Matt's suggestions
I have always been a Metroid fan, ever since I was five and I know my Metroid. I have always liked Metroid because of the organic life forms and fine detail. I also love Metroid because of its jungle like scenery
and natural environment. However I was disappointed about Metroid Prime because it is mostly a
factory environment. This drastic change has no place in Metroid because it overpowers the natural side of Metroid. This can not be. I have heard many complaints about this change and the way it affects the game.
Another thing that was a big disappointment was the conversion from third person to first person. This was a major disaster for Metroid Prime for most of the hard core fans were disappointed as was I. It would have been better if it was a third person birds eye point of view. That would make the fans happly! This would bring back the metroid feel. Well that is all I can say about Metroid Prime.
Your best fan,
-Matt
I certainly agree that Prime emphasized the constructed elements a little too much. Hopefully Prime 2 will mark a return to the more organic side of Metroid. As for the first person vs. third person argument, it seems a lot of fans definitely aren't happy with how the first person viewpoint turned out. Though I did enjoy how Metroid worked as a first person game I can't deny that third person could have certain distinct advantages (and some disadvantages too). While it's doubtful Prime 2 will choose this viewpoint it's good to make such opinions known and I believe in time we may see it happen.
Praise for Evolution
Hello,
I just stumbled across your Metroid Evolution website and I just want to praise the thoughts and comments you conveyed on Metroid Prime and the small problems it has when measured up to other games in the series. For the longest time I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with Prime and your words seemed to make perfect sense and clear up what I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was very well done and methodical how you broke up each Prime element (music, graphics, gameplay etc.) to scrutinize each individually. Great job on your site.
-Warren Imker
Thanks for the kind words Warren. Let's hope Retro agrees with us and makes Metroid Prime 2 a more faithful Metroid experience!
Xenowolf's suggestions
Well here are my suggestions:
Art: In all honesty, I think the artwork in Metroid Prime is excellent, and there’s not a whole lot of complaining to do. The Samus character model is absolutely awesome, the levels look gorgeous, and the
enemies are very cool. I must admit too that I kind of like the way the Chozo statues look. As was said
somewhere on the site already, they do look more regal which I certainly don’t mind. I would however, like to
see some of the powerups again being held in Item Spheres by the Chozo statues.
Speaking of items, I would really like to see some of those classic item icons make a return, especially the
beams and suits. I like the good ol’ beam icons with the little creatures holding the colored spheres (you
know the ones I mean), and I didn’t really like the suit icons just being the S-logo. I wanna see the
little atom looking thing for the Varia and tube thing for the Gravity suit again.
The levels I thought were great. Only a couple things. (1) There should be more deep tunnels going downward into the surface of the planet, and fewer open areas. I don’t mind the open areas, I even like them, but I there shouldn’t be quite so many. Metroid needs some more deep dark caverns than were in Prime. (2) The terrain should be a little more organic and more alien looking. The mechanical parts should stay too, though I would like to see some more organic areas. These parts should look a bit more strange and alien (for the most part anyway) than in Prime, although I’ve seen the video clip of the sequel and it looks like you’ve got some of that taken care of. Good job :)
As for creatures, really no complaints about design. Lots of insectoid and mechanical enemies. The only
thing I’d like is more of those chittering or squawking type noises seen in Super and Fusion.
Music: Yeah I agree that the music is a somewhat mixed bag, I really loved some of what was in Prime. Songs I liked were the Opening Theme and Credits, the Space Station, the blissfully ambient remix of the original Brinstar theme, the first Phendrana theme (not the techno one, but the one by the room with the Wave Beam), the second Tallon Overworld Theme, and the Crashed Frigate (I loved that one). Oh and the music at the Artifact Temple was great (both normally and fighting Ridley).
Songs I didn’t really like were the Chozo Ruins (neat at first but became kinda uninteresting) and the
techno Phendrana one. Some of the boss fight songs (like Thardus) were almost a little too chaotic,
though I guess it kinda works in a boss fight. You should definitely keep some more upbeat, adventurous songs as well.
Gameplay: Ok, now the big thing. The first person view works very well since you tend to do a lot of looking around anyway while exploring. The problem? It takes away some of Samus’s signature moves like the Screw Attack, Wall Jump, Speed Booster, and the real Space Jump. The solution? My best guess would be to allow the player to switch between first and third person views at will (maybe with Z and move the map into the pause menu?). The controls could even remain exactly the same in both modes (control stick moves, L to lock on…) and players wouldn’t be able to Screw Attack or jump more than twice in first person, or use visors in third person. Ah speaking of the visors, they rocked. Very cool to look and a perfect addition. The only complaint is that the Scan Visor shouldn’t be able to find everything. It often made the Thermal and X-Ray Visors unneeded. I say use the Scan Visor mainly for enemies, Log Book, etc., and the other two for finding secret passages most of the time. Also, I really like AP’s (that’s the webmaster of this site I think) idea of bombing a block and having it reveal stress fractures, bits of a colored core, etc., and then being able to scan it to see what the core is or whatever the case may be. That way it’s not so unrealistic as to have a Power Bomb icon in the center of a block ;)
The player should have more control over Samus’s swing while using the Grappling Beam. Also, it would be so cool to be able to grapple and fire a weapon at the same time. I’m not sure how exactly that could be
done, but if you figured out a way, I’d kill for the ability to do it. That would help out in making Samus
more agile, which she needs to be.
One more thing: missiles need to be faster!
Conclusion: Ok Retro, those are my suggestions. Most of them are pretty minor things, but that’s mostly all that the next game needs. Metroid Prime was incredible enough to convert many, many nonbelievers (including myself until E3 2002). With a few tweaks, I think you could convert the rest of the hardcore 2D snobs :) Make us proud y’all!
-Xenowolf4
Not much to comment on here; it seems we agree on quite a few things. I will say that from my point of view the first person viewpoint isn't responsible for the space jump's absence, rather the abundant open areas are. Seen in that light they're not only contrary to what helped distinguish past Metroid games but also a problem with the gameplay. It's not that they should be wholly eliminated since they can serve as a welcome respite from the constant claustrophobia, but they really should be kept to a minimum in any Metroid game.
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