The artwork in Metroid Prime is stunning. Beautiful and amazingly detailed designs backed by a great engine that keeps everything moving at a smooth 60 frames per second without nary a stutter impress both artistically and technologically. There is hardly anything to critisize since everything looks gorgeous. But if there's one problem with Metroid Prime's art direction it's exactly that. Everything is just gorgeous. And perhaps that's the one thing to complain about.
Oh there's nothing wrong with that really. No one
wants bad graphics or poor art direction. But even
in the early days there was an eerie feeling of
hostility in the environments that Prime at times
fails to capture. It's hard to put my finger on it,
really. Going back to Super Metroid, maybe it's the
fact that 90% of the game took place in bizarre
caves or strange organic environments. Most
environments in Prime had a slight sense of
familiarity to them, not to mention that they were
created (temples, space stations, research labs) as
opposed to natural. Much of the intrigue in Metroid
lay in the fact that we'd all love to go spelunking
through an ancient, untouched, stalactite filled cavern to see just what secrets it hides. Even Phendrana, which was mostly ice caves, was so gorgeous that it felt almost relaxing to trek! Perhaps part of it had to do with the fact that there were very few open areas in past Metroid games, whereas in Prime nearly all the environments (strangely enough, even Magmoor) had open areas. And maybe some of it had to do with the lighting. Most areas were very well lit, which perhaps detracted a bit from the atmosphere.
To be fair, perhaps some of the reason that some
of the environments didn't feel as oppressive or
hostile as in other Metroid games is the lack of an
effective soundtrack to drive the mood home. And
certainly some areas did hearken back to the
environments of the past, like the Phazon Mines,
or my favorite, the very short but deliciously sweet
Impact Crater. The fact is that there's not much to
complain about in the art deparment except that
they need to convey a sense of hostility that was
sometimes lacking. I can imagine how such
abstract concepts are difficult to incorporate into a
game, but with such talent behind the helm, I'm certain Retro can pull it off.
Another possible area of consideration has to do with some of the
design changes that occurred. The new space pirates and Chozo
statues look different, but do they really look better? There are
many who looked forward to seeing these elements in 3D in their
original form, and I still think there's a place for them.
Metroid, Metroid Prime, the Metroid logo, Metroid games and related items, all names, photos, and scans of these Metroid games or items are registered trademark and/or copyright Nintendo of America, Inc., and Nintendo Co., Ltd. The author of this page is not affiliated with Nintendo, Retro Studios, or any of their licensees. No copyright infringement in these pages is intended. All such content is protected by intellectual property laws and any use other than for private, non commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.
