I am currently 6 hours into
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and loving every minute of it. I was wondering whether JXQ, after reading and rereading his
scathing yet pretty much true anti-Metroid Prime article (there Raiscan, now my opinion is known), would appreciate the changes that Retro has made to the Prime formula for this game. Most (though, to be fair, not all) of JXQ's complaints have been fixed in this edition:
First Person Perspective
Obviously not changed, though it's a little less awkward to double-jump now because you can look down at your feet while jumping. And if you have the camera at a good angle, you can see exactly where you need to jump.
Visor effects and
Stupid impractical visors
The scan visor is less of a bitch. Scannable stuff glows brighter, making it easier to see rather than randomly hitting Z trying to scan stuff (you can also see Samus' reflection, blinking and her eyes shifting while scanning - take that, Bungie LOD artists). Also, even though the Command Visor is night-vision green, landing points for your ship are bright and visible against the epileptic lavender (though I agree that this colour scheme wasn't exactly the best choice).
Every door looks the same
Not anymore. The doors in every area are different, and there are often two or three different door designs for one area. Not exactly diverse, but it's a start, Retro, it's a start.
Artificial challenge
Enemies are harder to kill, but there are less of them and they have clear weaknesses. With the new controls, it's easier to pull off headshots while locked on to a target (though HS's don't often kill an enemy).
Field of vision
Sadly, not much change here. You can see a bit more, but not much, and the screen isn't curved around Samus' helmet, but it's still annoying.
The game is too dark
Bryyo and Elysia are bright and sunny, while Norion has a more UV-ish glow but not dark.
Too much shit on the screen
Said shit is now smaller and thrown on the sides of the screen, leaving the more important parts (i.e. the centre) clear.
Shitty shitty shitty shitty controls
Entirely new control scheme is incredible. I never want to play dual-analog FPS's ever, ever again.
So...what do others (especially JXQ) think of this game? It's no Super Metroid, I agree, but it's easily the best Prime, and that non-port killer app the Wii has been waiting for.
