Video Game Review: Metroid Prime 3 Corruption(Wii)

***SPOILERS AHEAD!***

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption is the last game on the Metroid Prime Trilogy disk and it closes the book on Phazon and Dark Samus in grand fashion! While not AS good as its predecessors, it still stands out as one of the best and innovative games in the series! This was the first Metroid game tailor made for the Nintendo Wii's motion controls and it makes excellent use of them, being the first first-person shooter for the Wii that really works!

The story takes place six months after Metroid Prime 2. Once again has us following Samus Aran as she is summoned by the Galactic Federation. She and her fellow(and rival) bounty hunters Ghor, Rundas, and Gandrayda are tasked with curing Federation AI supercomputers known as Aurora Units of a computer virus as well as finding the stolen Aurora Unit 313. Before the mission is to begin a massive Space Pirate fleet attacks. It is revealed that Dark Samus has gained control of the Space Pirates and now uses them to help seed worlds with meteors infused with Phazon called Leviathans. After the attack Samus become infused with Phazon by Dark Samus. As the story progresses, Samus must find and cure all infected Aurora Units, defeat her corrupted bounty hunter comrades and her old nemesis Ridley, and destroy Dark Samus and all of Phazon for good! The way the story is told lends the game a more cinematic feel than previous entries in the series and is the first game in the Metroid franchise to feature voice acting. Luckily for purists like me Samus still says nothing! :P

PED Suit Samus

Dark Samus

Omega Ridley

Gandrayda

Ghor

Rundas

Most of the game play has not changed from the last two games, not that it needs to! :P But there were several changes made that fit well into the overall story as well as those that make use of the Wii's motion controls. One of the biggest changes is how much more open ended and grand in scope the game is. Where previous installments in the series had us traversing only one massive overworld on one planet, Corruption has us exploring up to 8 different planets, ships and space stations! Doing so is done by entering Samus' gunship which is no longer used JUST for saving the game. Players use her ship to travel to different planets and ships at there own pace, with some eras on different worlds locked out until you find certain items or upgrades on other worlds. Each planet has its own unique feel from differing wild life and enemies to battle, different ways to use your weapons and gear, and differing logbook entries to find. The overworld for each world is just as massive as and diverse as the singular worlds in Metorid Prime and Prime 2 making for one very lengthy journey. Traveling from world to world is done by using the motion controls inside Samus' ship to select the destination of your choice from a galactic map and telling your ship to fly there. Sort of gimmicky but not a bother really. Unlike other Metroid games you are only given one power suit to use through out the game. The PED suit makes use of Samus' Phazon infection by allowing you to sacrifice one of your energy bars to send you into Hyper Mode, granting you temporary invincibility and making your attacks stronger. Some enemies and areas can not be accessed without Hyper Mode. Samus still scours the environments for Energy Tanks but her weapons and missiles are are no longer interchangeable. Once a beam and missile upgrade is obtained you can not change back and all puzzles from then on are only solved by the weapons on hand. You still make use of different visors such as the X-Ray visor and the all new Command Visor. The Command Visor allows Samus to look at key points in the environments to find objects of interest. It also allows Samus to call her gunship in to demolish certain objects or lift them to be taken to different areas to solve puzzles. The Scan Visor still allows you to find out details about the environment, wild life, enemies and gather entries into your logbook.

Combat is also roughly the same as before. You use your beam cannon and missiles to fight Space Pirates and the local creatures on each world. Boss fights are among the best the series has ever seen especially Omega Ridley and Dark Samus! However motion controls are also used in combat. The Grapple Beam is no longer used to just swing from grapple points to travel in certain areas. Grapple Points now appear on certain enemies, using the Grapple Beam on them allows you to remove chunks of armor or shielding from creatures, enemies, and bosses. Doing so requires you to flick the Wii remote back once you have grabbed onto an enemy to remove armor and shields. This adds a nice level of interactivity with the game that does not feel gimmicky at all. The boss fights in Corruption are the best the series has ever had! Ridley returns with not one but TWO epic boss fights as Omega Ridley and the final battle against Dark Samus on the Phazon home world of Phaaze is the stuff of legends! This series has never let me down when it comes to combat!

The graphics are definitely a step up from the graphics of the two GameCube entries. Metroid has never looked better! The sound design is also top notch with great voice acting! Once again the music really sets the mood for each world, environment, and battle. This game just impresses on all levels!

There are some slight issues with the game however. The fact that you need to travel from world to world makes backtracking even more tedious than before. Having fewer items and weapons to discover also lends the game a slightly stripped feel. The voice acting, while good, kind of breaks Nintendo tradition(hey I'm a Nintendo purist :P)

Despite these nitpicks this is still one outstanding game! With innovative use of the Wii's motion controls, great combat, epic boss battles, some of the best puzzles the series has ever seen there is just so much to love in Metroid Prime 3 Corruption! Finding all logbook entries and getting 100% completion also unlocks a secret ending while introducing the world to the beautiful and sexy Zero Suit Samus! :D Metroid Prime 3 Corruption closes the book on Phazon in grand fashion and is a great way to finish the Metroid Prime Trilogy! Do not miss out on this game!

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption score: 9.5/10

----------------FanBoy