Well, E3 has started with the most incredible bang! The conference gave us the first views of the most incredible object ever created by man, but tucked away at the start of the conference was a video. This video showed the sequel to what is in mine, and many peoples' opinions, one of the best games ever burnt onto a piece of tin foil. I am, of course, talking about Metroid Prime, whose sequel Metroid Prime: Echoes will be released late this year.

 

This was our first proper glimpse of Echoes, which takes place on the planet Aether, and I am sure there can be no one disappointed with it. It seems to have retained all that made the original great, and added an extra dimension – light and dark worlds, which is starting to become a surprisingly familiar theme in Nintendo 1st and 2nd party games. The way so many features have been left unchanged, or tweaked slightly, is great. The first game was just sheer genius, and if they want to produce a sequel that is the last game with a different story then I see absolutely no problem with that – why mess with perfection?

The graphics, if anything, are actually better, with the developers really getting every last drop of sweat out of the little purple box. Much like Zelda and Resident Evil 4, we are really starting to see exactly how much power this thing has in the right hands. This game really is graphically excellent. All the effects are convincing and the environments stunning, and very atmospheric.

 

The controls are exactly the same, which I am pleased with, as I felt that the completely new style control system added to the feeling of the original being a completely new type of game, along with its genre busting style. The music is also still the same.

The gameplay has retained the strategy and thought that accompanied the bug blasting of the prequel. Again, the different visors are used to solve puzzles, while the blaster gets so serious use against all kinds of bugs. Including Dark Samus. Sounds very interesting. It appears that you have to travel between worlds via portals, and that the Dark world actually harms Samus, until you get the correct suit.

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However, there have been some changes. The first is that the HUD has had a few tweaks to it, with the missile bar different, and a few lines here and there, but nothing obviously major. The second change is that there are 2 new weapons, to go with the 2 worlds, a light beam and a Dark beam. The light beam is most effective against creatures in the Dark world, and vice versa. But, since they are so effective there is an ammo limit on these guns, to encourage strategy and players developing different techniques for dispatching different foes. The Power Beams and Ice Beams are also back, along with missiles, which have the added ability to lock onto multiple targets. Smashing!

 

Those of you avidly counting the numbers of changes in the sequel on the fingers of one hand, you'll be pleased to know that the icons for weapons and visors have all changed. Which may be fun for you but, I can assure you, it is desperately frustrating for the humble games journalist who can't make it to E3 himself, trying to see what weapons and visors have changed. What I can say with 100% certainty is that there is at least one new visor, the Echo visor, which sees sounds, and that the scan visor has undergone a slight change.

The biggest and best change is the inclusion of multiplayer death matching. Up to 4 players rolling, jumping and blasting their way round arenas, with only carnage and victory on their minds. All weapons and bombs from the main game seem to have been included in the death match mode, although what modes of play will be available hasn't yet been shown. It looks great, as that all that was missing from Metroid Prime. The multiplayer also features a 'hacking' mode, which appears, with limited information so far, to let you actually hack into an opponent's suit and cause them damage that way. Echoes will not utilise the LAN capabilities though, so this is strictly a cramped sofa affair. There will also be no connectivity with the NST developed Metroid Prime: Hunters. But seriously, who cares? This game looks unbelievable, and I for one won't miss those 2 things.

 

Well, to sum up, I can only say 'wow'! This game has taken the last, almost perfect Metroid, and seems to have made it even better, with multiplayer, new weapons and new visors. And if the story is as interesting as the scant details so far suggest, then everyone must buy this game. You have ages to save for it, so no excuse! Oh, and if you don't see me in around 6 months time, check in front of the 'Cube in my room.