It's not as good as the former two Metroid Prime games, but it is a Wii game all Metroid fans have to play.
Pros:
+The series looks as good as ever
+Motion control has never felt this good
+A little more human approach to the Metroid series
+Detailed environments and great boss fights
+A great story and a host of well written characters
Cons:
-Easier and shorter than the two Gamecube Metroid Primes
-The feeling of isolation is less due to interactive characters
-Backtracking occurs quite often
-Exploration isn't as much of a factor as it was previously
Review:
Metroid Prime is without a doubt one of the best game series out there. Polished gameplay, fantastic visuals, engrossing environments and epic boss fights abound in the 3D adventures of Samus Aran. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the final part of the beloved trilogy, and though it disappoints in many aspects, the game is still entertaining and an overall great game.
You once again step in the boots (?) of bounty hunter Samus Aran, who is meeting with an Admiral Dane and three other bounty hunters. They're mission is to get rid of a few computer viruses that have infected Aurora Units (huge supercomputers of incredible power) that are scattered amongst a number of planets. However, before they can embark on their mission, federation ships get attacked by space pirates and the hunters are sent to help them out on planet Norion. Once there, Samus learns there is a being called a Leviathan Seed on collision course to Norion. After a valiant battle, Samus just manages to destroy the Seed. However, just when the seed has been destroyed, a revived Dark Samus attacks the bounty hunters. Samus passes out, and when she wakes up, she is strapped down and outfitted with a special phazon suit. Her body has been filled to the brim with phazon, and the suit is the only thing keeping her alive. At the same time, the three bounty hunters have vanished. This starts her journey to take down the diabolical Dark Samus, and look for the origin of the leviathan seeds.
Corruption is different in the fact that there are actual characters in the game. In Norion, you will be able to talk to a multitude of different characters. This does lower the level of isolation of the previous titles. However, it also adds a welcome change and slight sense of security as well. Dark Samus is like in MP2 a great villain, who you really want to defeat.
I also don't think I'm saying too much by telling you that the three bounty hunters are all bosses. These are absolutely fantastic and well done. You feel more of a connection to them since you actually got to see how they were before being corrupted by the dark influence of Samus' dark counterpart.
I might even go as far as to say that the story in Corruption is probably the best of the series. Good job, that.
Everyone knows that the Wii isn't a powerhouse of graphical potential, but it manages to come out with one of the best looking games on the Wii. The interface is smooth, the animation is beautiful and the worlds you explore are as colorful and vibrant as ever. As I will explain later, there is a huge variety of places to explore, all with different foliage and creatures. So there is a veritable smorgasboard of visual excellence. However, there is not much improvement to the visuals as compared to the last two installments, but like always, that is not a problem when the game looks this good.
I feel like I keep saying the same thing, but it has to be said: the music in Metroid Prime 3 is as stunning as in the previous games. The boss battle music is especially good, epic and beautifully orchestrated. Ambiance is once again a common theme in the music, and you might feel a slight sense of familiarity. However, it is still terrific.
The new voice-acting is also pretty well-done, though it is not something that would deserve a reward of any kind. It could, however, be MUCH worse, seeing as this is Metroid Prime's first venture in this field.
The sounds are well implemented and sound great. There are no hiccups or imperfections, and there is really not much else to say.
Now that the series has been transferred over to the Wii, it has foreseeably undergone changes. You now aim with your Wii remote and move with the Nunchuk. The biggest change is being able to aim while moving, which is a nice change. The motion controls work perfectly, complimenting the style of play perfectly and is deceptively simple in practice. You can still use the morphball, and jumping in morphball mode has been made easier, seeing as a flick of the remote will make Samus jump up. This is very handy in some of the morphball sections of the game. Corruption is most likely the best implementation of the motion capability of the Wii to date.
However, it is in the small details where the game falls short of its predecessors. The game is considerably easier than the other two games in the series, and is also shorter. This is mostly due to the planetary layout of the world. You now venture from planet to planet, destroying the respective leviathan seed for each planet. This is a nice change of pace, but it makes the game more linear than the previous installments, which focused more on exploration and discovery. Each planet is pretty short, and when put together results in a shorter game. Otherwise, this is not much of a problem.
Also, now that Samus is wearing the Phazon suit, she has the potential to perform powerful phazon related abilities. By using up one energy tank, Samus will enter phazon mode, having a host of superpowerful abilities. This adds a layer of strategy to the gameplay, and a welcome amount of variety. However, at key moments in the game, the phazon mode is necessary, meaning you will have to sacrifice a full energy tank just to get past a certain obstacle. This feels like it's been crowbarred in rather than being a coincidental work of nature. Despite that, it is still a nice addition to the Metroid Prime formula.
After the initial adventure, there won't be much to do. Throughout the game, reaching certain requirements will give you special medals of sorts, which you can trade for artwork and some other nifty prizes. You can also use friend codes to get special friend medals, but seeing as my Wii isn't connected to the internet, I have no way to see whether it adds anything else worth noting to the game.
Corruption is, like already mentioned, a short game, and can get tedious at times because of necessary backtracking that has to be made. However, it is also a game that you will most likely gravitate back to before you know it. The motion controls feel perfect for the Prime series and are a joy to use. Without a doubt, Corruption is one of the best Wii games out there. Unfortunately, it's the third best Metroid Prime game. If you are willing to look past that fact, you will find more than enough entertainment in Corruption to last you a long time.
Story: 8.6/10
Graphics: 9.3/10
Sound: 8.9/10
Gameplay: 8.8/10
Replayability: 8.5/10
Score: 8.8/10
-Calvinsora