Metroid Prime: Hunters – Review

The Metroid Prime franchise has been around for decades, the first ever Metroid title is 20 years old this year (having been released on the NES in 1986), though the very first 3D series incarnation didn’t receive a release until ‘Metroid Prime’ arrived on the Nintendo GameCube back in 2002. Nintendo has duly faced a huge task in bringing the franchise to the Nintendo DS in full 3D, and—by way of testing the waters—a demo of Metroid Prime: Hunters was packaged with the launch of Nintendo’s latest handheld in late 2004. Now the full game has finally been released and it is, in a word, ‘astonishing’. Let’s look into why…

The story in Hunters revolves around the Alimbic Cluster. The Alimbics are an ancient race that left artifacts behind them at the time of their disappearance. The Federation (for which the game’s central female character Samus Aran works) receive a message that an ‘ultimate power’ artefact exists within the Alimbic Cluster and it has to be found or destroyed so as not to end up in the hands of evil. It therefore falls to Samus to find this ultimate power and thus save the world. Making matters more complex there are, of course, other bounty hunters out to find the artifact, and Samus must battle her way past these and other enemies in order to complete her mission.

Movement in Metroid Prime: Hunters is seamless and the use of the stylus and the control pad work brilliantly together, though it does take a little while to get used to. Individual level composition is fairly extensive, but most follow a similar recycled formula. Even with this taken into account, however, this is still miraculous on a handheld. The ease with which your hands adapt to using the stylus for performing weapon movement and the d-pad for character movement is amazing, and even the placement of the weapons-fire ability on the left shoulder button also feels perfect. The controls and movement have clearly been well thought out and they work a treat. There’s also a left-handed option too, so no fiddly problems for the lefties out there, either.

Graphically it’s really quite astounding that Metroid Prime: Hunters is a Nintendo DS title. That’s not to imply that DS titles usually look shoddy, because they don’t, but more to suggest that Hunters is so graphically resplendent that you’ll be amazed it’s playing on a handheld. Although, granted, things can be a little jaggy or pixelated when up against objects and backgrounds, but the overall look of the graphics is truly something to behold. Environments are expansive and well detailed, as are character models, and there’s no lag on show either, both during the single-player campaign or even when online. Amazing. Game sound is beautifully crafted too, and if you want to get the most out of it then simply plug in some decent headphones; the little nuances suddenly apparent in the sound are just superb—there’s really little else to say on the subject. This reviewer physically jumped at one stage when a flying enemy literally whizzed through the left headphone—brilliant. Deaf and hard-of-hearing gamers will subsequently miss some of Hunters’ overall beauty, but the game is still fully playable as the story is imparted textually to the player.

If you find it implausible that there can be a multiplayer first-person shooter that runs as smooth as silk on a handheld, well, prepare to believe, because when played online games in Hunters are (presently) lag free and a ton of fun. You can either choose to play as Samus, or pick from a selection of other bounty hunters that have been killed (unlocked) during the single-player game. There’s a four-player limit, but if there’s only two of you, you can add bots to fill out the game. There’s even the ability to talk to other players in the lobby—and it’s surprisingly clear. The overall effortless and exceptional Wi-Fi playability of Hunters will make it a talking point for quite some time; it truly shows what the DS is capable of so early on in its lifetime. Perhaps in the future you’ll be able to play and chat at the same time. That would be fantastic.

The female gamer angle of Metroid Prime: Hunters is extremely positive. Though some non-gamers may not realize it, Samus Aran—the hero of the Metroid franchise—is actually a woman in futuristic battledress. So, in Hunters, the main playable character is thoroughly female, though the developers have cleverly implemented a sense of visual ambiguity because there’s really nothing overtly female about her character’s design. This means there are no huge breasts on show, it’s all about the game. It could be argued that male gamers are therefore at a disadvantage as there’s no playable male lead, but, let’s not forget that males are pretty lucky in that the majority of character-driven videogames allow for male central characterization and that Metroid is a fairly rare example of utilising a solitary female lead. Moreover, there are plenty of unlockable characters to choose from in multiplayer anyway, so there’s truly something for everyone.

Despite the fairly lukewarm reception met by the Metroid Prime: Hunters demo when the DS first launched, this finished version of the game is amazing. If you’re not stunned that this is on a handheld system then, frankly, there’s something wrong with you. The sound, graphics, gameplay, and even the online multiplayer mode are truly marvelous components of a complete package. Although the game itself remains true to the GameCube version in terms of aesthetics, the use of the touch screen mixed with the manual controls of the DS means this title just feels so right, like it was made for use with the touch screen. Add to this the online multiplayer fun that’s to be had and you’re on to a definite winner. Buy Metroid Prime: Hunters and be amazed that it all fits into your pocket.

Review by Tracy