When ‘Metroid’ Was In Its Prime.
When I had my Nintendo Gamecube, one of my favourite games was ‘Metroid Prime’.
I have always been nuts about first person shooters, but when I saw this one I was very impressed. It is a game that is just so utterly polished; the amount of work that went into ‘Metroid Prime’ is phenomenal. The graphics are amazing and often look even better because of the beautiful lighting effects employed on each level. But it is not just the graphics which make ‘Metroid Prime’ such a joy to play…
Everything has been done perfectly; an incredible amount of thought has gone into the story and you quickly become totally engrossed in the finer details of the game. The sound is incredible, ranging from the eerily atmospheric to the downright frenetic, whilst the control system works like a dream. Being able to turn into a sphere is a very good idea in itself, but the programmers made extremely good use of it. There are many deviously designed areas to negotiate and lots of hidden places to discover.
‘Metroid Prime’ is such a good game because it so incredibly imaginative. There are plenty of really good first person shooters out there, but precious few of them are set amongst such stunning scenery or have the same amount of artistic flair. If this is the style of game you like to play then it really is worth investigating. It still stands out as a landmark in FPSs, even by today’s far higher standards.
