Gamer's Month - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Wii
Release Year: 2007

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption concerns the adventures of a bounty hunter named Samus Aran. Her mission is to eliminate the sources of a toxic substance known as Phazon, while fighting off various enemies such as Space Pirates and her evil twin dubbed "Dark Samus"

Ms. Aran has appeared in over 10 games to date. Some of them decent, while others are better forgotten, and a few spectacular. The majority of the games are worth playing, and this game is no exception. To get a feel for what you'll be getting yourself into, check out the opening credits and menu, along with a brief attract mode in this video below:

YouTube Video

One of the pitfalls of developing not only the end-tail to a mini-trilogy of 3D versions of a properly viewed 2D Platforming series is Balance. Try to hard to show off your moves like a certain other Bounty Hunter, and you end up flailing around getting shot at and losing your health quickly. Balance is the key to these things, and it forms a central theme to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The subtitle is suitable and fitting as it deals with just that: the erosion of order and control. Samus is a counter to that breakdown; She can be seen as a balancing force in the Universe. Space Pirates attack? She shall reciprocate. Feral metroids attacking everything? She shall freeze them and eliminate them. And take one as a child of sorts but that's a different installment. Rival Bounty Hunters go AWOL? She shall find them. To quote the military, she is both literally and figuratively an Army of One.

What does Corruption mean in terms of gameplay? As the Prime series started not only a first person, but 3D perspective with Metroid Prime, chronicling the exploration of an alien world and the discovery of ancient artifacts, artifacts which play a role in creating an enemy within. The sequel added a (somewhat convoluted) dynamic of light and dark worlds, where most explicitly, the overall theme of Balance would be visible. The previous two games were on the Nintendo Gamecube, which is a fine machine that played games well and was well adapted to a 3D venture of exploration and pirate-vaporization. Samus' adventures in those games were well regarded and praised for their faithful transition from 2D to 3D.

But hold on, this game isn't on the Gamecube! Gasp! Lo and Behold, enter Nintendo's Wii. The game console remains wildly popular with all sorts of people, including game developers, who without interest, the console would be going as quickly as a Taxi cab in downtown New York. The Wii's primary selling point is/was its method of control, derisively referred to as "Waggle". What that means is that your controller is not tied down by cords, and that it has motion detecting controls. So finally the hopes of a way to translate the decades old configuration of Mouse sensitivity have realized (To a degree at least). Now one would think a First Person Shooter on the Wii would seem like a no-brainer right? You can point at the screen and it follows your movement, so easy as pie, right?

Unfortunately for all the Halo fans in the world, the Wii was bone dry with respects to a proper control scheme. Prime 3 changed all that. Straddling the line somewhere between a First Person Shooter and an Adventure game, Prime 3 has the challenge of not only converting the exploration dynamics of a tried-and-true control scheme to gyroscopic motion controls, but concluding the series in a way that brings closure. The game must also leave room open for the (Definitively) expected further adventures. Metroid Prime 3 is rare in the regard that it does all that and more... and does it well. The evolution of the controls from the two Gamecube games to the Wii was smooth as it could be, and all the powerups and addons of the past were naturally eliminated right at the start. Samus has bad luck with that happening to her.

Now while you'll rarely find Samus gunning down hordes of enemies (except in short bursts now and again), the subtlety that the more easily missed uses of a control scheme based on the player's movements that the game has going for it would be likely glanced over or not even noticed by those who require more flashy bang for their buck. In essence, you can point anywhere on the screen to shoot at an enemy that appears, along with other motion-sensitive actions, which do not always require waving the controller around like a Baton. Different people have different control schemes in mind when they pop in a game, so there's a nice degree of customization included:

. Now as much praise as I might give it, the control scheme is not without flaws. At times I found myself wishing my movements correlated more exact to the on-screen actions, sometimes having to adjust my sitting/standing position and even fiddling with the control scheme once or twice. The sensitivity thankfully can be adjusted, but I always felt that it was either TOO quick to move, or on the other end, TOO slow to move... the middle ground just never completely came around. However its a minor complaint in an otherwise great playing, and great looking game.

So, every game requires a story, and Prime 3 is no different in this regard. In the game's extended prologue, we begin with a meeting between Samus, three other bounty hunters, and the leader of the Galactic Federation fleet.

Everyone there receives orders to clear a computer virus from several supercomputers called Aurora Units, located throughout the galaxy. These supercomputers can be both benign and cancerous, and Samus will encounter the full spectrum of designs in her future fights:

The fights begin quickly as Space Pirates attack several Federation ships. Meeting is Adjourned, time to go kick some ass. Ass does begin to be kicked, but then Balance becomes undone once more: While fending off a Space Pirate assault, Samus and her fellow bounty hunters are attacked by her doppelgänger, Dark Samus

who appeared in the previous game as a not-very-friendly dark clone. Dark Samus incapacitates them all with a mutagenic material called Phazon. Get acquainted with that term, you will be hearing it a lot. While Dark Samus does cause a lot of chaos and damage, the REAL Samus manages to destroy a Leviathan Seed, which is the Prime source of Corruption. Title Drop already!

After Dark Samus is all "k bitches I'm out, get yo corruption on", we next see Samus awaken in a laboratory, feeling kind of sick and dizzy. Scientists with no concept of bedside manners inform her that the Dark Samus' Phazon-based attacks have corrupted her. Once more, Balance is tilted further and further. The Federation decides to go by the maxim of "If a bounty hunter suddenly gets corrupted, point her in the direction of our enemies and let them deal with it", and equips her with a Phazon Enhancement Device, named the PED (The guy who thinks up catchy names was killed in the pirate attack ), that enables her to harness the Phazon energy within herself:

This translates to gameplay as a balance between a super-powered blast of destruction, and a loss of self. Samus loses a bit of health whenever she gives into temptation to use the Phazon offensively, and in the grand tradition of so many previous (and future) games, she will be using these powers beyond the safety limits, including in bigger, better, and more offensively capable suits and other upgrades.

Remember those Space Pirates?

Well, they're going to soon be introduced to why Phazon is such a nasty and insidious substance, and so will the Bounty Hunters (Who have also been corrupted) learn why Samus always earns a big fat paycheck and Missile Upgrades for her efforts. Dark Samus? Oh you better believe its not going to sit idly by and do nothing either. Samus's official mission will take her to planets of varying designs and environments

. That's right, PLANETS. Plural. The video game developer maxim of "Lets have the player visit a lot of places" means you'll be navigating between different planets to not only eliminate all those nasty Phazon carrying creatures, but also find every last Missile Upgrade, Energy Tank, and Weapon Enhancer. It also has to do with eliminating the Corruption of more Leviathan Seeds. Yeah, remember up above when I mentioned that? Well, Samus may have destroyed one, but lucky for us she can repeat her magic trick. Unlucky for us is that she will encounter firm opposition along the way

Opposition includes not only Space Pirates, but also the floaty alien life-sucking creatures for which the series is named after. Metroids.

They don't like the Cold, and it will do you well to remember that. Of course if you don't HAVE a large Refrigerator handy, you'd best be packing an Ice Beam, otherwise your best course of action would then be to run like hell. In addition to many many different enemies which need to be vaporized, blasted, and frozen, there are classic puzzle solving elements, because lets' face it: The Pirates aren't going to invite Samus over to Tea. She'll need to crack some codes and some heads if she's going to get anywhere towards stopping them:

Puzzles usually will be about removing obstacles or getting codes to unlock Space Pirate strongholds, but there are some unusual ones that appear from time to time as well.

The game would be great if it just had sound effects, but not only is there a mood setting music score involved, there are also a few cinematic cutscenes with full voice acting included. While this does not include Samus, who's typical role as the mute protagonist (At least in voice, she DOES like to write a lot of Mission Logs) is continued here. It does become contrasted by the lively supporting cast, who's voice-overs add an extra dimension of depth to some of the enemies, including a sultry rival bounty hunter and the heroic if ineffective Galactic Federation troops. You probably won't even take notice of it, as 90% of the game is about the gameplay, but the addition of these cutscenes allows the story to flesh itself out a bit better, and is even helpful to the player, as on occasion Mission Control will direct you towards your next objective.

At the beginning I mentioned Balance, and it comes full circle as you (the player) have to not only destroy those giant Leviathan Seeds, which are spreading corruption, but you must also balance the firepower between you and the Space Pirates by getting loads and loads of upgrades, which includes a better looking suit:

With the full force of you and your spaceship

available for exploitation, Balance will begin to be restored, and in the end it may have all been for naught, depending on how many items you find in he various nook and crannies of the planets you visit. If you DO come out on top and stop all that corrupts, balance will be restored... at least for the moment. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom after all.

I almost didn't want to mention this next part as it felt like an afterthought, but here it goes anyway: At various points in the game you might see a small icon appear when you achieve some sort of objective or aquire an item or kill a boss enemy and so forth. These icons represent Tokens, that come in various colors (Red, Blue, Gold) which the player (you) can exchange to unlock various things in the Extras Menu. The Friend Code system is also encouraged as exchanging Tokens between your friends gives you mysterious GREEN Tokens, which can unlock even more things. I never really took much advantage of the thing, but as a way to extend the life of the game, its probably better then nothing. I won't spoil what can be unlocked, but some of the extras ARE pretty interesting.

Overall, People seemed to enjoy the series, and its good because the series is very enjoyable. I had trouble deciding on a title to choose initially. I was thinking about the best game in the series, Super Metroid, but as I am not a die hard fan of that particular title, I don't feel I could give the review justice... but then I remember Prime 3. Its a balance of fun, challenge, and graphics for me and I hope you'd take the time to explore the world of a blond bounty hunter with an affinity for blasting away small life-sucking creatures too.

Jam it back in, in the dark.