- 6 hours ago
It’s been a long, long road, but we’ve finally got the next Metroid Prime in our hands. And while its atmosphere is impeccable, some new additions just don’t quite land, holding it back from going truly beyond.
Reviewed by Oscar Taylor-Kent
Video by Hal Dimond
Reviewed by Oscar Taylor-Kent
Video by Hal Dimond
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00After 18 years, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond is finally here, and I didn't need psychic powers to predict how it
00:08was going to go.
00:09Even if bounty hunter Samus Aran quickly gains mind-bending abilities when she's mysteriously transported to Vuros, once home of
00:16a now-long-dead civilization.
00:18Before playing, I wasn't sure how psychic skills would fit among the rest of Samus' arsenal, and I was skeptical
00:24about adding an overworld you navigate with a motorbike.
00:27Sadly, my grumbles were on the money. Neither of these things feel good.
00:31Awkward to juggle at best, and detrimental to the overall experience at worst, their implementation feels dated.
00:38I didn't need Metroid Prime 4 to go beyond, I needed it to nail the fundamentals.
00:44What's frustrating is, it does.
00:46Within each dungeon-like area to explore, Metroid Prime 4 shines, mixing tactile FPS exploration with gorgeous visuals and impeccable
00:55atmosphere.
00:56But the surrounding structure ends up dragging it down.
00:59Trying and failing to go beyond is a curse more than a blessing.
01:08Called in to assist the Galactic Federation in protecting a mysterious artifact, a large battle ensues as Sylux, a rival
01:15bounty hunter with a burning, and not really elaborated on, hatred for Samus, attacks.
01:20Flanked by titular Metroid creatures that confuse with enemies to power them up, the artifact activates as the skirmish escalates,
01:28and Samus is mysteriously transported to Vuros, her power suits abilities diminishing in the process.
01:33On Vuros, Samus is greeted by ancient Lemorn structures and scriptures that designate her as a prophesied chosen one, who
01:41will carry on their civilization's desire to be remembered long after a tragedy wiped them out.
01:46To do so, she's gifted a stone that grants her psychic powers, and told to track down five keys to
01:52activate a special teleporter to return home.
01:55Metroid Prime 4 is light when it comes to linear storytelling, and isn't great when it attempts it.
02:00I'm still not sure why Sylux, a character from Nintendo DS's Metro Prime Hunters, with brief cameos elsewhere, is elevated
02:08here.
02:08He's such a non-presence that it's almost comical whenever the plot considers him to be some kind of ultimate
02:14nemesis.
02:15She's too stoic to say it, but I almost like to imagine Samus likewise has pretty much no idea who
02:20this guy is.
02:21Almost like M. Bison in 1994's Street Fighter movie.
02:24For you, the day you met Samus Aran was the most important of your life.
02:28But for me, it was Tuesday.
02:31The storytelling fares better when Samus links up with other survivors of the teleportation event.
02:35While some may malign dorky galactic federation engineer Mackenzie, I ended up having a real soft spot for him.
02:42Around each of these companions, who only briefly join you on excursions, Samus remains the strong and silent type.
02:49And it helps sell the sense of her as this larger-than-life, legendary bounty hunter figure.
02:53Still, while they have their charms, at many points these interactions can feel a bit toothless.
02:58Especially as the game progresses.
03:00You never really get space to sit with any kind of melancholy through play that comes with Samus' relationships,
03:05or lack thereof, with those around her.
03:08A miss compared to Metroid Prime 3's own effective experimentation.
03:14But linear storytelling isn't what you come to Metroid for.
03:18This is a series about exploration.
03:20Piecing together small details from environmental design and patchy datalogs about the ruins around you.
03:26Metroid Prime 4 has excellent level design.
03:29From how gorgeous each area looks on Nintendo Switch 2, to the way you simply navigate spaces.
03:35There's a real intentionality to how each environment is designed, that invites you to become similarly engaged.
03:41Rarely do I enter a new space without popping Samus' scan visor active.
03:45Analyzing objects, creatures, and more can provide clues to progression and puzzles.
03:50But just as much allows you to piece together the story of the environment you're exploring.
03:54I'm not sure any other FPS is as good as making you really care about each space you navigate through.
04:01Metroid Prime 4 is excellent at giving these zones a sense of progression,
04:04as you poke around in search of ways to get your hands on teleporter keys.
04:08As you descend deeper into an abandoned factory, more systems begin to power up,
04:13machinery activating and beginning to make progression more difficult because of it,
04:16as an industrial and electronic score begins to build and build.
04:20Likewise, the frozen chambers of a biolab have you learning more and more about the experiments conducted within,
04:27as you scan sparking computers, data logs, and test tubes themselves.
04:31Metroid Prime 4 has a phenomenal sense of atmosphere, and in this sense it does go beyond.
04:36The higher fidelity really sells a degree of tactility that takes Metroid Prime to a new level.
04:41Rival, louder FPS games may have higher fidelity graphics,
04:45but Metroid Prime 4's levels are more evocative and boast superior visual design because of it.
04:51Progression through each of Metroid Prime 4's main areas is slow but deliberate,
04:56and you'll never be able to uncover everything on a first go round thanks to Samus' steady accrual of power
05:01-ups that gate access forward.
05:03These are all very gamey in traditional Metroid fashion, but mostly work well.
05:08For instance, you may need the Psycho Lasso to pull chunks of debris free to access a hallway.
05:13Or, less exciting, an ice laser to remove an ice lock.
05:17Puzzling the way forward is satisfying, but rarely challenging outside of remembering where certain locks were.
05:22And a later collectible can help mark those on the map, too.
05:26First-person shooting comes into play, as reams are frequently home to wildlife,
05:30both aggressive and passive, that will hurt Samus.
05:32I love that both are present, impressing each space as an ecology.
05:36Boss fights also lean towards the puzzle-based.
05:38A quick scan usually hinting at how you need to approach uncovering their weak spot before you start blasting,
05:44while executing on that, can be quite challenging.
05:46Rarely is this much of a problem,
05:49with the exception of a couple of grueling battles that instantly fail you
05:52if you don't revive a companion when they're downed before they take too much damage.
05:56Often a gaming sin.
05:57Unfortunately, for all the gushing I've done about level design and the exploration loop,
06:01there's a lot about Metro Prime 4 Beyond that's just a pain to deal with.
06:05Psychic powers, for example, just feel clunky.
06:09Don't expect to be weaving in any skills like control.
06:12Combat use is very limited.
06:14You can fire the control beam, a maneuverable purple blast that's the best of the bunch,
06:18to slow time and hit up to three targets in a row, required for some enemies and puzzles.
06:23But it's a chore, requiring you to switch visor view,
06:26then charge all the way up before releasing,
06:28then having to switch visor view again to continue shooting as normal.
06:33These are better off in low-pressure puzzles,
06:35but the control beam basically amounts to the beta item from The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword,
06:40which has more interesting puzzles for the same concept.
06:46The overworld, the dune-covered Sol Valley, feels similarly dated conceptually,
06:51and, again, closer to classic Zelda than any kind of The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild twist I
06:57hesitantly expected,
06:58especially considering there are literally shrines that offer small puzzle challenges.
07:02There's so few, you can count them on two hands,
07:05and basically all amount to walking into a room and seeing if you have the power-up to progress or
07:10not.
07:10This is no bite-sized revolution of the Metroid formula,
07:13but something to fill an otherwise fairly empty open-world map.
07:17Sol Valley is how Samus accesses each of the five main key-hiding areas,
07:21which does make it the largest completely interconnected open-world Metroid has ever had.
07:26Sort of.
07:27The problem is how much of a rigmarole it is to get back and forth between anywhere.
07:31This overworld puts its worst foot forward.
07:33After I obtain the bike early into the game,
07:36Tech Hero McKenzie informs me I can check out the remaining three key signals in any order I like.
07:41Score.
07:42Except, not really.
07:44I bike to one, go through a little opening space,
07:46go up an elevator, go along a gondola lift,
07:49poking into this frosty area, I hit an ice wall that blocks progression.
07:53I go back across the gondola lift, back down the elevator,
07:56bike to another corner of the map to find I can't access that marked area at all.
08:00The tech guy then phones me to ask me to check out the volcano.
08:02I bike to that corner of the map and load across a motorbike tunnel.
08:06I can't access this facility either.
08:09But I do get a fire chip that means I can use fire blasts.
08:12Time to break the ice wall, right?
08:14Wrong.
08:15Why would Samus be able to install her own hardware?
08:18Now I have to bike to the other end of the overworld,
08:21go through a shrine-like entrance to the forest area,
08:23use a cargo cannon to slowly blast the other side of the forest
08:27so that Mackenzie can finally allow Samus to shoot fire blasts.
08:30Then, of course, back across the cargo cannon load screen,
08:34sprint through the shrine entrance,
08:36bike across back to then sprint through the entrance to the ice level elevator,
08:39actually go up the elevator,
08:41then across the gondola,
08:42and then finally I can access the next dungeon-like area.
08:45This is the most egregious moment in the game,
08:48but it's literally my first experience of navigating the overworld,
08:51and you have to slog back to base camp to install upgrades a fair few times later.
08:56Progression gating and poking around new areas after you unlock new abilities
09:00is a core part of the Metroid experience,
09:02and it can really build a sense of mastery over a space,
09:05and that you're becoming steadily more powerful and well-equipped.
09:07But all this overworld does is add a needless amount of slogging
09:10through load screens and dull spaces.
09:13To what end?
09:14To ostensibly make these spaces technically connected across Vueros,
09:18even though they still require additional transport as a load screen anyway.
09:23At no point playing Metro Prime 3,
09:25set across a handful of planets with identities as distinct as those in Metro Prime 4,
09:29was I desperate to pilot Samus' ship across empty space.
09:33In the end, I feel discouraged from revisiting areas to poke around,
09:37as it's such a slug to get back there.
09:40Clocking in at 12 hours,
09:41with around 90% of upgrades and scans,
09:44it's length on par with the other, tighter Metroid Prime games.
09:47Metroid Prime 4 has much more bloat.
09:50It ends up making the overworld feel like padding,
09:53when I'd rather it just be shorter.
09:54I even collected 100% of the green crystals,
09:57an overworld collectible linked to a major side mission
09:59that involves driving into chunks at the stuff at high speed,
10:02which plays out like a somehow less interesting
10:05Ratchet & Clank Raritanium excursion.
10:08The best Metroid Primes, and indeed the best Metroidvania games,
10:12are Maisie and Labyrinthine.
10:14But somewhere along the way,
10:15it feels like Metro Prime 4 got lost itself.
10:18Within its actual levels, Metro Prime 4 is triumphant,
10:22delivering immersive first-person exploration like nothing else in the genre,
10:26with some of the greatest levels in the series to date,
10:29dripping with potent atmosphere.
10:31But outside of those, Metro Prime 4 is such a drag.
10:34It actively gets in the way of reaching those heights.
10:37Unfortunately, Samus isn't going beyond my expectations.
10:41There is such a thing as trying to do too much.
10:45We give Metro Prime 4 Beyond 3.5 stars out of 5.
10:51So, will you be diving into this long, long, long-awaited sequel?
10:57Have you played Samus' previous adventures,
10:59or will this be your first time donning the legendary power suit?
11:02Let us know, and stick with GamesRadar for the latest on the greatest games.
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