- Joined
- Apr 5, 2001
- Location
- St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
.: SPOILER ~ SPOILER ~ SPOILER:.
Here there be spoilers ahead! Avast!
Here there be spoilers ahead! Avast!
I beat Metroid Prime 3 just half an hour ago. Honestly, the game was absolutely epic, and I don't think there will be any FPA game that will top it for a long time on the Wii (which makes Oni a very sad panda).
My clear time was 16 hours and 17 minutes, with 72% completion. I think I was missing like, 28 pickups (Missile Expansions, Ship Expansions, and Energy Tanks, I would imagine). Clearly, this just won't do, so I'm going to start again. I may go through again on just normal mode and get 100% before I move on to Veteran and then Hyper Mode (Hyper Mode was unlocked by completing the game). I think I'll grab a notebook or something, and if I see something I know I'm going to be able to get later, I'll jot it down real quick so I'll remember it later
Graphics and control? They've been covered to death everywhere you look. We know it looks great, we know it handles great, so I'ma skip that for now.
One thing that kinda bothered me was item utilization. While having the Screw Attack and things like that were necessary, they were painfully under utilized! Things like the Boost Ball, Spider Ball, and the various hypermode weapons that the Varia Suit could utilize were almost painfully overlooked. The Hyper Grapple was only used a handful of times, as was the Grapple Voltage (only a few times on the pirate homeworld, and only a few times on other planets). Keep in mind that these are my own little niggles, and they are minor in the grand scheme of things.
The story of the game is actually quite excellent, and I really like the way that Retro closed it out. I was very impressed. The game is definitely an immersing experience. Any game where you actually care about what is happening to not only your character, but other characters they are associated with is pretty good, in my opinion. From knowing that Ghor is out there, somewhere, ready to pound you into little bits, to Rundas wanting to smash you into 10,000 splintery, icy pieces, right down to the pure evil that is Dark Samus and yes, The Motherbrain (Aurora Unit 313, which might actually make it the Fatherbrain, 'cause Unit 313 spoke in a male voice). These are characters that you once interacted with on a competitive yet friendly basis, and now they want to smash you into oblivion. A lot of it is the atmosphere of what these characters have become, too. While walking around on SkyTown, all of the projectors show Ghor looking quite ****ed off. Eventually, you come to the Spire and his armour suit. It's been recently used, but he's nowhere to be found. Later you come back and the suit is gone. You start thinkin' he's up to something, so you're always watching your back, and scanning anything that looks fishy.
It's also the little things that really make this game seem all the more awesome. Take for instance, the visor. When you switch to your scan visor, you can actually see Samus' face reflected back. The eyes track where you're looking, and she blinks, too. As her corruption progresses, you start seeing subtle changes. her eyes take on an odd glow from the iris, and lines start to appear on her once smooth face. Likewise, on the x-ray visor, when you move your cannon in front of it, you can see your arm on the inside, wrapped around the trigger. You can also see the weak points on your enemies, and if you have the Nova Beam, you can snipe them! One shot kills FTW! There are also lots of other little subtle things that can happen. Like once you get the Nova Beam, when you kill a space pirate with a charged blast, they burn! They burn green and scream as they die. The bast**ds! I did that as much as I could! Die, pirates! Die!
Speaking of dying, I actually did that more than a few times, I'm ashamed to admit. Weather I was doing something stupid (I wonder where this bottomless pit goes . . . ) to just plain not paying attention (Yeah, take that, you ****! Uhoh, gotta start shooting before I get 100% corrupt . . . aw, crap!) I died more than a few times. The game is pretty good about it, though. If you continue, it will start you off relatively close to where you croaked, so you don't have to slog back from your last save point. Also, if you let the Game Over screen sit for awhile, a red spot starts to grow, like blood soaking into fabric. A nice touch.
The bosses are pretty epic. Large and intimidating, it's up to you to scan and find out where their weak points are, and then exploit those weaknesses. If a boss changes his pattern or his physiology, scan him again. Odds are he's changed his weak point, too. The game will give you a relatively detailed analysis of the situation when you scan a boss, so make sure you do. Once you know the weak point, however, beating the boss is still a chore (but a fun chore, like counting money or making babies). You've gotta balance your attacking and healing, and quite possibly on more than a few bosses, the amount of Phazon you're utilizing. Some bosses can only be killed with Phazon-based attacks, which can make some battles more than a bit challenging. That being said, I found that in the later stages of the game, the bosses got rather easy. Omega Ridley went down like a house of cards. The first form of Dark Samus, too. Maybe I'm just too freaking good.
I feel like I missed so much in this game! Like I stated at the top, I only got 72%. I know there are more than a few things I missed, so I'm going to do my best to get them this time around. The hard part is friggin' remembering where everything is!
This game is definitely a keeper. If you have a Wii, get this game. If you don't have a Wii and have been thinking about it, this should get you moving to your nearest electronics store to purchase one. Yes, it is that good. Yet another reason to own a Wii
