Metroid Prime Hunters

[Silfarion]

*Originally posted on Game Informer Forums. Please excuse my grammar issues or whatever else you encounter during your reading; this was my first review, and I wrote it 4 months ago. My game experiences and such have changed since then; think of this as my first impressions of the game. All of this said, I hope you enjoy my review.*


"The secret to ultimate power lies in the Alimbic Cluster".

Samus Aran and other bounty hunters from all over the universe are racing to discover the secret of the extinct Alimbic race, in hope of bringing this aforementioned power on to themselves or their people. As an agent of the Galactic Federation, Samus is known throughout the galaxy for her efforts of annihilating the Metroid scourge and vanquishing the Space Pirates. Now she must find out the meaning of the cryptic message, and make sure the power does not fall into enemy hands.

Thus begins Metroid Prime: Hunters for the Nintendo DS. The latest installment of the Metroid Prime series has Samus exploring the Alimblic Cluster, a group of planets and space stations that have long been abandoned by life forms. The only sign of life now are evil alien monsters that don't take kindly to being disturbed. But that's not the biggest issue to Samus. There are bigger threats, such as the other several bounty hunters from around the galaxy.

Each has their own special weapon and alt-form. You know how Samus can transform into a Morph Ball? Well, the other hunters can morph into other shapes as well, from a larva-like creature to a spiky ball that can roll up walls. Each hunter has unique powers and abilities which aid it in combat. Although you only fight them in single player mode, you're able to play as them in Wi-Fi, which really adds to the fun. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In single player mode, you play as Samus as you explore the Alimbic Cluster firsthand. As you progress through the game, you collect 'Octoliths', diamond shaped objects that, when collected, reveal the secret of the Alimbics. You also are able to find new weapons to equip, energy and ammo expansions, and health packs assorted throughout the levels. You travel over four planets, defeating various enemies and taking down rival hunters as you explore the landscapes. The genre is truly a first person shooter, but has lots of puzzle elements thrown in to keep it fresh. Another new addition is that you have to use your scan visor to learn stories and myths about the Alimbics, or to further examine switches and unlock doors.

The first thing you may notice that's interesting about MPH is it's control scheme. It supports both left and right hand gamers, and has two different ways to play. The first way is dual mode, which is basically how a console fps would work. (Think of it as Halo except you have four buttons to look instead of an analog stick.) I prefer this mode because I'm a little more comfortable with it; plus you can set it to invert, which I think is a nice feature.
The second control option is by stylus. You use the left trigger to shoot, and the d-pad to move, but it uses the touch screen to control everything else, from looking around to jumping. This is a really innovative and interesting way to use the DS's touch screen, works really well. The drawback with this control scheme is that it takes a while to get used to, before it clicks and you get it. Until then, it can be frusterating, but when you understand it, you'll be able to not only react quicker, but aim a lot more accurately.

The graphics on MPH are extremely impressive. They're the best I've seen so far on the DS, and they also have 3d video movies that you can watch any time after you unlock them. There's also little in-game cut-scenes that are a nice touch to the game. The environments have lots of detail put into them; plants sway in the breeze, walls have cracks ans dents in them. Even when you shoot something, the glowing mark of the energy blast stays on the wall before fading away. When you change weapons, your gun changes shape and glows a different color. Overall, it looks really cool.

MPH's sound effects are pretty cool as well. There are the footsteps that echo in the hallways as you move, the sound of your enemies charging their attacks, the howling wind outside of Arcterra. It really gets you into the game, and sometimes the music can get pretty creepy. It's good background music, the only time it gets annoying is when you're waiting for a Wi-Fi match and you hear the theme song over and over.. Other than that, it's good.

The game's replay value is pretty high, especially because you don't fully complete the game until you scan all the objects placed through the game. Some objects are easy to miss, and others only appear once in the game, meaning if you miss it, you either have to restart, or catch it the next time around.
The single-player is an adventure all on it's own, but what really keeps gamers coming back for more is the multiplayer mode. Here you can take on friends, go Wi-Fi, and download play, which is always a nice feature for DS games. The multiplayer mode supports many kinds of games, from the traditional Battle mode to spinoffs of capture the flag or king of the hill.

The Wi-Fi is a great feature. Nintendo's added a lot since Mario Kart DS, with new options to add people you meet during play as your rivals, so you can see them later again. The basic matches are Battles, but you can host other types of battles with friends or people you know.
The game also features a rival radar, a nice built-in feature that allows you to see if anyone else is playing MPH in the vicinity around you. The matches are usually lag-free, and are fun for almost everybody. Good or bad at the game, it doesn't matter, pretty much everybody has fun with it.

Final Scores:
-Story-7/10
Nothing special, but it does tie all the elements of the game together, and it does make sense. Character origins are interesting to read about.

-Controls-8.5/10
Innovative controls that are easy to use for console and portable gamers alike, but they sometimes take a while to click before you get them.

-Graphics-9.5/10
Just because these are some of the best graphics on the DS so far. The cut-scenes and the movies are very impressive, and the effects are a nice bonus.

-Audio-7.5/10
Good music that sets the mood but sometimes gets repetitive.. Has some good sound effects, though.

-Gameplay-9/10
Fun game that you can enjoy either by yourself or with your friends; it's one of those 'Easy to pick up, difficult to master' games. It gets really addicting.

-Replay Value-9/10
Until Wi-Fi shuts down, I'm going to be playing this thing again and again.

+Great graphics and in-game effects
+You get to play as multiple Hunters
+Many multiplayer arenas
-Only four areas in single player
-Only two kinds of bosses, not including final boss
?Will there be another Metroid on the DS in the future? I hope so.

Bottom Line-9/10
A great addition to your DS library, it has great replay value and you can have a lot of fun with it. If you don't have it, plan to buy it in the near future. You shouldn't be dissapointed.

wow im impressed, thats a pretty dang good review

[bignds]

If pilot hasnt got a problem with it we could make it official?

[Pilot_51]

My only real problem is that I should've done the review... Maybe we could have multiple official reviews of the same game just to get different viewpoints. Also there was that review method I told you about that I think would work great for MPH.

[bignds]

Actually, we may just leave it as a members review, i dont know, i talked some things out with Mormon, yeah, we could have two viewpoints on the game.