Maroc - 3RD-STRIKE.COM - A La Une - 10/Dec 01:50

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Review

It’s a moment we vividly remember: as Nintendo’s 2017 E3 presentation was unfolding, millions saw a 40-second teaser for Metroid Prime 4. The hype was palpable. Just three months into the original Switch’s lifespan, Nintendo had “won” E3, simply by showing a game’s title. And then… nothing. Year after year, fans kept hoping for news about the game. In 2019, it was announced that Nintendo wasn’t satisfied with what Bandai Namco had produced, and development was restarted from scratch by Retro Studios. Eight years after that initial announcement, and a whopping eighteen years since the previous Metroid Prime game, Metroid Prime 4 is finally here. It’s not like we’ve been devoid of Metroid games in the meantime, with Dread and a remaster of the original Prime keeping us occupied. But still, this is a game that we’d been waiting for for a long, long time. Was it worth the wait? Story Continuing the story of the war between the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirates, Beyond starts with an attempt of the latter group to steal an artefact from a Federation facility on Tanamaar. Samus interferes with the attempt, but a confrontation with rogue hunter Sylux leads to the artefact releasing a blast of energy that sends our heroine to an unknown planet. Waking up at Chrono Tower, and with most of her abilities disabled by the blast, Samus learns that her arrival was foretold by the Lamorn, an extinct race of aliens. A holographic recording of a Lamorn priest tasks Samus with tracking down five keys in order to preserve the aliens’ legacy. She’s also been gifted new psychic abilities to aid her in this new quest. Along the way, she is reunited with several Federation troopers who were scattered across the planet in the artefact blast, including the bumbling but well-meaning Myles Mackenzie. Compared to previous Prime games, which centered on Samus being isolated, the addition of more characters makes for a different tone, although it doesn’t always work. Myles in particular is a character that doesn’t seem to “fit” with what was previously established, with one-liners and quips that would feel more at home in the MCU than in Nintendo’s epic space opera. Graphics Sticking to the established aesthetics of the Metroid universe, but also taking advantage of the Switch 2’s shiny new hardware, Beyond is probably the best-looking entry in the series. Lighting effects in particular are gorgeous, from the ominous glow emanating from alien monsters to the sun peering through jungle plants. Being a second party title, the game has also been optimised to a tee for the Switch 2. The framerate is smooth as butter, and load times are practically non-existent. Sound If we had to describe Beyond’s soundscape in one word, that word would be “familiarity’. From the music to the sound effects, Beyond’s audio is exactly what you’d expect from a Prime game. Music cues make their welcome return, and there is real punch behind the sound of Samus firing her blaster. The game also features full voice acting, and although we weren’t fans of the dialogue writing for Myles, at least David Goldstein’s performance itself is earnest. Gameplay Within the overarching Metroid series, the Prime games have always stood out for breaking away from the classic Metroidvania formula, mostly because these are first-person games rather than side-scrolling titles. That said, the core experience still very much feels like a Metroidvania, in that a good chunk of the large, interconnected world cannot be accessed unless you have unlocked specific abilities. Beyond sticks very close to that same formula, which we last saw in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, way back in 2007. Beyond does introduce a new element in that Samus has gained psychic powers -we’ll get to those- but for the most part, it’s the kind of gameplay that fans have been clamoring for ever since the game was announced. There are environmental puzzles to solve, bosses to shoot, and secrets to discover here to your heart’s content. The game sets itself apart from other Prime games not by dramatically changing up the formula -thankfully, we might add- but by introducing a massive hub world, which Samus can navigate with the Vi-0-La motorcycle, as well as by adding different companions. The latter can lend a hand when it comes to solving puzzles and can even help out in combat, but they also require Samus’ protection, resulting in a satisfying risk-reward factor. Looking at Samus’ newfound psychic powers from a mechanical perspective, these are actually surprisingly similar to Batman’s abilities in the Arkham series. Tapping the X button activates the psychic visor, which lets Samus scan objects around here, logging new information about her surroundings as well as finding clues to solving puzzles. She’s able to telekinetically manipulate specific objects, allowing her to open doors and the like. Samus also unlocks psychic blasts, which function similar to Arkham’s remote-controlled Batarangs: once fired, the game directly lets you “steer” the psychic blast, enabling you to trigger switches or directly hit specific weak spots on bosses. The Switch 2 version of Beyond adds mouse controls for aiming, but we were more than fine playing the game without these. In fact, we’d say Beyond’s default control scheme is fantastic, with a high degree of accessibility. Difficulty is another story altogether though, especially for those new to the series. Beyond can feel very unforgiving, and with limited, predetermined save points, and a good chunk of replaying required if you fall at an inopportune moment, we found ourselves swapping from “normal” to “casual” difficulty just to get past the first Jungle Grievers fight. Cutscenes can’t be skipped, and seeing Myles’ introduction scene five times over really got on our nerves. Clearing the game’s story at casual difficulty took us around 13 hours, but that doesn’t mean that we’re done with Beyond. The game has a high replay value at higher difficulties, and we’re still working on gathering every piece of information through psychic scanning. The €69.99 price point may seem high for a sub-15-hour game, but it seems that this is indeed the new standard price point for first-party Switch 2 titles. In this case, it’s a matter of quality over quantity, and we’re just happy to finally be playing a new Prime game. Conclusion Welcome back, Samus. Realistically speaking, Beyond was never going to meet the ridiculously high expectations that come with the game being stuck in development hell for eight years. We’re happy to say that it doesn’t try to either, and instead delivers exactly what it says on the tin. The game doesn’t revolutionize the Prime series, but honestly, it doesn’t need to. Instead, Beyond blends the familiar gameplay that we’ve been wanting to return to for so long with a fresh new story and an unfamiliar world to discover. The inclusion of companions can be hit or miss -and there is a special place in hell reserved for Myles- and the psychic abilities don’t always feel like they add something, but ultimately, Beyond is a solid entry in an exceptionally good series.