Metroid Prime: Hunters
Verdict: Metroid goes portable FPS, oh yes.
Platform: DS.
Rating: 4/5
When I bought my DS over a year ago it came with a demo that to me, superseded any of the launch titles by showing off the real potential of the touch screen. The fact that no one has yet released a first person shooter for the DS confounds me but I think things may be about to change as that demo has come of age and sits in my claw shaped hands in the form of Metroid Prime: Hunters.
Leading the way in a blazing, technologically ground breaking trail with stunning graphics and audio design, Hunters is in stark contrast with last week’s subject of review - Splinter Cell: Essentials as it’s a game that has been built from the ground up centred around the machine and its controls.
Playing like a traditional, dual stick or keyboard and mouse FPS, you use the d-pad to move and the touch screen to look around while the left shoulder button is on fire duty. The touch screen also serves as a panel for other buttons controlling weapon selections, morph ball and visor select.
As far as the game is concerned it’s a streamlined, portable friendly version of the standard Metroid fare. You’ll be exploring alien worlds, shooting, platforming, solving puzzles, and rolling around pinball-esque areas using Samus’ physics defying Morph Ball ability.
The most notable addition, aside from true FPS controls is the multiplayer. Originally scheduled for launch around Christmas without online functionality Nintendo thankfully backtracked and the difference it has made is immense. They’ve created a seamless, easy to use online death match system where you can battle it out (or in my case lose) against 3 others from the comfort of a WiFi hotspot. If you play with friends over WiFi you even get to voice chat before and after matches and there’s a rival system for making online enemies out of strangers. The games are frenetic and fun, the maps are well designed, and each Hunter offers different weapons and abilities, some of which however can be a little unbalanced. Be on the receiving end of Trace’s alt-form melee attack and you’ll know what I mean.
In the Metroid canon it may not stand up to be the best, lacking some of the depth and length of previous versions and encumbered with the DS’ slightly unforgiving ergonomics but as a replayable FPS it’s gonna have me firing plasma for months to come, wherever I go.