Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

"Add online multiplayer and you have perfection!"

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my review of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the sequel to the very successful Metroid Prime by Retro. The game is hard to describe in words. You have to play it to truely appreciate the genius that is this game. Witness breathtaking graphics while blasting away at all the bad-ass aliens that won't know when they're beaten. Here we will inspect all aspects of this FPS and find out why it is one of the best games I've ever played.

Story 10/10

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes combines the scanning-to-tell-story element from Metroid Prime and adds a live character to help tell the story of Aether. A world torn between a light side and a dark side from a result of a meteor crash. The energy source of Aether are split between the two worlds and it's up to Samus Aran to bring them back to U-mos. But watch out, the inhabitants of the dark world, the Ing, will be ready to stop you with everything in their might. There's also the mysterious appearances of Dark Samus, whose identity will be known to you if you get the 100% ending.

You lose all your upgrades at the beginning (no surprise there...) and must collect them by defeating the bosses that have taken them. Each boss that took one of your upgrades has a specialty that resembles that item, and requires a unique and special way to deafeat each and every one of them. The challenging obstacles are met with the poisonous air of Dark Aether, which hurts you as you walk through it. This difficult aspect of the game adds elements that only make it harder than ever.

As I mentioned before, you still look for Lores to scan to find out about Aether's past and its inhabitants, the Luminoth. They were once travelling space creatures. Their existance is ancient and have bathed in the Chozo stars. Then they found Aether. The planet was so profond for them that they decided to reside there forever. All was peaceful until a meteor crashed into their planet. This impact resulted in the opening of a tear in the dimensions, causing the beautiful planet's dark brother to form. This dark side represents everything Light Aether is not--pure evil. Along with the appearance of this dark planet comes the Ing, the creatures that inhabit Dark Aether. They are vile and ruthless creatures that will cause destruction wherever they can. Samus uses portals placed at the toughest of locations to travel between the worlds. But beware, the air in the Dark World alone is enough to harm our heroine. Don't worry though, as you will later get suits that fight off this poisonous air. The only way to travel safely throughout Dark Aether without the Light Suit is to use the Luminoth Crystals that the Luminoth made for battle in Dark Aether. But wait, you may say, how does Samus fit in all of this?

Following a distress signal from the Galactic Federate Troopers chasing Space Pirates, Samus Aran flies her starship into the depths of Aether. Travelling barely any steps she finds some Troopers dead and scattered throughout the fields of Aether. Through a combination of scanning and seeing, she manages to come to a conclusion that the Federate Troopers fell at the hands of the Ing. What's worse, Samus soon finds that the Space Pirates managed to survive and fight off the Ing. They were able to establish a base and utilize some weapons on Aether, such as the portal you use to travel between the worlds, and the Dark Beam. Scanning their logs tells the invasion of Dark Samus, who comes just to steal Phazon. (If this doesn't make you realize who she is, you seriously need to play Metroid Prime) Ahh, yes, Dark Samus. Just another complication to make your life in Aether more difficult than ever. She will often come across your path and intervene with your tasks. But use your uber-cool powers to show her that Aether is only big enough for one Samus!

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes has a challenging story that will have you gripping the controller and begging for more as you progress further. Though it's level of difficulty makes it cater strictly to hardcore gamers, but don't worry, casuals that turn this game down because of its difficulty are rare and shouldn't be called gamers at all.

Graphics: 10/10

When you see the beautifully crisp and sharp graphics, you will say "WOW"! No clipping ever and runs at 60 FPS throughout the whole thing. This game really pushes the Gamecube hardware to the best of its abilities. But most important of all, the graphics really capture the mood of the despair air of Light Aether, and the malevolence of Dark Aether. It manages to capture the effects of the different visors, which really helps when it comes to gameplay. Also you can see the varying effects of the different weapons of the game. Such as the air getting sucked in around your arm when you charge, or the great explosion a super missile causes, etc.

Sound: 10/10

The sound effects of this game compliments perfectly with the graphics. Not a second delay between them like some games do (though no VO probably helps). Hear the screeches of the evil Ing, the cries of Samus as she gets hurt, the dramatic music when enemies appear, and the satifying sound of you beam weapons.

Gameplay: 9/10

The above score is an average of the divided sections of the Gameplay review, for Single Player and Multiplayer.

Single Player Gameplay: 10/10

Simply magical. Feel the rumble, drool over the graphics, and perceive the sound. Everything is done to perfection. Plus a storyline that keeps you coming back for more. Each enemy is individual in its own way, and requires a different way to kill them. The fact that scanning them will provide such a realistic niche for them really makes you feel that you're actually in Aether. The boss battles are fantastic and epic, and often requires scanning to find their weakness. But enough of that, let's focus on the most important aspect of gameplay, the controls.

Let's say that Metroid is a FPS (this argument has been done to ages, so let's just cooperate with me). But there is a problem, The Gamecube controller isn't exactly suited for FPSes. the C-Stick is really difficult to use for aiming, and also needs to be used for changing weapons. So how does Retro fix this? Simple. With the Lock-On feature. A reticle appears around your target while locking-on, so that you can keep track of where your opponent is going and attack with precision. Missiles will also follow your target for a while. While some say that this feature ruins the skills required for a FPS, I think just the opposite. The enemies in Metroid aren't exactly ones to stay in one place and hold up gigantic signs that say "Enemy Here". They move around with speed and precision, so much that a Lock-On feature seems crucial to survive in this game. Plus, the Lock-On also enables a special move--dashing. Dashing is used to evade an enemy's head-on attack (which, believe me, will be a big help). When locked-on to a target, dashing will make Samus move at a quick speed around the target. Master dashing and you will rule in Multiplayer (which we will touch on later). You can shoot and dash to pwn n00bs that are just asking to be shot. Some enemies require dashing to neutralize, and plus it's just a cool move by itself.

The single player gameplay feels so perfect. Puzzle-elements of Metroid Prime have been implemented and will guarantee a mind-boggling obstacle that will have you begging for a guide. The fact that Samus is a special character with unique skills such as Morph Ball, Bombs, Power Bombs, Missiles, Super Missiles, Gravity boots, Grapple Beams, switchable visors and more only contribute into innovative mazes that only a Metroid game can offer. Well done Retro!

Multiplayer Gameplay: 8/10

Given the greatness of the Single Player, I was a bit disappointed by the rushed feeling left with the Multiplayer. But given that it was Retro's first venture into multiplayer for Metroid, I'll be easy on them. Don't get me wrong, you can have tons of fun with the ranging stages, just don't expect any SSBM fun. The graphics have been dumbed down to an extent and there aren't much options in the game. The stages aren't that big, either. A number of the most awesome upgrades from Single Player have been excluded (they were a bit cheap, anyways). But perhaps the most disappointing thing was that it didn't make use of the Online Adapter, though that was Nintendo's fault.

The astonishingly small number of 6 stages seemed very unappealing, but they varied greatly and managed to guarantee lots of hours of fun. The stages really made use of some of Samus' most useful items (Though some elements of Single Player would be a big plus). The fact that morph ball cannons can spell death adds a feeling of excitement into the mix. Plus there are special abilities players can gain by going through a special question mark symbol such as Death Ball, Invisibility, Invulnerability, Massive Damage, Hacker Mode, are big pluses to the whole thing.

Overall the thing was not bad, but giving it a few more months and it might've produced Halo-like results. Oh, well, one flaw is hardly enough to cry over, as the more amazing parts of this game will keep you busy.

Replay Value: 8/10

It all depends. There are many things to unlock in this game, but the majority of them are possible to unlock in a single playthrough. You get Hard Mode after one playthrough, which is sure to challenge gamers everywhere. And you get one more unlockable after you beat it as well.

Final Verdict: 9/10

Everything was magical. It was all in place. All they needed was better multiplayer, which we will surely see in the upcoming sequel. Great job, Retro!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/06