Samus first stopped the evil Space Pirates and Mother Brain from amassing an army of Metroids on the planet Zebes. Then she was called on to finish the job on SR388, ultimately ridding the universe of all but a single Metroid larva. In Metroid Prime, Samus thwarted Mother Brain's attempt to snatch the captive Metroid larva from the scientists on Ceres. Eight years later the newest Metroid game is released and is now in first-person mode.

You start your adventure off right on the mysterious planet of Tallon IV. Take advantage of Samus's many powers using new suits that enable her to gain new abilities and revisit earlier worlds to uncover many hidden secrets. Do your best to explore each area to find many familiar weapons, such as the Wave Beam and Freeze Beam and some all-new ones as well.

Graphics:

Metroid has always provided us with the top-notch graphics that are available, and Metroid Prime is absolutely no exception. As you may not have notice, practically everything is extremely detailed; even the guts of your splattered enemies and the raindrops that fall on your visor are detailed. The frame rate does not drop at all during the game; in fact there aren't even load times that makes the graphics seem even more remarkable. To the reflection of Samus's face in the visor after you charge up your beam and shoot it, to the dead bodies of the Space Pirates, Prime's graphics are just as its name says, prime. Ho ho, I made a joke, NOW LAUGH!

Sound:

As always, Metroid has had some of the best gaming music ever. Even from the title screen you can tell that the sound is superb. Music changes throughout the game as your transgress to different environments, like lava to snow, oh do I love that part. As baby Sheegoths grunt and groan you are surrounded as a soothing orchestral music surrounds you, and you think to yourself, "Wow, this is beautiful." In great games, music and sound needs to reflect on the environment, and Prime does the perfectly. Whether you have a Mono television or Dolby Surround Sound System, you will be satisfied with the game's sound quality.

Gameplay:

Graphics don't make games, you know? Gameplay is all that really matters, and that is exactly why Cube-Europe has this section in their reviews. Metroid has obviously made a huge transition and that transition is third person to first-person, but did it work, and did it go smoothly? Of course it did, you're dealing with Nintendo here. Are you crazy or something? Now, in 2002, it finally feels that you are Samus Aran. Controlling your blaster seems a little daunting at first, but as you play the game more, it becomes second nature. Another amazing feature are the visors that you get. With a simple push of a direction on the D-Pad, you can go to X-Ray vision to Thermal Vision. To access the map all you need is a simple press of the Z trigger, which indeed, is a spectacular option.

Load times are little to none, no waiting for new areas to load, no nothing. And, until you feel like stopping, you can play forever. I don't recommend that though.

If there is one problem with the game though, it is the amount of back tracking that you have to do. It gets so ridiculous that you want to stop playing Metroid, but of course that plan never carries through. You get the so and so suit and the darkest depths of the game and then have to go back to the way beginning, which just gets on your nerves. But nevertheless it is sometimes fun.

Thankfully, all the enemies are different and there are many things to scan. Instead of trying to blast your way through, you may just have to scan a specialized lock to open up that area you've been trying to get to for 2 hours. New enemies appear at new areas at different times. One feature that everybody will love is the environments. You get beautiful levels that have water, ice, snow, and lava that somewhat interact with you. This makes the game even more beautiful which is something that all gamers love.

Playability:

Beam power is determined by how long you hold the A button. You can curl into the ball form at any time by pressing X button. Changing weapons are done by a simple flick of the C-Stick, that works perfectly - a unique and well thought out mechanism. A slight downside is that you can't look up and down without the aim button (R). That gets very frustrating at first, and then you adjust. But overall the controls are pretty much good, and take time getting used to.

Different enemies have different was to be defeated, which make the game that bit more playable, giving the player a feeling different from other games. Metroid have the ability to evolve into more powerful life forms, which get more enjoyable to scan the enemies, and so do the other enemies.

Lifespan:

Fortunately, this game does hold much replay value. Enemies regenerate which make the gameplay much more exciting and re-playable (is re-playable even a word?). It's great fun for the whole game, but unless have no idea where your last save was and what you did last, you probably won't enjoy the game much. Also, the game has three alternate endings which adds more storyline to the series of Metroid. There is also the Fusion Suit and original Metroid game to unlock with the connection of the Metroid Fusion from your GameBoy Advance to your GameCube. And don't forget those image galleries either. All in all, Metroid Prime has and enormous lifespan. If you beat it once, just put it down for a week and then pick it up again, it'll be like the experience all over again, well that's because it is all over again. And with a completion time of about 30 hours, it will take you awhile before you complete this game.

Final Say:

Overall Metroid Prime is the greatest game out on the gaming market right now, but that is just my opinion, though most people will agree with me. And do remember this: Metroid Prime is, and I repeat, IS a first-person adventure, so don't go thinking that you will be just going around blowing things up. This game is superb in every way minus the controls, though you do get use to them. Get this game when you can.