Reviews// Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

First and foremost, moving about the world with the joystick on the Nunchuck while looking and aiming with the remote is nearly perfect. A quick trip to the Options Menu to turn off the lock-on and up the sensitivity to max, plus a few minutes to acclimate yourself, is all it takes to feel like a pro. As you move the crosshair around the screen Samus’ head will also turn to follow it. The further you get from the centre of the screen the faster you will turn. On paper this may sound awkward, but the folks at Retro have tuned it to feel completely natural.

I’m not sure if the screen automatically re-centres on things you’re shooting or if I’m just automatically compensating but I never have a problem hitting a target. The only real difficulty comes in trying to hit some of the smaller, faster moving enemies, but even that can be mastered with a bit of practice. It’s strange to play a console game that requires such precision after having played so many other games that assist your aim to make up for the inaccuracy of the dual-stick setup. Yet, it never feels unfairly easy. The satisfaction you feel from popping a flying bat thing from across a room is undeniable.

Another strange yet wonderful thing about the Wii control setup is that Retro seems to have been forced to simplify things a bit to work properly with the buttons available. Whereas it could have mapped the three visors (much less than in the previous game) to the d-pad, it instead wisely chose to make it a quick pop-up select. By just holding in the minus [-] button and moving the pointer up, left or right, you quickly switch to any of your three alternate visors and a quick tap of the trigger switches it back to normal. You switch to the morphball with [C], fire with [A] (though I recommend switching it to [B]) and jump with [B]. [Z] locks on, even in advanced mode, but if you have the setting cranked you can move the crosshair freely while circling around a particular enemy. This keeps more heated battles manageable while never actually aiming on your behalf like previous Primes.

Even the motion controls, like turning knobs and interacting with computers, work flawlessly. The one little complaint I have with these is that they are all performed with the remote, which represents your gun hand, even though Samus’ left hand is displayed. A minor complaint, sure, but anything that removes you from such a tactile experience is unfortunate.

To sum up, Metroid Prime 3 is easily the best game for the Wii so far. The controls enable a much deeper feeling of interaction with the world for experienced players while opening up the game to the FPS snobs among us. The graphics are superb and stand with the likes of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus for proving that good style can trump good tech. Also 60fps widescreen in 480p doesn’t hurt either. The story is well told and serves to move things along but never really thrills. Perhaps it has a bit more weight for those who have played (and enjoyed) the previous two but in general it does its job. All in all Prime 3 is an excellent game that excels in almost every respect. It stands as a show piece for what the Wii is capable of both graphically and in terms of game-play. Frankly, it’s a must-own for anyone who aspires to do more with their Wii than bowl a perfect game.

SPOnG Score 95%

The best graphics on the system to date in spite of one or two iffy textures. A wonderful score that sets the tone perfectly without overpowering. Probably the most accurate aiming to be had without a mouse and keyboard. Voice-acting is superb and injects some much needed life into the world. It’s the first time in eight months that I’ve been glad to own a Wii.