The finale of Metroid Prime series was greatly anticipated by this gamer, and fans of the Metroid series, and fans of the series within a series that the Prime games encompass. Originally planned as Wii launch title; Corruption was ultimately released in August 2007. It is too bad that it didn't make it for the Wii's launch, as the tag team of Zelda: Twilight Princess and this would have made the best console launch games ever, though the Dreamcast's titles would be a very close second!
Corruption was greatly anticipated due to the role of the Wii motion controls. Nintendo promised that this game would feature the best first person controls ever, so expectations were unnaturally high. The story also has changed quite a bit.
Metroid games have always been known for their solitude. The story has basically always been Samus against everyone, without any real allies or aid from the Federation. This is changed 180 degrees in Corruption. The Federation has a huge supporting role, as well as several new bounty hunters hired alongside Samus in the mission to end the threat of Phazon and the Space Pirates. Shortly after the game begins, Samus is "corrupted" by the element Phazon. When she awakes, her fellow bounty hunters have all disappeared. She is tasked by the Federation to find their whereabouts, while also working to prevent the spread of Phazon throughout the galaxy. To top it off, Samus' exposure is slowly corrupting her life force, which leaves quite a bit to contend with in this game.
Before we talk about graphics, it is necessary to mention what people's expectations of the Wii's graphical power was, and how it factors it what makes a Wii game look "good". It is well known that the Wii was not designed to be a graphical powerhouse compared to its competitors. Nintendo has always been at the forefront of technology for their systems. However, after their 3rd place finish with the Gamecube, they must have learned that it would take more than graphical capability to reclaim the top spot in the game industry. So as the Wii's specs showed, the system was only about twice as powerful as the Gamecube in graphical capability. Naturally, many were quick to deride this fact, and comment that it would only lead to "slightly better looking" Gamecube games and nothing more.
The intention was to suggest that the Wii would not be the system for gamers looking for the best graphics. I think that was never Nintendo's plan. They knew they had to do something different with the Wii to be able to pull out of the financial hole they were in, console-wise. Thus with the Wii they decided it would be about the unique gameplay elements rather than how good and SHINY the game looked. I applaud this decision, regardless of how lazy 3rd party developers are making it look like a mistake with their unending supply of Wii shovelware; bad games with even worse Playstation era graphics. When you are number one, as the Wii is, such things are always more noticeable.
So being prepared for Corruption not necessarily being a huge graphical leap from Echoes, how does the visuals fare? The graphics in Corruption are easily among the best on the Wii, the increased emphasis on combat due to the multiple planets in the game gave Retro the idea to ramp up the combat detail. The Space Pirates have several different types of soldiers, from the basic grunt to the shield troopers to the Phazon Berserkers. Perhaps it is because of the increased strategy necessary to defeat certain enemies, but their visual details just seem to shine more in Corruption. Samus looks about the same whereas her fellow bounty hunters are all very visually creative. I can't remember their names right now, but they still struck a chord with me.
Because Corruption takes place on several planets, it would have been very easy for Retro to be lazy and do the standard ice, fire, water worlds and make such levels very typical in environs, obstacles, and enemies. I'm happy to report that this is not the case in MP III. The Planet Bryyo actually has two of these types, but it factors it well to the puzzles and exploration gameplay. Much like the different areas of Echoes, each planet in Corruption is a unique creation.
Music is by Kenji Yamamato again. Many of the classic Prime themes return, my favorite of which being Omega Ridley. This remix is like a rock version of Ridley's original theme, and my favorite version by far. I also like that one of Bryyo's areas is a remix of the Phendrana Drifts.
When it comes to new music, the main theme of Corruption is probably the finest piece of music written for the Prime series. It is moving and somber, yet powerful and beautiful. As MP III was met to bring the series to a close, this piece is like a hint of the struggles to come and the difficulties that Samus will have on her quest to end the threat of Phazon corruption. It really does a superlative job at hinting at the whole Prime series; where its been and where it has yet to go through the events of the game. A classic piece and my favorite in the series!
While the gameplay in Part III is fundamentally the same as the previous Prime games; shoot enemies, solve puzzles, find hidden missile expansions and more, it is the controls that have changed completely to take advantage of the Wii motion controller. This is the game that Nintendo had in mind when they thought of the Wii technology. They claimed that "it has the finest first person controls to date" and that is no exaggeration. As many reviewers said, you will never want to go back to the dual analogue setup again. I definitely second this feeling.
The way the controls work is the remote is used to point where Samus fires while the nunchaku add-on is used for navigation. While this is similar to other Wii titles like Mario Galaxy or Resident Evil 4, it is the way in which the controls are used in combat that make them so excellent; it is here where you see how free aiming makes all the difference, not only allowing for smarter enemies but more engaging battles. The other Prime games sometimes felt like the enemies' reactions were slowed down to compensate for the somewhat finicky controls. There is no such problem in Metroid Prime: Corruption. The morph ball and jumping are pretty much the same, but it is the improved aiming that allows pretty much all the enemy encounters to be a fun encounter. The best example is probably the flight down the elevator shaft; this just WOULDN'T be possible or very much fun if the original control scheme was used.
When it comes to challenge, I was kind of surprised at the diminished difficulty of Corruption. One might attribute it to the new and better controls, but I found very few attacks hard to dodge or encounters particularly trying. Even the final bosses felt more like a simple encounter than the epic confrontation I was expecting (and that the game tried to set up). You also get the Screw Attack much earlier in this game, which makes basic enemies very easy. Not disappointing, but kind of surprising.
Replay value is nothing great; due to the multiple worlds there are less opportunities to sequence break, a fact lamented by fans of these techniques. There are higher difficulties to unlock and other stuff by finding coins in the game, but it is all pretty average stuff. Also Part III is another missed opportunity to include an unlockable older Metroid game. Those bonuses are clearly for the fans, and it is a nice surprise when it happens.
In summation, Metroid Prime III: Corruption is the finest game in the Prime series and an excellent closing chapter for the Phazon arc in the Metroid series. I remember anticipating the first Prime game, yet I never expected it to launch a whole series of games. I wonder if that was the plan right from the beginning? It is still somewhat hard to believe that this game is the equal of Prime, but I think it manages this due to the new controls, great storyline, and awesome combat. Remember retro doesn't mean much to me; a game is only as good as it was when it was released, time doesn't necessarily make something better.
-Ugly Bob
article id: 488 | poster: uglybob
