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By Isaac Espinosa
June 13th, 2017. For many fans of Metroid, Nintendo’s juggernaut franchise, this date was highly significant, as it was the first announcement that Metroid Prime 4 was in development for the Nintendo Switch console. But no one could’ve predicted the development hell that the game would endure before eventually being released. As fans waited for news, Nintendo’s only update came on January, 2019, when the company revealed that the game would undergo a complete revamp. Metroid had initially been developed by an unnamed studio and was now in the hands of Retro Studios, the organization responsible for all three entries in the original Metroid Prime trilogy. Fans appreciated Nintendo’s transparency, but their disappointment at the delay was immeasurable; they would have to wait five more years. Metroid Dread, the newest entry in the 2D Metroid series, along with a remake of the original Metroid Prime, were both released before there was any more news about Prime 4. Finally, on June 18th of 2024, Nintendo Direct revealed Metro Prime 4 to its eager audience and announced its release window of 2025. Not only did the game look astounding, it had also been renamed Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
The promised land was truly within our reach. The trailers offered a lot of information about Prime 4 and what it had to offer, giving us a better view of the new planet Samus would explore and the powers she would obtain. What mysteries would Samus uncover in these intriguing environments? What strange psychic abilities had she been granted? And what was the story behind her new, awesome-looking red suit? All of this and more would become known to us, as Metroid Prime 4 dropped in December of this year.
So was Metro Prime 4 worth the eight year wait, or does it fail to live up to the monumental expectations placed upon it?
The game begins as Samus receives a distress call from a Galactic Federation base stationed on Planet Tanamaar of the Desoland System, because the bounty hunter Sylux and his band of mind-controlled Space Pirates are invading. Caught in the middle of an ongoing battle, Samus makes her way to the base and fights off the Space Pirates, learning along the way about a sensitive artifact that the Galactic Federation is studying. This action-packed first chapter of the game reaches its climax when Samus comes face to face with Sylux himself, and their scuffle ends up activating the artifact, causing a wave of purple energy to surround the area. Samus, teleported far away from the Federation base, awakens in an unknown place outside what we’re told is the Chrono Tower. Guided by the tower’s advanced technology, Samus learns that she has been transported to the planet Viewros. Holograms of its inhabitants, the Lamorn, who had all passed due to an event they call “The Great Tragedy,” name Samus their Chosen One and bestow upon her a psychic crystal that lets her tap into the powerful abilities latent within her. The holograms give Samus a mission: to carry their legacy to another world, so that the Lamorn aren’t forgotten. Without hesitation, Samus accepts, taking on the challenge of activating the Chrono Tower’s master teleporter and doing whatever it takes to save the Lamorn from being lost to time.
Metroid Prime 4 conveys this story in a uniquely captivating way. Whereas the original trilogy, Metroid Prime 1 in particular, focused heavily on environmental storytelling and bits of lore to detail the plight of the planets we visited, Metroid Prime 4 does so through dialogue and a clear linear structure. While exploring Viewros, we find numerous members of the Galactic Federation who converse with Samus and each other in ways that feel natural and cohesive. Whether it’s Miles Mackenzie and his trustworthy (albeit witty and nerdy) directions on where to go next, or the strong and resolute dynamic between Sarge Ezra Duke and Private Nora Armstrong, these aspects enhance Prime 4’s story, which centers around Samus carrying out her mission alongside the soldiers she meets. For the first time in the Metroid series, I truly felt like Samus took on an active role of protector, which not only increased my desire to accomplish the mission of protecting the Lamorn’s legacy, but also deepened my appreciation of this compelling cast of characters and my enjoyment of the story as a whole.
As for gameplay, Metroid Prime 4 stays true to the formula of the Prime series while also introducing its own interesting twists. Power-up wise, much remains the same, with Samus being able to use her iconic Morph Ball, Morph Ball Bombs, the Space Jump, and even the Spider Ball later on in the journey. But Samus’ new psychic abilities intensify these traditional power ups in ways not seen before in any Metroid title. Use Psychic bombs to send small psychic motes that power up broken down technology from far away. Use the Psychic Space Jump to hop onto invisible platforms, or the Psychic Spider Ball to dangle on ropes of energy before slingshotting yourself over large gaps. These new versions of Samus’ classic abilities make exploring areas an absolute treat, as the game offers you so many solutions to the otherwise tricky-to-solve puzzles scattered throughout. And there are myriad places of interest on Viewros, all with something fascinating to offer. Explore the vast luscious forest of Fury Green, make your way around the segmented towers of the Volt Forge, or (my personal favorite) carefully pick your way through the abandoned ruins of the Ice Belt. The Metroid Prime tradition of using your skills to uncover the secrets of this long forgotten world continues throughout Prime 4.
Prime 4 is not without flaws, however, the most prominent being the Sol Valley. This expansive desert of Viewros acts as the game’s primary hub world, where you acquire the Vi-O-La bike and use it to traverse from point A to point B. But the Sol Valley feels incredibly empty. Other than a couple of structures, and green energy crystals to break for story progression, you don’t really find anything of note to explore. Enemy encounters are sparse, which worsens the experience, especially during the final hours of the game. I really wanted more disruptions, more challenges, to shake me out of my comfort zone. And while it wasn’t a concern for me, the dialogue in Prime 4 has been a major point of contention for some players. It is, without a doubt, a vast departure from the previous Metroid Prime titles due to its emphasis on dialogue and character interactions. And thus it’s completely understandable that it feels so alien to veterans of the series. Metroid Prime has until now created an atmosphere of tension by isolating the player and immersing them in the world of the game, so it was inevitable that deviating from this path would rub some fans the wrong way.
A recent interview with Senior Nintendo Director Kensuke Tanabe in Famitsu, a Japanese magazine, brought more of Metroid Prime 4’s development issues to light. Tanabe, translated by NintendoEverything, responded to a question about the toughest obstacles: “In the end, the game took much longer than expected to finish, and we realized that players’ impressions toward open-world games had changed. That being said, development had already been reset once before (when we started again from scratch with Retro Studios) so backtracking development again was out of the question, and we resolved to move forward with our original vision.” This sheds a lot of light on why Metroid Prime 4 ended up as it did. I very much enjoy Metroid Prime 4, its distinct way of telling a genuinely good story along with its opportunities for exploration and its puzzle-solving through unique power-ups. But I cannot and will not deny that this decision to retain the original vision doesn’t seem like it was the best move. Retro Studios, despite their success with the original trilogy, clearly did not have full freedom to build something from the ground up. Despite this, I feel they provided a genuinely incredible product, even if the Sol Valley was mixed in its execution. However much I loved my experience with Metroid Prime 4, I hope it serves as a stepping stone towards future Metroid Prime installments.
Bronx native Isaac Espinosa is a Member of the New York Videogame Critics Circle. Along with being named the Circle’s first assistant Mentor, Isaac also coaches students for CEI Esports.
