Wii Hands On Impressions: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Hooray! New Metroid and it's for the Wii! So we played it. And here's everything you should need to know.

Control-wise, those of you used to playing the two previous games are out of luck. Don't fret, however, as the game now has the much more standard - and much more natural in our opinion - mouse/keyboard layout that basically all other first person games rely on. The lock-on has been retained and is just now used in conjunction with what may be the most precise targeting system ever in a game. Motion is predictably handled by the analogue while look/aim is all done Wii-style, a kind of kung-fu we invented during E3. For the of Nintendo fans out there who have been fantasising about having the best FPSs of all time on a Nintendo console, your dream is nearing fruition.

While Corruption does still need a Wii bit of tweaking before attaining perfection (there's a bit of a sticky area when your cursor ventures to the edge of your field of vision and causes the camera to actually turn) we're sure it will be given the full on Nintendo QA once-over before seeing release this autumn.

Of course Nintendo has not forgotten to make use of the extra sensors in the nunchuck, and has made this the primary method for grappling (like the hooks, not like the wrestlers). A simple flick of the nunchuck launches out your grapple beam, allowing you to disarm enemies as well as remove debris from your path. Awkwardly, however, the reeling in of the grapple is handled by pulling back on the analogue stick, which seems somewhat counter-intuitive to us. We asked the gentlemen demoing Metroid about this and were told many others made similar comments. Lucky for us one of the developers happened by during our talk and asked what people had been saying, so it's safe to assume this will be ironed out as Nintendo seemed very interested in getting press feedback. The feeling of jerking back on the nunchuck and sending something flying would really add a lot to the feature, but we digress.

Another clever use of the Wii's special controls involved opening a door with a special latch. With the punch of a button, Samus' hand (the one that isn't a gun, which is a gun, not a hand. A gun...) extended out and grabbed hold of the handle in front of us. Then, in a motion that felt like we were inserting uranium in a sci-fi movie, we pulled back on the Wii-mote, twisted it to turn the plunger-like control, and then shoved it back into place, activating the door. Simple, intuitive, genius. It's these little touches that will certainly help Nintendo's controller differentiate itself from the recently announced 6 degrees of freedom in Sony's PS3 controller.

Graphics-wise, the game really doesn't look leaps and bounds above the previous versions, but we feel that's probably more to do with maintaining a specific art style rather than an inability to enhance certain things. Some effects were definitely benefiting from the increased power of the Wii, with Samus' charge shot, for example, causing a lovely swirling of energy to form around the barrel and a very lovely flash upon impact. Much slicker than in previous Metroid outings and very much a crowd-pleaser.

Metroid will, we're fairly confident, become the best and most accessible FPS of all time. However, its importance is much greater than a single game release. All going to plan, and if developers can finally drop their obsession with graphical wankiness, the Wii has a strong chance of emerging as the platform of choice of a very important hardcore genre, something you should be very happy about.