Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

"An interesting disappointment. Why?"

This review is going to be very different than any other review you've read. I have no choice: there's only one way I can tell Metroid Prime 2's story.

Graphics/Music/Sound/Control (10/10)
These are all identical to the original Metroid Prime, so go read almost any other review here on GameFAQs for more detail. Suffice to say the first Prime was a masterpiece, and its core values are preserved in the sequel.

Whoa. You're wondering how everything can be so perfect if I gave the game half marks. Because, my friend, this perfection is nothing more than façade cloaking a terrible truth.

Gameplay (5/10)
First, I'll say that the first Prime deserved 10 out of 10 overall. It's one of the best gamecube games, and one of the best games period that I've played. Unfortunately, Retro Studios got complacent and lax when working on Prime 2, and tried to get by on riding their own coattails; on the previous games' merit if you will. Let's examine the gameplay aspects of Metroid Prime 2 that warrant such a low score.

The World
Boring. Unlike the vibrant and varied environments we enjoyed in the original Prime, this time around the planet Samus is marooned on features much less detail. It's mostly brown with little vegetation. Even the swamp area hardly deserves the name; they just added lots of water to the same rocks that the other zones are made of. Gone are the ancient ruins with broken fountains in decaying courtyards, the fiery caverns and the icy tunnels that helped make the first Prime such an immersive experience. Prime 2 just looks…bland. The worst part is the machine area. This is supposed to a great fortress, the final Alamo of a defeated race. But, it is just a pointless series of rooms with weird techno-erotica textures that fails to lend credence to the back story. I never saw great embattlements or super computers: no wonder its architects perished. Oh wait, I goofed: the fortress is not the worst after all. It's the Dark world. They wanted this alternate dimension to be evil and foreboding; instead, it's an excuse not to have to program as many maps. For the dark world is just a purple colored copy of the normal world. Trust me, you'll quickly tire of having to backtrack through 2 versions of the same room. Of course, I could let this go if the dark world was as intense as it first promised. For a while, this game mechanic plays wonderfully: the atmosphere is so toxic it corrodes your suit, so you'll die quickly unless you are standing in a light bubble that acts as a healing safe zone. These bubbles exist intermittently after you shoot certain crystals that are scattered around. So in the beginning, you are very scared of the dark world, as the threat of death is very real. Then you'll encounter the Ing, which are the sentient monsters that inhabit this realm. Trying to fight off their shape shifting warriors while hugging light bubbles is a spectacular and sweaty event that you won't soon forget. Unfortunately, after minimal exploration of the dark world, you'll get a suit upgrade that all but nullifies the damaging atmosphere, eliminating this key threat. Then you'll realize that the Ing aren't that difficult, that they don't become more powerful even as Samus does, and that the room you are in is a purple colored copy of that room you were in two minutes ago.

The Enemies
Lame. More laziness is evident here. Sure, the planet's fauna is interesting like the first Prime, but it seems that the low level animals are all Retro could come up with. The Ing, while initially creative, are limited in scope and not developed enough for a race that apparently destroyed a civilization of technologically superior beings. The basic Ing warrior is at first a memorable foe, but they lose their luster after many battles, dulling to the point where you simply begin ignoring them. Souped-up versions of the Ing will be your minibosses (but they look the same). The other denizens of the dark are simply copies of the light-side creatures. Like the maps, the dark enemies are differently colored duplicates of things you have already seen, with “Dark” added to their name. For example, if there was an enemy called the StuffedRabbit, you'll later find a Dark StuffedRabbit. Dark StuffedRabbit behaves exactly the same as StuffedRabbit, but will dish out more damage and be able to absorb more from you. Needless to say this is a huge disappointment and reinforces the feeling of a rushed game. Lastly there are the Space Pirates (more on them later) but they are pushovers this time around. They do have one ace-in-the-sleeve however – a Dark Pirate Commando that will appear frequently in many rooms, including light side ones. This is without a doubt the worst idea ever. When these appear (often in pairs) the room will lock you in. They are very powerful, take an insane amount of damage to kill, and are invisible. They start appearing long before you get the visor that lets you see them. Without that visor you'll never kill them, so you have to wait until they disappear, which they do after a certain time. Even with the visor you are unlikely to stop them. You'll soon dread the rooms they manifest in, as they respawn every time you go through. Hope you aren't far from a save point, or you might just find yourself dead because you had to go through the same hell-room twice in a row.

The Weapons
Cop-out. You've got your power beam again, and it's fine. Then there's the fabled Light and Dark beams, supposedly a revolutionary game mechanic that adds depth and strategy to the game. No. First, the dark beam is the ice beam. Sure, it has a cooler animation, but the effect is the same. The light beam is a plasma beam remix. That's right; you get the plasma beam early in the game. So much for troublesome enemies, especially since the light beam is extra effective against the Ing. Then there's the Annihilator beam, an ugly-looking weapon that utterly destroys everything, making the game way too easy. In the dark world you can shoot the crystals with this beam to super charge the light bubbles, causing all the Ing to walk into them and be destroyed. At this point the dark world becomes easier than the light world. Another bad feature is the beam ammo system. See, in the original Prime, all your beams remained relevant throughout the game and that was cool. In Prime 2, you'll be using the power beam almost exclusively over the course of the adventure since it is the only one with unlimited ammo. The beam ammo system spoils the dark/light system since you have such a meager supply of beam energy: only 50 shots at first, and charged shots count as 5. You won't be able to make any use of the dark and light beams at all until you find several ammo upgrades. To make matters worse, the ammo is hard to come by, and you typically get the opposite of what you need. To get light ammo you use your dark beam and vice versa. This ensures you will never have a decent supply of both types of ammo. By the way, the annihilator beam uses up both. There are other weapons too, like the seeker missiles that let you independently target up to five enemies with missiles all at once. A good idea, but when do you run into five enemies that warrant missile attacks? Never. This weapon's only purpose is to unlock certain doors. The beam combos are like the combos in the first Prime: insanely awesome, but are really for novelty purposes (other than the super missile). The difference here is that in Prime 1 the combos only used up missiles, which are easily replenished. In Prime 2 they drink up an unholy amount of beam ammo as well as a lot of missiles, meaning that there are even less situations where you think about using them. So get used to tapping that A button; you'll be using the power beam a billion times.

The Pirates
Pointless. They are added to the story as an afterthought, not having much of a presence, other than the incredibly frustrating Dark Commando I talked about earlier. The game would be better off without them.

The Metroids
What? Is this a Metroid game? I wouldn't have guessed as the series namesake appears in two, maybe three rooms. Just remember to freeze them with the dark beam. They mean nothing. I mean, I was hoping for some Omega Metroids. Oh, but there are Dark Metroids. Yay.

The Point
Prime 1 had an engrossing and enrapturing story. Prime 2, well, you just don't care. You're out to save an already vanquished civilization. Why? There's only one of them left so who cares? The Ing are so easy to dispatch you would think that this race, with all their power, could have handled it.

The Good
I feel as though you're thinking I'm a negative nancy. Not so. Some aspects of Prime 2 are superb. First, the boss battles are amazing, well constructed events. I don't want to give anything away, but these bad dudes will blow you away, perhaps literally. Then there's your nemesis, which while an idea copy from Metroid Fusion, plays out well as each encounter is unpredicted and intense. And of course, it's worth mentioning again that the graphics are rich and dynamic, the control fluid and natural, and music fittingly epic. Metroid in 3D rocks. They simply failed to up the ante this time.

Okay, this is getting too wordy. I could go on, but I don't want to, and I think you get the idea. The bottom line is that Prime 2 only gets five points for having the same great bloodline as Prime 1. I'm not simply leveling blatant criticism or misdirected anger. As a Metroid fan, I feel concern for the well being of the franchise and I expect each game to be better than the last. Up until this point, they were.

Verdict:

If you LOVE Metroid and Prime 1: Buy. Your collection must be complete.
If you like Metroid and Prime 1: Rent. It isn't worth even 20 dollars to the non-fanatical.
If you haven't played any Metroid: Avoid. Play the first Prime. It did everything right.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/22/06