Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Review

But this is Metroid, so of course you'll need to use your wits as much as you use weapons that turn alien scum into goo. Environmental puzzles are generally as good in Corruption as they've ever been, and you'll need to survey your surroundings carefully to find the path to your next goal. Yes, the scanning visor is back, so be prepared to study objects frequently to best know their purpose and potential uses as puzzle solutions. It's easier to switch visors than ever--all you have to do is hold the minus button and flick the remote toward the visor you wish to switch to--so while it makes the scanning mechanic seem less central than before, it also makes it simpler to survey the objects in question and move on.

The bosses look awesome and are a lot of fun to fight.

Corruption truly shines when these mechanics work in tandem, making for smooth, seamless puzzle-solving and occasionally bringing new dimensions into the combat as well. Samus still has a grappling hook, though this time, you'll grab objects (and occasionally, enemies or their shields) by flicking the Nunchuk forward, and rip the thing away by pulling it back. It works and feels great, both in puzzles and in combat, particularly when used in tandem with other activities. Samus can still transform into the morph ball, too, and it's fun to discover new places to squeeze her into, though morphing has its unique uses in battle as well. The context-sensitive actions aren't quite as successful. There are times when you need to push the remote forward and twist it to unlock doors or perform other tasks, and while you can always manage to make it happen, it's usually awkward and doesn't feel the way you think it should.

Undoubtedly, Corruption's finest moments are its boss battles, which may not be quite the challenge they've been in the previous Prime games, but will still manage to impress you by the sheer variety that goes into winning them. A single boss battle may involve using morph ball techniques, the screw attack, entering hypermode, and firing both missiles and beams--often requiring pinpoint precision. Most of these battles are an absolute blast, and most of them have real meaning in context of the story.

If this all sounds like a lot of fun, it's because it is. Yet Corruption's focus on refined FPS mechanics and general sense of familiarity keep it from being as special as the other Prime titles. Just like Resident Evil 4 would have felt different--and arguably worse--had its controls been stripped down to a simple FPS scheme, Corruption loses some of its sense of wonder and strangeness on the Wii. Rather than being a true action adventure, it's hard to lose the sense that it's merely an FPS with trimmings. Its core control scheme is a revelation, but the resulting tempo adjustment and streamlining is missing some of the careful pacing that made Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 so superb. Still, any fan ought to enjoy this outing in spite of those quibbles, thanks to a good number of awesome, involved environmental puzzles and delightful (albeit fairly easy) boss fights.

The environmental puzzles can be intimidating at first.

The exotic worlds of Corruption will excite series fans, and for good reason. Like its predecessors, Corruption features superb art direction, so every level is even more incredible to explore than the last. While it isn't a huge step over Metroid Prime 2 in terms of sheer graphical quality, there are plenty of elements that will catch your eye, such as Samus' visor reflections, or the detailed, complex machinery that brings some of the environmental puzzles to brilliant life. The biggest surprise in the production values is the addition of a good deal of voice acting, at least toward the beginning of the game. You'll still spend most of your time exploring in relative silence, and the eerie, great soundtrack keeps you in just the right mood. But occasionally you'll interact with bounty hunters and other characters, and their lines are mostly spoken. The voice acting is fine, though its presence does reinforce just how effective the ghostly silence was in the first two Prime games.

If you're a Metroid fan, there's no need to convince you to play Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It's got exactly what you would expect from the last in an acclaimed trilogy of titles: great boss battles, involved environmental puzzles, and a smooth control scheme that cements exactly how FPS controls should work on the platform. It'll also keep you busy for a while, since you can earn tokens for completing various tasks and use them to purchase unlockable goodies like concept art and bumper stickers for Samus' ship. While the lack of multiplayer is disappointing, the single-player campaign won't leave you wanting. In the end, you may not be able to shake the feeling that you've done all this before, but it will still make you grateful for how great it is at its core.