Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

[Zechs Merquise]

Why have I not bought this game yet when Prime was clearly my favourite game on Gamecube. Also loved Echoes.

 

I think it's because I have not completed either of those games.

 

Get it! Metorid Prime is my favorite game of the last generation, it's magnificent. Whilst I don;t think Prime 3 is quite as good as that, it's still amazing. From what I've played of it, it's a lot better than Echoes.

 

I'm still on Byrro, but the art, the level design and the graphics are superb. The gameplay works really well with the Wii mote, especially the interative switches, they're a very nice touch.

 

It feels very different to Prime, there is a lot more human interaction and you use your ship a lot. But I never was never expecting Retro to just re-work the original. I feel all three games feel very different, the only one thing I didn't enjoy that much was the ligyt world/dark world in echoes simply because the drab purples of the dark worl made it slightly difficuly for me to distinguish where I actually was.

[Emasher]

I got really creeped out at the part where:

 

You go back to bryyo and got to the place to get the screw attack, and you get the funny transmission (latter you find out it was about the valhalla) while in the tomb of the bryyo emperors.

 

[flameboy]

right tonight is the time to get back to this game after being distracted by mario guitar hero and endless ocean. I was up to the bit where another Auora unit had become infected.

[DCK]

From what I've played (now at ~75% of beating final boss), gameplay wise this game tops Metroid Prime 1 and 2 by far, which is an amazing accomplishment. This is because of the sheer creativity, and the pace of the game. The controls contribute so much, not only is it intuitive and incredibly involving, but it makes the pace of the game seem very high. Also, the Grapple Beam feels so good to use in combat.

 

The only real downside to the game is the lack of mystery in the storyline. The game's story is a whole different style (again), and it feels more generic than the previous games. Still, the presentation is sublime. This game is probably going to be my favourite Prime when I finish it.

[Dilli Gee]

For some reason, Janet Jackson reminds me of Samus in her new video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lVHJmJVI88

[The Lillster]

I've had the game since it came out and I still havn't completed it.

[Hylian Knight]

I dropped Metriod Prime 3 after encountering the constantly respawning space pirates at the Western Energy Signature on Bryyo. I kept trying to lower some clamps connected to levers along the turrets perimeter, but nomatter how many times I tried it the space pirates just undid it, and I could start over. At one point I couldn´t go any further, as I ran out of energytanks from constantly having to take out the bastards via hyper mode. So that was the end of the story for me there. I don´t like Metroid Prime these days. Only the first game was manageable, and also far more beautifull with large open nature sections to explore. I read an interview in EDGE magazine (the latest one with the new 3D Street Fighter game on the cover) where Retro staff admits that Metroid prime 2 was "too difficult". They claim that they have made the third game much easier. I am still wondering where it was easier...

[Shino]

That part was only hard until you noticed they would respawn, after that its no problem.

[DCK]

Metroid Prime 3 is easier, on Normal. Veteran makes it comparable to MP2 difficulty, which makes it a real proper challenge.

 

Also, I died there a couple of times as well, but it's really not that hard with some practice. A neat trick is to Hyper and then wait until you're fully corrupted. It means you're invincible and can wipe out the Pirates without problems. Also, your goal is not to kill the Pirates, but dodge them while destroying the Cannon. You should only destroy the Pirates when they get in the way.

[Hylian Knight]

"A neat trick is to Hyper and then wait until you're fully corrupted. It means you're invincible and can wipe out the Pirates without problems. Also, your goal is not to kill the Pirates, but dodge them while destroying the Cannon. You should only destroy the Pirates when they get in the way."

 

Hmm, ok. Thanks. I will consider using your strategy once I decide to buy it again. Wont be for a long time though. I am still recovering from the enourmous dissapointment I felt over thinking that MP3, was just like MP2. I got so upset over the trouble with that area of Bryyo, that I got a kind of mental association related flashback to the hellish times I had with MP2 bosses. Which made me yell, jump, rotate in mid air, land, kneel, rip the disc out from my console, get up again, and throw it straight out whole and unspoiled. Then the garbage man could try his wits with it. Allthough I think he would have gone insane.

 

I really must confess that sometimes (during peak moments of difficulty-induced stress) I should like to transform videogame developers who make games horribly difficult, into tennis- and footballs. Then they could in that way feel the same agony that I felt going through hell in a game that is so tempting to be in because of its awesome world, but which I cannot fully experience because of difficulty issues. It´s like giving you the key to a wonderfull videogame arcade downtown, only you can´t get in because the entrance is being guarded by terrible guards that kill you on sight.

 

THAT is how I feel about otherwise cool games that are made too difficult. Whatever happened to the old level select options? Yes, there is two in MP3. But I need an easy setting too, like in HALO 3, making in three difficulty options. One could play the game on easy first. Then knowing the gameworld, you could advance to playing it on the next two difficulty settings. And, voila: you would actually play the game through with each replay round being different from the others.

[DCK]

Normal is MP3's easy mode

 

You sold it because you thought it was too hard? Excuse me for thinking that's rather weak. Especially considering the part you mention is really doable with some perseverance. The difficulty is actually part of the experience - an easy mode would be without challenge and would really make the game feel worse.

[Shino]

Completely agree with DCK, that's weak man.

[Hylian Knight]

In the experience, huh? Excuse me, but do you think every person in the world find your kind of fun games funny? Why do you think it is weak to not be able to do it like you can? People have different strengths and different weaknesses, you know. But this is not even about being weak or not.

 

I maintain that that game, and the former game, was simply not fun to play anylonger. And that has nothing to do with being weak. It has something to do with not wanting to play along anymore because it isn´t fun anymore. I don´t know what happened to the series, but I now for the first time have the open admission from Retro that they made the series too hard with Prime 2. This is what people have been "bitching about" on internet forums and elsewhere for years.

 

A lot of gamers worldwide got enough of the series with Prime 2, and sought greener pastures. I saw the responses on many forums months after it´s release, I talked to people about it too, and I noticed the far lower sales numbers of it. Numbers that spoke for themselves.

 

What I think happened to me is that I simply got burned out by the hassle I had with the bosses in Prime 2, and it left such an impression on me that I woved to never ever let something in a game do that to me again. When I experienced it again in Prime 3, something snapped: I reacted. Call it a kind of preventive mental programming. To shield oneself from future harm, because of a painfull past event.

 

The people I personally ever talked to about Prime 2 (many of them hardcore gamers), all admitted to me that Metroid is a very difficult series to play through. Now, I have personally never encountered any other game anywhere (over 20 years of gaming) that has bosses being so complicated, so openly asking for brainmelting multi-tasking (the most difficult ones), and which require so many deaths and tedious backtracking, before being able to - maybe - beat them. Most infuriating.

 

I have had the strength to continuously try over and over to get to grips with Metroid Prime 2 and now 3. Because I like the excitement of the worlds they are set in. I didn´t give up just like that, you know.

 

But enough can also be enough. So I concluded, after dying over and over too many times, that what I was being asked to do in the games to progress was just not me. I didn´t care to do it. That was after trying dozens of times. The series was nolonger the fun that it started out being in Prime. There was no fair balance between effort and reward. Too unforgiving. Not funny. A matter of taste. Not weakness. A weak person is someone who gives up without ever trying enough. That is weak.

 

I further believe that a lot of people worldwide would simply never even touch the Metroid series, if they find out how tough the bosses really are. Most reviews never warn the reader of the toughness ahead. What they do, is express their own opinion exclusively. They should try to imagine what less hardcore gamers feel. The learning curve is too steep.

 

It is no simple thing to figure out a towering, rapidly incoming Boss, and it´s attack-pattern, when you have too many other things to attend to simultaneously. Such as not falling off a far too narrow platform, or dealing with a camera that means you can´t see what you need to in order to regain your footing. All the while being hammered down by that damn monster or what ever it is.

 

Be carefull not to impose a label on people, for not being able to match your standards. You have a right to have your opinion. But what you say sounds like an attempt to categorize me as belonging in the weak department. You don´t know me. You don´t know what other things I have done in my live that others could never do.

 

It´s not always about being weak, but about if the tools you are given to do it are perceived good enough for the job or not. The Metroid series is a very special series, which require extraordinary skill compared to the requirements of most other games ever made. The question you should be asking yourself, is if you think that all people in the gaming world care to engage in the toughest fights on their tv sets to get those skills or not. Most don´t.

 

The Speedball Boss in Prime 2 alone was a tedious nightmare to defeat, and a clear example of why that game was instantly regarded too difficult by many gamers. Upsetting and infuriating nonsense. The Chykka Boss would have sent most gamers running away screaming or cursing. I tried defeating it, but decided after multiple attempts to damn it to hell.

 

Of all the people I ever talked to who could deal with the MP bosses, there are very few indeed. Whether I talked to them live or on the internet. And it is many people over the years, I tell you. It is only very few gamers worldwide who even plays the Metroid series, out of the combined number of gamers that exists. That is because of it´s notorious difficulty.

 

If you happen to be so damn good at defeating Metroid Bosses - fine! You are just good at that, I admit. Probably in the elite of hardcore gaming. But the rest of us, who are good at other things, will probably just wait around until we get the opportunity to play a game with that level of difficult fights, where you´re given far easier tools to feel that you can go into the game VR style, and finally smack the living crap out of such an otherwise untouchable program-pattern! And feel, yes, I did it. And it felt possible to do. No cheating.

 

So long as there is only a stick and some buttons, or a remote and a nunchuck I am out of that competition. Some would belittle themselves for not being able to complete it. I merely regret the difficulty, a difficulty which a few gamers worldwide seem to love. If Retro ever plans to get rich on selling Metroid games, I think they should include an easy setting also in every new version. It´s an enchanting world to be in. A world which I feel many more people would love to be able to experience to greater extent. They just never will with the current level of hardship.

[Meta_Omega]

The Metroid series is a very special series, which require extraordinary skill compared to the requirements of most other games ever made.

 

Are you maybe talking about the Contra series? It sure sounds like it, because the Metroid series is hardly that complicated.

And as mentioned before, Normal is your fabled Easy mode, it's just called Normal.

 

And:

So long as there is only a stick and some buttons, or a remote and a nunchuck I am out of that competition.

 

... Why do you play games?

 

And regarding your philosphy on weak and strong: Yeah, not giving up is strong, but overcoming the obstacles infront of you with the set limitations is stronger.

[Shino]

Jesus, sounds like you got violated or something.

 

I agree that its maybe a niche series and that not everyone will like it, but it isn't hard. The reason many people dislike the last 2 game it's because they can't dislike the 1st one too, it would just make them look silly.

 

As for your opinion, it sounds like you encountered a bit of hardship in an admittedly tense part, but it isn't even a boss! Maybe you didn't have the right setting for you or didn't find enough energy tanks. Had you defeated that part and right after it you would be in the hardest battle in the game.

[DCK]

I didn't find it weak for not being able to complete it, I find it weak you gave up. You're overreacting - I only subtly called your action weak, and I'm not attacking you personally. Metroid Prime 2 is above average difficulty compared to other games nowadays (which are often easy), but it's certainly nothing out of the question if you have 20 years of gaming experience and managed to complete Metroid Prime 1. Metroid Prime 3 on Normal is easier than MP1 even (that mode was specifically tweaked to be that), I don't understand what's the problem. Metroid is really not a hard series, but the difficulty has remained virtually the same since Super Metroid, while other games got easier.

 

Also, that sales argument tells nothing about the difficulty scare factor, as you must buy it before you can tell it's hard or not.

 

Personally, I don't think you can criticise a game for being too hard - you can only criticise yourself for giving up. The difficulty makes the game incredibly rewarding. I haven't played F-Zero GX much because it's damn hard, but yet I still what class that game has. It feels so good winning a race.

[Deathjam]

That part of the game was hard. I died on it as well and the second time I went through it, I was super tense as I was so close to dying on so many occasions, if I had, i would have wept, but the elation you get after getting past it is in a word, awesome (although the next part pushed me as well). Seriously you may have overreacted a bit. Veteran is a challenge. Normal is a cake walk. The game eclipses what has come before.

 

Really suprised that someone who was been playing games even longer than me (almost before I was born) did not have the perserverance to stick it out. I didn't even play MP2 and to me, that was a reason to be fearful of trying out MP3 after hearing how hard the second one was. I admit that I did not complete the first game as the final boss was a nightmare (1-2 shots from killing it but thanks to overload of metroid scum and small windows of opportunity to actually hit him I died and thanks to my friend stealing my copy, have not had a chance to reattempt said boss).

 

You should know that if you find a game point too hard, take a break and come back to it. It's sods law that you wont do as well as you did the first time, but you will most often pass through it on your first go after the break.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I'll admit it: I suck at games. I find the easy things hard, and the harder things damnright impossible.

 

MetaRidley on the first Prime had me baffled for an eternity. Even when I sussed it all out, I still managed to find myself dying.

 

However, you need determination. I stuck at it, and beat the fucker. Whilst I have been gaming for many years, I can safely say that there has never been a point in any game where I have actually jumped for joy (literally) screamed loudly, and cursed the tv after beating his arse.

 

It went something along the lines of: "YES! OH FUCKING YES! FUCKING AVE IT! OH, WHOS YOUR DADDY? WHOS YOUR DADDY?!! I AM! OH YES!"

 

 

Now, games may be difficult, but as Resident Evil once stated in the difficulty options screen: "Beyond the hardship lies accomplishment."

 

If it's hard, try harder. You wouldn't give up in real life, so don't do it in a game. If you do, then it's you that's flawed, not the game.

[Zell]

You make it sound like Metroid is Ikaruga's standard of difficulty. It really isn't that hard, even on veteran or hyper.

[Deathjam]

Veteran was a challenge. Hyper Im not even gonna bother with. Time to see how fast I can complete on normal

[DCK]

In my experience, Metroid Prime 2's difficulty is overrated. The Dark World and the Ing may seem to be more of a threat than the regular enemies of Tallon IV, and the ammo system may seem to put you in a weaker position, but the game in general was not significantly harder than Metroid Prime one. Except for moments like the Boost Guardian (awesome fight, that), there are few examples that make it stand out from the other two games. Bosses like Chyyka and Quadraxis were no more difficult than Meta-Ridley and the Omega Pirate, and its final bosses were easier. Metroid Prime 2 excels at scaring you, making it seem harder, but its difficulty is overestimated.

 

I usually suck at games too, but with perseverance, and learning from your Game Overs, these games make an experience like no other series. Flinkington spoke wise words.

[...]

Bosses like Chyyka and Quadraxis were no more difficult than Meta-Ridley and the Omega Pirate

 

In fact, they were way easier. I killed all 4 main area bosses of MP2 in my first go. All of them. And I'm by no means a gaming god.

Hardest bosses of MP2 were the sub-bosses, not the main ones. The Boost Guardian was the toughest son of a bitch in that game. And I do think MP2 had far too many bosses. But it wasn't significally harder than MP1, IMHO, it just had too many fucking bosses and the 2 world exploring made it a bit longer.

[Hylian Knight]

DCK wrote:"Metroid Prime 2 excels at scaring you, making it seem harder, while its difficulty is overestimated."

 

Hmm, perhaps. My biggest problem with that game, and what made me drop Prime 3 for thinking it the same, was not knowing how to tackle the Boss attacks. I mean, you come into a room and you view a cutscene. And next, you are greeted by an enourmous boss character which you haven´t any idea about how to get started with. And which bombard you with rockets, missiles, grenades, fragmentation bombs, lasers, mines or just plain roll right over you and love every moment of it.

 

Let me give you an example: remember the giant plant boss in Prime 1, that had mirrors which it used to stay alive during the battle? I died several times there, before somebody graciously told me that I had to hit the red lights behind each mirror first, in order to deactivate it. But nowhere in the game did it appear that that was the way to do it. And those lights were rather high up, and didn´t at all look like something you had to hit. I don´t recall any onscreen icons hovering near them either for guidance sake. So I didn´t see them at all!! And therefore didn´t know they were there. The violence of it´s attacks made it impossible for me to compose myself and figure out something.

 

So, I was being done a bombing run on by a towering menacing boss. Constantly having to jump around like a crazed rabbit, and usually being in the wrong end of the arena when my wild gunfire had somehow managed to knock out one of the mirrors. So I had to nervously dash over to the point where the plant had fallen, hoping I could make it over to the other side in Morphball form before the programmed timer would rise the bastard up again, because otherwise I could start over. I admit that in retrospect that boss was easy. But understanding it - fast - was the real problem.

 

Get the picture? My exclusively problem and grudge match with the MP game series (the world of which I love to explore which is why it hurt double, no, triple to not being able to progress in it because of perceived impossible bosses) is that Retro didn´t include something in there to give you some on-screen assistance during the most heated battles IF you happened to simply not know what the hell to do to combat the damn thing in front of- or above you! That is core essence of my situation with the series. And I think many others feel exactly that way too.

 

I have heard of a kind of game that are out on xbox360, or which is supposed to be it in the future, which will automatically drop the difficulty if it feels you can´t beat it. Perhaps Retro could think of such a way of easing the difficulty in the future?

 

To answer some questions from forum members to my last post -

 

Meta Omega: Why do I play games? Answer: I do because I love to do it, but I feel a greater and more immersive kind of control is needed to engage the bosses in Prime. In Prime 1 and 2, I had to sometimes twist my fingers to operate the joypad to perform onscreen actions during bossbattles. I got finger cramps, and anger from those battles. I felt it isn´t enough with the controls we have now with Wii. I feel a need for a kind of nameless device which will enable me to be faster, more precise at counter-attacking the bosses. But that´s how I feel after the toughest fights with the bosses in Prime 1 and 2, and now 3. Sometimes, motioning with the nunchuck wouldn´t even work to get the grapple-lasso to attach to a boss. So beating a boss thus would be a big problem. That is what I mean by tools! But it was mostly in Prime 2 that I think that the Wii controls or better would have felt like been a blessing. However, it is up to people like Miyamoto to figure out what can be done to ease the sense of control in-game. Wii controls are great, but I feel better ones can be invented. That is why I touched on VR.

 

Shino: I didn´t get violated as such. But the game made me lose my sense of wellbeing as a player.

 

DCK: Overreacting? Yes, maybe. But that is because I expected I would get the same problems from Prime 2 again. So I instantly decided to get rid of the game. Just to avoid disturbing my neighbours. And I don´t criticize myself for giving up on the game. I understand it. 20 years of gaming has never shown me such difficulty in any one gamme I ever played. Not even Prime 1. Can seem overstated. But truly that is how I felt about it.

 

Deathjam: Sods law, huh? You may be right. When having such a problem, I should probably take a break and come back later. Then I might take it in one go. But I don´t believe it, I tell you! Maybe we should all get a game shrink wo can tell us what our brain temperature is at such and such a moment during a Metroid Prime Boss fight - and instruct him to turn our game off so we don´t experience a meltdown like I did!

 

Fierce Link: I don´t consider myself to be flawed. As explained above, my biggest problem was always to get to grips with the boss attack patterns and how to counter them. It was never about giving up too easily, but about not being able to go any further. Too overwhelmed by doubt and confusion of those tough buggers I was. And I know that many will have felt the exact same thing. It´s not mainstream to make games too difficult these days. Most people don´t bother about it. That is also why the Wii is such a success. Most of its games are simple, rewarding and exciting. Which is what people have the time and patience for in the light of other problems that they have to face daily in work- and family life. To them, the Wii is a breeze. A cool breeze amidst years of games being too complicated. That is why they are back and playing. Like they once did. But that really belongs to another thread in this excellent forum. Just thought I would mention it in connection with Metroid Prime and it´s difficulty.

[DCK]

Have you ever even tried the Scan Visor It tells you freaking everything! It's exactly what you described you wanted!

 

Seems to me you lack a certain relaxation in confronting the bosses that is necessary to keep a good overview. In the Flaagra battle you mention, the timer is always more than enough to reach the slot to bomb, as long as you calmly Morph and just roll towards it. If you start jumping frantically towards the bomb slot however, of course you will miss it in your own fear of Flaagra's impressiveness. Also, if you took your time, you'd find there's an easy way to lock on to Flaagra, take a step back, and line up the mirror targets exactly with your Flaagra lock, knocking them out whilst being able to side strafe and dodge his attacks.

 

I have heard of a kind of game that are out on xbox360, or which is supposed to be it in the future, which will automatically drop the difficulty if it feels you can´t beat it. Perhaps Retro could think of such a way of easing the difficulty in the future?

Personally, I think that's childish. A game should be what it should be. I experienced this with FIFA 200X which told you to lower the difficulty when you were only 2-0 down. It's rather lame. A game should be beatable by your own effort, not by the programmer's flexibility effort.

 

Also, how could you possibly have issues with the controls? Metroid + GameCube pad is an unrivaled accomplishment in traditional controls, it is the pinnacle of control layout design before the Wii came by. Seems to me that's just you being nervous, as the controls have never ever let me down. I agree with you on the nunchuck irresponsiveness, but I found out that when you exaggerate the movement, it works. This only adds to the immersiveness.

 

This series seems to have been getting into your head, feeding you with uncertainty about your skills. If you can get over that, there's some great stuff awaiting you.

 

On a side note, try pressing the "Quote" button beneath a post when you want to quote someone, or use [.QUOTE][./QUOTE] tags (without '.').

[Shino]

Am I seeing stuff?!

I was scanning something and the reflextion of her face looks all distorted! I starting to feel sad for her.

 

 

And about friend vouchers, can someone tell me how they work? I would like to unlock some stuff before ending the game.