Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
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This article or section contains information about an unreleased computer or video game. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available. |
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| Metroid Prime 3: Corruption | |
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| Developer(s) | Retro Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Release date(s) | Q2 2007 |
| Genre(s) | First-person adventure, First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, possibly Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: RP (Rating Pending) |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Input | Wii Remote |
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the tenth game release in the Metroid series, the fourth title in the Metroid Prime sub-series, and the third game in the Metroid Prime trilogy, taking place after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. This game is in development for the Wii, from Nintendo, by Retro Studios. It was originally a launch title, intended to come out in the fourth quarter of 2006 [1], but has now been pushed to 2007. Nintendo of America President Fils-Aime stated in a November 29th, 2006 interview that the game would be released "sometime after March," tagging a strong possibility of a Second Quarter 2007 Release. Some of the first gameplay footage to be shown of the game was seen at Nintendo's Media Release at E3 2006, and it has been confirmed by Retro that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will be the last in the home-console Prime trilogy. Nintendo illustrated how Metroid Prime 3 will take advantage of the special abilities of the Wii Remote as demonstrated by a version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, modified for the Wii, shown at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005.
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[edit] Plot
This initial plot is for the section of the game on the demo at E3:
- Base Sector Zero, a Galactic Federation military installation, is under attack by Space Pirates. The Galactic Federation's computer network, Aurora Unit, is frozen by a computer virus (it has not been confirmed whether this was the Space Pirates' doing or not). Samus sets out to reactivate a generator that powers the base's anti-orbital cannon, where she encounters Ridley. He knocks her down into a shaft, and the player engages him in a free-falling battle. Upon defeating Ridley, Samus is pulled from the shaft by another bounty hunter named Rundus, while Ridley seemingly falls to his death. However, in the opening scene of the demo, Samus can be seen fighting Ridley once again, except she is in morphball form with 14 energy tanks.
However, in the conferences Nintendo held to announce the date and release date for the Wii, a new level was seen, evidently preceding the E3 level, where Samus is on a Federation ship. Samus appears in a save station, and she makes her way to the bridge. Upon the bridge, the captain tells her to get to the planet surface, when the GF ships are struck by space pirate fire. She gets to a generator room, where a party of space pirates take the energy cell and attempt to make off with it. Samus defeats them and returns the power cell, but hundreds of small insects start to crawl from the ceiling. Samus escapes via her morphball (and whilst in a tunnel, the camera shows Rundus freezing and shattering a space pirate) into an airlock chamber, and accidentally sets off the airlock cycle, sucking her into space. She manages to climb back onboard, and gets to her ship. However, as she approaches, a gigantic creature (it matches the same colour scheme of a space pirate, but with one eye and a huge mouth) jumps down and walks towards her, swinging its claws. Samus taps on her armcannon, and her gunship flies away, leaving her to do battle with the beast.
A brief overview of the plot is as follows:
- A war has occurred as Dark Samus travels to different planets to corrupt each world with Phazon seeds. Samus will search for weapons and abilities in new landscapes and attempt to destroy the seeds, while battling Dark Samus, a major adversary. Nintendo has added that this is the last game in the Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Additionally, Nintendo says that many new hunters will make an appearance, in addition to Rundus. He is said to be "eager to assist Samus" [2] Other hunters may include a mysterious purple, ghostly woman. This character seems to be capable of transforming into a Space Pirate, possibly among other forms as well. Additionally, what may be a large rock hunter, however, with this hunter, there seems to be a large orange sphere in the center of its chest, suggesting that it may be Samus in morph ball form, in a sort of battle suit, and also evidence to this is the fact that in the opening cut-scene of the demo shown at E3, during the scene when Dark Samus is corrupting the hunters, this rock being is not shown. Also a large robotic hunter, with what seems to be a small levitating head is present in the opening cut-scene of the demo. [3]
[edit] Phazon and its role
The mysterious material, Phazon, will again play an integral role in the adventure, possibly even more so than in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. In an IGN interview with the game's director, Mark Pacini, Pacini stated:
| The idea behind the title is that in Prime 1 and Prime 2 we used Phazon as a way to explain what was happening on each planet. In Prime 1, the planet was corrupted by Phazon. In Prime 2, the Phazon caused the world to split into two on Aether. In Metroid Prime 3, we're trying to explain what the origins of Phazon were and it's the culmination of what this is all about. It's not only a story element - the Phazon and corruption which happen on a planetary scale - but it also happens in a gameplay sense as well. Samus herself gets corrupted by Phazon and actually begins to develop abilities based on that Phazon. So that's kind of why the game is titled Corruption. You yourself are becoming corrupted. [4] |
In the game, Samus and the other hunters will become infected with Phazon by Dark Samus. This infection will become increasingly apparent through the game. During the time that Samus is in "Hyper-mode" (as Retro refers to it), the graphics will be altered. A short demo video at Gameinformer.com has revealed one attack, taking place in the Morph Ball mode, that will send out many tendrils of Phazon to attack nearby enemies. In this same video, an attack from Samus' arm cannon can be seen in the first few frames recorded (after the three seconds of black with the overlaying GameInformer name). While in Hyper-mode, you will have two meters: A "Corruption" meter, displayed by the text "Hyper-mode Corruption" and a two-digit & one decimal percent, and a green "Phazon" meter, displayed by a simple bar. The Corruption meter rises and when it reaches the maximum, Samus will perish. Samus cannot enter hyper-mode until the Phazon meter is full and it lowers as you use Phazon attacks. Samus can die from misuse of this ability. Pacini also made references to a unique Phazon ability set that can be built upon and added to as one plays through the game.
[edit] Control
The game will be enhanced by way of Nintendo's new controller for Wii. Aiming the Arm Cannon was done in two ways in a demo at E3 2006, with a third revealed in September of 2006, using the Wii Remote to direct Samus' aim:
- Casual Mode - This works by setting part or all of the screen as a "box". If the point calculated from the controller (the sight of the Arm Cannon) is inside the box, aiming is done without moving the camera. If said sight is outside the box (that is, Samus' view), the camera will move in the direction of the sight. In the demo, this was the standard control mode.
- Advanced Mode - The box is much smaller, and the pointer more sensitive. Turning does not require as much of an angle.
- Expert Mode - The box is smaller still, and the cursor even more sensitive. This mode "feels hugely improved and much more playable" for people used to a mouse and keyboard FPS scheme. [5]
The controls for this game are not finalized as of yet; small adjustments may be made from the controls given at the E3 demos for this game (such as the A and B buttons switching functionality). It is currently unknown if the speaker built into the Wii Remote will be utilized, but the E³ demo suggests the possibility of listening to radio communications, as if Samus herself was hearing them.
The A button fires the Arm Cannon. The three D-pad directions (up, left, and right) now control visors, and the down button fires missiles. The Z button makes Samus jump, C button activates the morph ball, and the B button is in control of the lock-on ability and grapple beam, combined with the function of the Nunchuk's accelerometer. Interesting to note is that many creatures cannot be locked on, and many, like space pirates, will dive and jump to shake off the lock-on. The analog stick is in control of movement, and the pointing mechanic of the Wii Remote points Samus's Arm Cannon. [6]
The most interesting new gameplay mechanic involves the recently unveiled accelerometer in the Nunchuk. In the game (it is suspected that it may be used at any time, but not confirmed), the Nunchuk can be jabbed forward, activating Samus's Grapple Beam. In addition to being able to suspend her from Grapple Points, it can now also be used offensively. An example of this is the Grapple Beam's ability to attach onto a Space Pirate's shield and forcibly tear it away, leaving the Space Pirate vulnerable to attack. The player can also use the controller to open up doors by using the scan visor to make a switch appear, then pulling back the Wii Remote, twisting it, and moving it forward. Similarly, the player can push the Wii Remote forward and rotate it clockwise to lock power cells into their sockets.
[edit] Gameplay
Unlike its predecessors on the GameCube and Prime Hunters for the DS, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will not feature an interchangeable beam system; instead, it will have a stackable beam system similar to Super Metroid (whether this means that beams can be turned on and off has yet to be revealed). The game will also feature various visors, including the X-Ray Visor from Metroid Prime and which will be used in conjunction with a brand new beam, stacked upgrades for the Grapple Beam, a beam that can pass through walls, and completely new upgrades. One of these upgrades is apparently a new Command Visor that allows remote control over Samus' gunship; this can be used to summon the ship in combat and to clear obstacles in Samus' path. The Echoes variation of the Screw Attack will also be returning, as Samus is shown in one video performing a Wall Jump technique.
In a recent issue of Nintendo Power, the developers said that they will not have multiplayer in the same format as Metroid Prime 2. This game's focus is to maintain non-linearity and the other staples of the Metroid series. According to the game's developers, the more intuitive control will cause Corruption to be less difficult than Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, faster paced, and scanning will become easier to perform. [7]
[edit] Trivia
- The developers have indicated interest in using the WiiConnect24 feature to provide additional content.[8]
- The game is currently similar in appearance to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes; however, according to Retro Studios, it will have a much more finished look when the game is complete. It is also supposed to have much larger environments than in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and will be targeted to run at 60 frames per second in the finalized version[9].
- It has been stated in a recent Nintendo Power interview with Retro Studios that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption may in fact have multiplayer, but "not in the same context as Echoes"
- Corruption is the first Metroid game to have any story, dialogue, etc. spoken in Real-World Earthly Language, most other Metroid games do not tell story, dialogue, etc. in anything but manuscript. U-Mos and the Luminoth Holograms spoke in Echoes, but only in several short soundbytes of Luminoth language. All previous titles of Metroid never had any spoken dialogue (Other than the short dialogue in the beginning of the prologue to Super Metroid, the narrated introduction and conclusion to Metroid Prime, a brief call for help in a cutscene by a Galactic Federation Trooper in Metroid Prime 2, the "Octolith taken" message after every boss battle in Metroid Prime: Hunters, and various vocalized computer alerts in Metroid Fusion and Metroid Prime). Rundus, for example, speaks English. It is currently unknown if any others will do the same.
[edit] External links
- Game page at Nintendo.com
- IGN's Metroid Prime 3 page
- Modified GameCube demo of Metroid Prime 3
- Metroid Prime 3 at Gamespot
