Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

[The fish]

I'm certain the bounty hunter who turns up is a Vho, not sure if it is Noxus or not though...

Would be cool if it was though.

 

The enemy AI sound pretty clever, watch Gamespot's Gameplay video.

[jakeee]

After watching those GameSpot videos I think Retro should get rid of that lock on mode. If the wiimote is so great for aiming you don't need to lock on. And they could make a really good online multiplayer

[Shenlong]

I think the lock on thing is mainly for use with the grapple isn't it? Not that my word is golden or anything though, i don't really follow the Prime series (not after it turned FPS style cos unfortuantely i get motion sickness although blatantly i'll have to see if i've passed that phase when this gets released).

[DCK]

Meh I disagree. Locking is what makes Metroid special - it's not a generic FPS. The FHC just gives you more freedom in viewpoint (you had to use the R button quite a lot in 1 and 2), but they'll keep on being special in their own way, and that's a good thing.

[Dante]

Today, we had the golden opportunity to sit down with some of the most important people in the development of the Metroid Prime series: Bryan Walker, Senior Producer; Mark Pacini, Lead Designer; Kensuke Tanabe, Producer for NCL, and Risa Tabata, Assistant Producer for NCL. The topic was of course Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and we learned a great deal about the game.

 

Perhaps most exciting is confirmation that Corruption is a Wii launch title, and the developers promise that it is just as big and deep as the previous games. And no need to worry about the game being labeled a “First-Person Shooter” in some of Nintendo’s press materials, because this is still very much an adventure game, just now with improved shooting mechanics thanks to the Wii controller. On the subject of multiplayer, Retro isn’t ruling out some kind of support for WiiConnect24, the console’s online service, but they are not interested in going back to the multiplayer mode from Echoes. They definitely want to stress the single-player gameplay as the game’s focus, so there may be no multiplayer at all.

 

The story completes the Phazon trilogy, with the nefarious substance now spreading across the galaxy. Corruption takes place over multiple planets, which Samus can travel among using her ship. This planet-hopping aspect is part of the game’s non-linearity, so you can go back and forth at will. You don’t actually control the ship in flight, but you can use the Command Visor to call upon it while exploring a planet. The ship can deliver an air strike during tough combat sequences, and it can move large objects blocking the way. The goal, according to the developers, was to give players a way to utilize the ship in ways that make sense in the context of Metroid gameplay.

 

Samus seeks to stop the spread of Phazon and eliminate its presence from the infected planets, even while she herself has been infected with Phazon and becomes increasingly affected by it as the game progresses. Her Phazon infection ties in with the gameplay, as she can now use its energy to enter “Hyper Mode” in either biped or Morph Ball form. While this power is in effect, her attacks are much more potent, but her health is in danger, and she could die if the ability is overused.

The ice-wielding character mentioned in Jonathan’s impressions is not Noxus from Metroid Prime: Hunters, but the character designer on Corruption also worked on Hunters and the first two Prime games, so that explains the similarity. There are several other bounty hunters featured throughout the game, and not all of them are as helpful as the one seen in the E3 demo.

 

In the E3 demo, Samus has some new uses for the Grappling Beam; Retro says that other familiar upgrades will also have surprising new uses. For instance, the X-Ray Visor is returning, but is now more useful when used in combination with a beam that shoots through walls. Screw Attack is returning and will be used much more, since you get it earlier in the game. There will be situations in which you can Screw Attack across a chasm, go straight into a Wall Jump to climb to a higher area, and then fly right back into the Screw Attack in this new area. Also, the Screw Attack will have more uses in combat this time around.

 

There’s a reason that the E3 demo suggests no method for switching beam weapons on the fly, which was a key feature of the control scheme on GameCube. In Corruption, there is no need to switch beam weapons. They stack upon each other as in Super Metroid, so your beam becomes more and more powerful as you go. This design should also speed up long-distance travel around the environments, because you won’t need to switch weapons back and forth to open doors. The Grappling Beam also has stacked upgrade effects.

 

The developers have listened to feedback on Echoes and are addressing some of those comments in Corruption. The difficulty will be slightly reduced (many Metroid fans were unable to finish the last game), and backtracking will be made less tedious, while still preserving the non-linear exploration aspects of the Metroid series. Scanning is definitely still part of the game, but the process will be faster, so players who don’t like to scan everything can more easily find critical scans and get them over with. Those who do like to read about every little object will find just as much backstory as in the previous games.

 

As for control, the development team is closely watching how players react to the E3 demo, as many elements of the control scheme are still being tweaked. For instance, the motion sequence to use the Grappling Beam is not finalized, and they are still considering how to use the accelerometers. Firing Samus’s beam weapon is currently mapped to the A button (with the reasoning that rapidly pressing the B trigger button could create finger fatigue), but that could change. There will definitely be pointer sensitivity options in the final game, just as there are in the E3 demo. The remote’s built-in speaker is not being used at this time, but they have many ideas on how it might be implemented.

 

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is shaping up to be a huge new game in this venerable series, with completely new control methods and tons of new ideas that push the Metroid gameplay ever further. With this monster and Zelda both available at launch, Nintendo’s Wii will have more blockbusters on day one than most new consoles have within the first year.

 

 

PlanetGameCube

[ShadowV7]

I want it to be harder,hope there is a hard mode.

[Kav]

I love you Dante... thank you!

 

I've not been more hyped for this game than I am right now!

 

EDIT: sorry King Boo, must've just skipped that... love you too then! hehe

[Atomic Boo]

I know and the dark beam it-self was absolute crap. It was a bit boring going through the same world only in different colour and different enemies, and the health constantly going down was irritating.

But I think that they've realised this and gone back to the formula we like.

*fingers crossed*

Introducing http://www.planetgamecube.com theres loads of impressions on many games and theres a few little titbits of info about corruption, most of which has been announced already.

Dante you muppet i posted that a while ago: i even said before they were releasing info on thrusday, ah well dw

[dabookerman]

I actually cant wait for this game now, i like the power beam becoming more powerful, if its as much exploration as the last 2 i will be happy.

[Atomic Boo]

Yeh can someone pllease explain how that beam works please? Does it mean that you can shoot fire or ice, or does it change to them automatically? Or is it just the power beam has stronger blasts? No weapon upgrades

That really made me happy when i just get a new weapon, just seeing the wave beam in front of me for the first time. please i want weapon upgrades!

[The fish]

Ever played one of the 2D ones?

For example, when you get the wide beam, your beam becomes (duh) wide.

When you later get the Ice beam, your beam is still wide, but can also freeze people.

[yogi_bear]

Echoes was kinda easy, i would prefer a much harder one!

[EchoDesiato]

In the Gamspot video, when talking to a G-Fed or the bounty hunter I think I can hear voice acting. Voice acting would be really cool, and something new for the Metroid franchise (I know, I suppose you could say Super Metroid already had voice acting, but now the characters actually talk.).

[Tellyn]

For the lack of Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros. at launch, I'll be getting this. Apart from Hunters which I cannot buy due to money problems, this is the only Metroid game that has appealed to me due to the unique control system, and looks much easier to control than other FPSs on other consoles.

[The fish]

In the Gamspot video, when talking to a G-Fed or the bounty hunter I think I can hear voice acting

 

You know, I think your right!

I can here something when they are talking, I'm not sure if it's English of just random alien language with subtitles. I hope it's English.

 

I really, really hope they add online, or LAN, for at least 8 people.

 

Then we can go all Halo on everyone's arses.

[Tellyn]

I think it's voice acting as we can hear Zero Suit Samus talk in the Brawl trailer. Well, not talk but she says OH! This is probably the same actor.

[The fish]

According to a Gamespot forum thread, it has voice acting, so it seems ou were right, EchoDesiato.

 

I just hope like hell that Retro a.) add online and b.) have 8-player LAN, even without the online.

[EchoDesiato]

You can hear the voice acting a bit more clearly

[Hellfire]

YES! UPGRADABLE WEAPONS! WOOT!

MP2 was easy? It was the hardest Metroid ever! Except for the NES one.

[Retro_Link]

I really like how you use your ship to help you out in this game; it's a really cool addition!

 

Voice acting would be great! and It's cool there are other bounty hunter in the game!

 

Being able to fly to other planets is also cool; though it will probably just be like taking the elevators around the planets, e.g. they'll be a forest planet, fire planet, ice planet etc... with flying cutscenes between them.

[goku21]

Amnazing gameplayvideo:

 

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/3718

[Shino]

The only relativily hard party in MP2 was getting the last keys. I'm really hyped for this game, can't wait to read those space pirates and federation logs and see how the story turns out. I think we're gonna see the Chozo the Luminoth and another major evil race that's as powerfull as them.

[EchoDesiato]

Amnazing gameplayvideo:

 

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/3718

The guy voicing the bounty hunter sounds a lot like Psycho Mantis from MGS.

...the fight with Ridley was amazing.

 

[Kav]

Man this game is going to be so great! I hope they do add multiplayer in the end... I'd like a multiplayer mode akin to Hunters, you could play as Samus, the different hunters in the game and also the Federation Marines and Space Pirates... that'd be awesome!

[James McGeachie]

people wondering about the beam weapons, what happened in Super Metroid is that everytime you got a new beam it either combined with or replaced one of your old beams, but in the start menu you could change which beams you had equipped and make different combinations of beams, although from what I recall you could only have 3 on at once out of the 4 or so main ones: spazer, ice, wave and plasma (the most powerful) with charge was always available after you obtained it I think. The Spazer is an interesting one because it enabled you to shoot 3 beams at once, but it'd be much harder to replicate in 3D. Wave in Super was literally a waving beam shot that went up and down and could pass through most walls. This is something that's never been featured again but 2d fans have always wanted it back, so if it's in this that'll be really super.