The Metroid series needs no introduction as it’s ostensibly one of the most revered franchises in the Nintendo stable.  Developer Retro Studios has already received admirable praise for cracking the Metroid paradigm, and successfully transitioning the series to 3D in 2002.  Delivering a rapid fire dose of combat, intricate puzzles, and high quality art design, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Wii is a superb experience that totally breaks Nintendo’s recent casual games approach, providing a grand scale sci-fi adventure with few compromises.

A Prime Offering

If you’ve never heard of Metroid Prime, I’d have to ask where you’ve been the last five years.  The series debut on GameCube was met with critical praise.  And what a beautiful entry it was.  Developed for Nintendo’s new console, Prime 3 proves that the team at Retro still has the Midas touch.  The graphics push the Wii hardware considerably.  Yet, to the untrained eye, Prime 3 doesn’t look very different from past entries in the franchise.  Is that a bad thing?  Not really.

Stellar art direction has always been Metroid Prime’s strong suit, aptly so for a game that requires so much exploration.  The environments posses so many little details that immerse players, adding to the superiorly polished experience.  Signature series music also returns, and maintains the typical high quality sound design the franchise is known for.  Lastly, the appearance of actual voice work is a big plus and finally pushes the storytelling past its’ typically silent, text-only offerings.

Pinpoint Control of a Wide Arsenal

Controls obviously define any game experience, and the Wii seems tailor made for Metroid Prime.  Executing point and shoot mechanics are as simple as aiming your Wii remote and tapping A.  Players also learn to pry enemy shields from their hands, interface with specific computer terminals, and access Samus’ spaceship to transmit coordinates for bombing runs.  The computer interaction bits may seem gimmicky at first, but their execution within the sci-fi setting works really well.  In fact, the only hurdle you’ll find with the controls is the initial learning curve.  Maneuvering Samus just doesn’t feel right for the first hour (or more, depending on your adaptability) and can lead to frustration.  An included option allows annoyed gamers to switch back to the original Prime’s setup, if necessary.

The ultimate tests of combat controls in Metroid Prime 3 are the boss encounters.  Typically, boss battles in Metroid Prime consist of a combination of puzzle solving and detecting/ attacking viable weak spots.  Although that formula remains unchanged, the new bosses require mastery of almost every skill you’ll learn in the game (i.e. morph ball, grapple, etc) just to defeat one of these large scale behemoths.

You’d Think Aliens Would be Smarter

The one thing that doesn’t hold up well in Prime 3 is enemy A.I.  They aren’t brain dead, but the adversaries aren’t a challenge either.  Standard enemies are basically damage sponges that occasionally run and find cover. Chase them down and they’ll blindly charge at you, soaking up your high temperature plasma shots like it was sunlight on the beach.  Constantly mashing the A button won’t give you over developed calluses (hopefully), but at the same time you’d expect more realistic enemy reactions from such a combat heavy game.   It would be easier to defeat them using the Phazon injection system, but it feels too much like the equivalent of a ‘win button’.  This doesn’t break the game; it just makes certain battles seem easier.

This Bounty is Worth it’s Reward

In the end, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption provides a consistent challenge and an excellent experience that brings players quality controls, reduced backtracking, and some awesome boss encounters.  Retro Studios provides an engrossing experience with plenty to do for rabid completist.  Ending the trilogy on a high note, Prime 3 offers the most unique and engaging experience on the platform and a fitting end to an amazing series.