Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

"Metroid veterans will enjoy this game."

Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is Nintendo's second GCN Metroid game, and a sequel to 2002's Metroid Prime. While Metroid Prime itself was a great game in its own rights, it definitely left room for improvement. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes has succeeded in being superior to its predecessor, by staying with what made the first game great while adding some new elements to it.

Storyline: 10/10

After Samus Aran's defeat of Metroid Prime in her last mission, the Galactic Federation has detected strong elements of Phazon on a planet called Aether. The Galactic Federation has sent a federation squad to the surface of Aether to investigate. They never returned.

Samus's mission is to journey to Aether and rescue the survivors, if any. Soon after landing on the surface, however, she discovers that the entire squad has been ambushed, and not a single trooper survived. However, she continues to investigate the planet and finds out that Aether's dominant species, peaceful beings of light known as the Luminoth, are at war. Their enemies are merciless beings of darkness known as the Ing. The leader of the Luminoth, U-Mos, states that a dimensional rift struck the planet and created the Ing, as well as their home planet of Dark Aether, a shadow of Aether. The planetary energy of Aether was halved, as half went to the Luminoth on Aether, and half went to the Ing on Dark Aether. Should one planet get hold of all the energy, the other planet shall cease to exist. As of this point, there may be a few spoilers here and there, so I'll just stop here.

Samus's goal throughout the game is to journey to Dark Aether and transfer the energy of Dark Aether over to Aether. To do this, you will have to go to four temples and receive energy from the generators that reside there. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is one of those games that have a great story with little or no plot holes, as everything is explained at one point of the game or another.

Gameplay: 10/10

Most of the gameplay elements from the original Metroid Prime have been left alone, which is a good thing. The difficulty of this game is quite challenging and anybody can guarantee a good ten to twenty hours from this game.

How much time it takes to beat the game also depends on whether you want to just beat the game, or take the time to get a 100% completion ratio. Getting a 100% is no easy task; you'll have to collect every single missile expansion, energy tank, power bomb expansion, and beam ammo expansion. Each of those items will help you out by adding to your health or weapon ammunition. While it is not required to collect them all, taking the time to do so will allow you to receive a 100% completion rating when you beat the game.

Scanning objects using the Scan Visor plays a very big role in the game. At any time, you can switch to your Scan Visor, which generally allows you to pick up information about an object that you choose to scan. Unlike the original Metroid Prime, in Metroid Prime 2 Echoes the objects that can be scanned are color coded. An object that appears in green has already been scanned, an object that appears in blue is relevant but not important, and an object that appears in red is either an object that must be scanned to proceed, or an entry in Samus's logbook.

The logbook is Samus's archive on certain things that can be scanned, and it also appeared in the first Metroid Prime. Any type of creature has data that can be stored in her logbook. In addition, she can store Lore, such as information from deceased Luminoth or Trooper bodies, in her logbook as well. Finally, she can also store data on certain objects and biology, such as her gunship, in her logbook as well.

In addition, the logbook has another purpose as well. After collecting a certain percentage of scans, you will unlock image galleries that can be accessed from the main menu. This includes concept art that Nintendo threw in to make the game last longer. It is not essentially a great prize, but filling up your logbook has been a goal in Metroid Prime and in this game, and has always been rewarded by these image galleries.

After completing the game, you will also be allowed to play Hard Mode, which starts the game over again at a harder level. While not great, it does add replay value to this game and is always a plus. Completing Hard Mode will unlock the final image gallery.

Controls, more or less the same as they used to be, are simple for certain items and a little more complex for other items, but are overall responsive. Using the control pad's four directions will switch the visor of choice; pressing left will activate the Scan Visor, right will activate the Dark Visor, down will activate the Echo Visor, and pressing up will activate the Combat Visor, the default one that will most likely be used most often. You will begin with the Combat Visor and Scan Visor, and activate two more visors later on. The C Stick will allow you to select your weapon beam, including the Power Beam, which you begin the game with; the Dark Beam, which fires dark energy at the opponent; the Light Beam, which shoots a wave of light energy at your enemy, and the Annihilator Beam, which uses both dark and light ammo to fire a powerful blast at any enemy.

With the one exception of the Power Beam, each beam has its own ammo supply. This was exempted from the original Metroid Prime, and introduced in this game. Some say that it makes the game tedious, arguing that the ammo system should be left out, while I say that it provides the game with more difficulty without being too tedious. Killing enemies with the Dark Beam will allow you to retrieve Light Beam ammunition refills, and killing enemies with the Light Beam will allow you to receive Dark Beam ammunition refills. The Annihilator Beam, rather than having an ammo supply of its own, uses both light and dark ammunition.

Another very interesting feature of this game is the concept of Dark Aether (the shadow dimension of the planet that Samus must explore). There are portals that will allow you to transport from one planet to another, but these portals are located only in certain rooms and some are one way, meaning that you can only go through the portal from one planet.

Dark Aether, besides being a shadow type dimension, also is home to the terrible Ing race. No creature of light can stand in it for long. When you go into Dark Aether, the very air itself is poison. You will lose about five of your health per second when you stand on Dark Aether. After acquiring the Dark Suit, that count is reduced to about one health per second. After acquiring the Light Suit, the air of Dark Aether will no longer harm you.

However, there is a way to avoid being damaged and even recover some health (at a rate of one point per second) by using Luminoth technology, such as the Light Crystals and Light Beacons that are scattered around Dark Aether. Standing in the safe zone that is created will protect you from the air of Dark Aether. The problem is that Light Beacons must be energized by a shot from the Power Beam before they create a safe zone, and that the safe zones are temporary. What this means is that one minute, you'll be gaining health; the next, losing health, because the beacon has disappeared. Despite these problems, I enjoyed this part of the game because, again, it makes the game challenging but not frustrating.

Metroid Prime 2 Echoes also has a multi player mode thrown in as well (the first Metroid game to have this feature). The multi player is hardly up to par with that of other first person shooters, but is still good overall. There are two types of multi player modes, Deathmatch and Bounty Mode. Deathmatch is just a free for all shooting style multi player, while Bounty Mode requires a bit more strategy, in which a player earns coins every time he shoots. Neither multi player mode is that well done, but each will at least keep you entertained. Do not expect anything great from multi player mode, as there are better multi player games out there (Super Smash Bros. Melee and The Legend Of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures instantly come to mind).

There are a total of four stages to choose from, and two more can be unlocked by completing certain tasks in single player mode. All of the stages are well detailed, but not necessarily eye candy. Upgrades are available in multi player mode, examples include breaking boxes to find the light beam, dark beam, or annihilator beam. Also, multi player will start you off with some upgrades that you wouldn't usually start off with, including the boost ball and spider ball. Some stages require more skill than others; one stage in particular (Crossfire Chaos) had a player perform a somewhat difficult to execute space jump in order to get the super missiles. Another disadvantage in multi player is that there are no kinds of energy tanks or missile expansions to increase ammunition or health. In fact, the closest there is to that is an upgrade that allows the player to use unlimited beam ammo for a short period of time. Unfortunately, that does not help as much as one might think.

Also, there are soundtracks that you can choose to listen to during the course of your Deathmatch or Bounty with friends. You begin with only one, a pleasant sounding yet still good for shooting theme labeled “Hunters”. As you progress through the game in single player mode, you will unlock new soundtracks in multi player mode, including songs that are heard mostly in locales in the single player mode. Unfortunately, they quickly prove to be tiring, and more often than not you will stick to the default setting song, “Hunters”, which is easily the best song for a round of multi player.

Graphics: 10/10

The graphics are very similar to Metroid Prime, but, again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. At first, it may seem that every level looks exactly the same, but as the game progresses, graphics get better and better. Small details, such as the dead bodies of the Luminoth or Marines, stood out, and all of the locales were realistic as well (unlike last game, where there was a fire lever, an ice level, and so on). No complaints here.

Overall:

I would recommend buying this game if you like adventure games or first person shooters, as this game fits both. Players who like to take the time to unlock everything will love this game, as will fans of the Metroid series and people who like challenging difficulties. The storyline is excellent, with little to no plot holes, and gameplay is superb. This game earns a very high recommendation.

Storyline: 10/10
Gameplay:10/10
Graphics:10/10

Final Score: 10/10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/05, Updated 04/27/05