PRIMED FOR ACTION
METROID PRIME
GAMECUBE • 2002
Metroid Prime is not in any sense a traditional first-person shooter.
Samus’ ability to lock on to enemies and evade incoming attacks immediately made it stand apart from similar-styled games on release, while its carefully balanced controls made the numerous platform sections incredibly easy to pull off. While it’s predominantly first-person, Samus’ Morph Ball ability utilises a third-person perspective, which is typically used for the few puzzle-like elements found throughout the expansive game world. It features the same organic exploratory approach of previous games in the series, but introduces new gameplay mechanics in the form of a number of different visors that Samus must switch between. In addition to thermal imaging and X-Ray vision, Samus can also scan pretty much anything she encounters, from enemies to locations. Scanning not only reveals weak points in bosses but also slowly unlocks Metroid Prime’s well-crafted story, which is arguably one of the best in the entire series.