An extraordinary achievement, Metroid Prime 3 is your new reason to own a Wii.
In light of these facts, Metroid Prime 3 can only be considered an extraordinary achievement, one which reminds viewers why they ought never to underestimate Retro Studios' ability to deliver in the face of overwhelming pressure.
To say that this game simply shows that first-person shooters can work on the Wii is a drastic understatement. This game does not show that first-person shooters can work on the Wii. This game entirely redefines the entire console first-person shooter experience and shows the world exactly how it was meant to be. The controls are absolutely flawless and are as natural as mouse-look functionality in PC first-person shooters. I might even not recommend Metroid Prime 3 to someone who then intends to play a first-person shooter on another console. The ease with which Samus can be controlled in Metroid Prime 3 will make you wonder how you ever got by in first-person shooters before the Wii Remote.
Of course, the controls are not the only part of the game - though they are a big part - so the next question is whether or not the rest of the game matches up to the stellar controls. The answer to that question is an unequivocal "yes". While the game takes a considerably longer period of time to get going than previous Metroids - something that I felt could have been improved somewhat - once it does get going it plays out beautifully.
The gameplay is somewhat of a hybrid of Metroid Fusion and more traditional Metroids. The vast bulk of the game is the solitary exploration that Metroid veterans have become accustomed to, but there are instances where you will be working with and interacting with other friendly NPCs. The latter fact is one over which many have found contention with the game, but I personally feel that this is simply a matter of a game differing from expectations. If you were expecting a game identical to Metroid Prime, it is certainly true that this isn't such a thing, and if you were wanting such a thing, then perhaps Metroid Prime 3 might be a bit of a disappointment in that regard. I personally view it as Resident Evil 4 was viewed in comparison to its predecessors, however - not worse, but different.
The aesthetic and more minor elements of Metroid Prime 3 are equally well done, as well. While the Wii might not match up to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 in terms of sheer graphical power, Metroid Prime 3 proves that a determined developer absolutely can produce a game for the Wii that is nonetheless very pleasing to look at. And a special mention must be given to Metroid Prime 3's stellar soundtrack. It contains quite literally some of the most understated and best tracks that I have heard to date. Its songs are exactly what they need to be to set the right mood. Derelict fleet ships are eerie and creepy, while boss battles are nothing short of epic.
However, though Metroid Prime 3 racks up success after success, this review would not be complete without noting a few minor problems I had with the game that prevented it from receiving the full-on 10 out of 10.
The first is with regards to room changes. The way Retro Studios handled loading within the game was quite simple: when you try to enter a room through a door, the room is first loaded, and then the door opens when it's ready. This is a problem, however, when the room takes a while to load. Since the door stays closed until the room is ready, I found myself often having to wait in front of a door with nothing to do until the room loaded. This was especially annoying when I was trying to make a quick getaway from enemies, since the current room is still completely active and enemies can still attack you while the other room loads. Though this did not happen on a noticeable scale very often, when it did it cut down quite a bit on the immersive nature of the game, and I feel that it could have been improved.
The second is, as I mentioned before, the opening. It takes about ten to fifteen minutes before any combat is actually seen within the game. While this was also true of the other Metroid Primes where you're exploring a derelict space station, the latter's openings were, in my view, much better done, in that they were much more interesting, immersive, and environmental. Metroid Prime 3's opening feels a bit too much like a standard first-person shooter opening, and does not serve to adequately set the stage for the rest of the game, for me.
Still, anything wrong I can find within the game absolutely pales in comparison with the monumental list of what is right within the game. Metroid Prime 3 has forever raised the bar for first-person shooters on console systems, and in ending the Metroid Prime trilogy, it has firmly and solidly cemented Retro Studios' status as a development juggernaut to be reckoned with. If you own a Wii and are at all interested in Metroid or first-person shooters, you have no excuse not to own this game. And if you don't own a Wii, this game is all the reason you need to change that.