to Samus, draining her energy whenever she’s in it. The key to negotiating the world is island-hopping between safe zones of light-world atmosphere that are charged with a shot from the Light beam.

The Light beam also logically proved useful against the enemies of Dark Aether – the Ing Horde. My first encounter was with two shape-shifting beasts that were the foot soldiers of the Ing. These were very tricky to beat for the following reasons: One - whenever they dematerialized, the targeting lock was broken. Two – your movements are restricted to operating only within the light zone, given the deadliness of the Dark Aether air. And three – both Light and Dark beams work off of a finite ammo supply. You can pick up extra ammo with the defeat of an enemy, just like with missile ammo and energy balls. However, when you’re using the Light beam to fight off enemies and maintain the light zone around you (some of the zones are temporary, requiring Light shots to keep it up), I think you can imagine that you’re going to run low pretty quick.

As the Light beam is life in single-player mode, the Morph Ball is such in multiplayer mode. Since your average FPS doesn’t have such a lock-on mode as Metroid does, rapid movement like the morph ball allows is invaluable in getting out of open areas. Knowing this, Retro seems to have embraced the idea fully, designing cannons that shoot players in morph mode to other areas of the level and power-ups that allow for invulnerability in morph mode. Like anyone strongly familiar with the Metroid series, seeing multiple Samuses rolling around at the same time is a touch disconcerting. As such, I’d like to see more of the multiplayer before I make a ruling on it one way or the other.

Overall, the game is only marginally different than Prime. Graphically, better textures and character models are present in Echoes, with a sweet goo effect when the Ing shadow creatures dissolve and creep around the floor. Outside of that, the new weapons, and setting, the game is no different than Prime. And, with the praise received for that title from both the industry and, more importantly, the public’s wallets, is that really a bad thing? Slated for a mid-November release date this year, keep an eye to the Café before hand for an in-depth preview.

Mike Twomey