Honorable Mentions #3: Metroid Prime

Now this is about Metroid Prime however I will mention the Trilogy in this review. So to start off lets have a little background on the game and I. I received Metroid Prime on the Gamecube as present when I was confirmed in the church once again from the McKee family. They have gotten me some great games. When I fist played this game I was blown away it had great graphics and a great atmosphere second only to what is to me the "King of Atmospheric Games" BioShock. Now this game is going to be a little harder to review because the story of this Metroid Prime probably has the weaker story (Or at least less straight forward then the other two in the series.) However it is tons of fun to play. The enemies are creative in design and the bosses are epicly amazing.

So lets dive into Metroid Prime and just get sucked into its awesomeness. So Samus receives a distress signal from the Space Pirate Frigate Orpheon. She found out that the crew was killed by their own genetic experiments (this level is used as a tutorial). Now you will have to fight your way through the creatures and then you will face the Parasite Queen who has basically taken over the ship. Now the battle will end up causing a huge explosion which will make your power suit lose its upgrades. However before you escape Samus will see her long time nemesis Ridley (Now robotic named Meta Ridley) flying towards the the planet below. This leads to Samus giving chase in her gun ship down to the planet Tallon IV.

So you start off your adventure on Tallon IV's over world which is the main hub for all of the other areas on the planet. While exploring the planet you will discover that there are Chozo Ruins. Seeing as the Chozo people raised and trained her she decided she should investigate. While in the ruins Samus will discover that there are a number of missing artifacts that will open up a seal that has locked inside of it a meteor of a corrupting substance (you will later learn it is called Phazon) it is also sealing a creature that the Chozo call "the worm". The Phazon Meteor is what killed the Chozo on the planet. Samus needs to open this seal so she can destroy this "Worm". So she sets off in search of the many artifacts that are spread through out the world. Now while in the ruins you will find a number of monsters as well as a giant plant monster that you will have to kill before you can completely move on from this area. Beating the giant plant will give you the Veria Suit which will protect you from extreme heat allowing you to enter our next area called the Magmoor Caverns.

Now I really can't do like what I have done in my other reviews and go step by step break down of the levels how ever I will tell you a little about the different parts of Tallon IV. So lets start off with the Magmoor Caverns. Which if the name doesn't already tell you about this place then its a number of chambers filled with Magma. This area connects many of the locations on Tallon IV to one another. This place is pretty cool with magma all around you, lava spouts, and some cool looking enemies like these magma dragons that look like their heads are skulls.

The next place is Phendrana Drifts which hold old chozo temple which has been snowed over. This place can be kind of hard to navigate but its still fun. Here you will face a boss named Thardus . Thardus is a space pirate experiment in which they infused phazon with rocks creating this awesome monster. He is a giant rock monster that can change the weather, Throw rocks, freeze thing, and roll around (Can I get an "I was frozen today"). This guy is very cool looking with his body being made of giant floating rocks. Defeating him will get you the spider ball which is a magnetic version of your morph ball. This place also has a boss call a Sheegoth. Which to me looks like a giant ice dinosaur. Now the Sheegoth has the ability to absorb beams so this makes it a hard fight. When you beat the Sheegoth you will be rewarded the wave beam which is like an electric beam weapon.

Now This will lead us to the Phazon Mines. This is where the Space Pirates not only mine for phazon but also where there main research facility is. In here you will face many Space Pirates including ones that will match one of your beam weapons (this means that only that beam will hurt it). Also while in the mines you will face the Omega Pirate. This is a bigger version of the Elite Pirate which you fought earlier in the game. When you beat this massive (and hard) boss you will be rewarded with the Phason suit which will prevent damage from blue phason.

Now let us say that you have found all of the artifacts which will allow you to open the seal to the "Impact Crater" (Which is where the Meteor hit the Planet and where "The worm" is). How ever as you place the artifacts you will be attacked by Meta Ridely. Now Meta Ridely isn't an easy enemy to fight but once you get the pattern down you should be able to defeat him. Which will lead you into the Impact Crater.

Inside the Crater you will meet "The Worm" which is actually named Metroid Prime (see look a name drop). Now Metroid Prime has two forms one that looks like a hard shelled spider (I just have to make this joke its like a "Legion of Spiders" well that was stupid thank you for reading). This spider will change colors from Yellow, Purple, and Red. Now it is yellow then use the power beam to cause it damage, when it turns purple use the wave beam, and when red use the plasma beam. So after a while this spider like form of Metroid Prime will be Defeated revealing its true form which looks like a squid like Metroid with piercing yellow eyes. Now none of your weapons will work against Metroid Prime however when you step in this concentrated phazon she drops you will be able to fire it as a concentrated beam to kill her. However at the end of the battle all the phazon on the planet will vanish and Metroid Prime will keep herself alive by absorbing your Phason Suit turning her into Dark Samus (Who will appear in the other two games in this trilogy).

So lets talk Items because there are a bunch I did not mention so I will go through all of them now.

Suits:

Power Suit: This is the very basic suit it offers protection from some damage but doesn't have any special abilities.

Varia Suit: Like I mentioned before protects you from extreme heat

Gravity Suit: This suit allows you to move freely in liquid environments as well as see clearly in those liquid environments.

Phazon Suit: Like I said this will protect you from blue phazon as well as give you the phazon beam used against Metroid Prime.

Visors:

Combat Visor: is the default visor that you have from the beginning.

Scan Visor: This is also one you start with it allows you to scan enemies and objects allowing you to learn more about them.

Thermal Visor: Allows Samus see things in the inferred spectrum allowing her to see invisible enemies.

X-Ray Visor: Allows you to see through objects as well as see invisible enemies that do not give off a heat signature.
Weapons:

Power Beam: This is the standard beam weapon that you start out with.

Charge Beam: This allows you to charge your beam making it more powerful

Wave Beam: Like I said this is an electric based beam weapon. It has limited homing capabilities and can stun enemies. Its charge combo (Charged Beam plus Missiles) the Wave Buster (looks like the proton stream from Ghostbusters only purple) instantly locks on to near by enemies but uses the most missiles.

Ice Beam: This is a slow beam that freezes enemies (How about one more "I was frozen today" for the road)

Plasma Beam: This is the most powerful normal beam in the game the charged version often killing enemies instantly.

Missiles: Well what is there to tell you fire them and the go boom

Morph Ball:

Morph Ball: This is an item that lets Samus turn into a tiny ball allowing her access to smaller areas that you can't reach normally

Bomb: Well I wonder what a bomb does well if you don't know then Im not telling you.

Boost Ball: Well it allows you to make yourself move faster in the ball form. This charges up energy allowing you to release it as a speed boost.

Spider Ball: I talked about already it will let you access a special magnetic track.

Power Bombs: They are more powerful bombs


Misc Items:

Space Jump Boots: This allows you to jump higher by using a double jump

Grapple Beam: This works like a grappling hook allowing you to swing from place to place using grapple hooks.

Energy, Missile, and Power Bomb Tanks: These items just increase the amount of Energy (life), Missiles, and Power Bombs.

So as a whole that is Metroid Prime a great start to a great Trilogy. Now Nintendo had another great marketing idea releasing all three of the Metroid Prime games on one disk for the Wii with the same price of a normal Wii game. I have to say the other two games in the Trilogy are very good as well. They seem to have a better developed story then the first one but still a lot of fun. However the second game did lose points with me for giving the extra beam weapons ammo. Other then that it was great and I love them as well. So stay tuned for my next Honorable Mention the Atmospheric Epic known as BioShock.