Metroid Prime development update

A source within Retro Studios has updated GameSpot on the status of its upcoming GameCube game Metroid Prime. The development team is close to completing the game's first level and has recently sent a playable build to Nintendo for review. Originally, it was planned that the build would be shown in playable form at next week's Space World, but, according to various sources, Nintendo may opt to show the game only in video form, as it did at this year's E3. Interestingly, portions of the E3 video are actually from the game's opening CG sequence, which shows Samus' ship landing inside a hangar and the game's heroine emerging from a port on top of the vessel. Following this intro sequence the game switches to its title screen and menu. According to our source, "the cut-scenes in the game look amazing and are done very cinematically."

Much of the gameplay in Metroid Prime will be from a first-person perspective, but there will be instances when the camera pulls back into a third-person view. For example, when Samus goes into her familiar rolling-ball form the camera will zoom out and show her from a third-person perspective.

Currently, Retro Studios has focused its efforts entirely on developing Metroid Prime to meet the game's release date next year and to assure that the game lives up to expectations. The company's other projects, such as Ravenblade, were canceled so that the team could focus exclusively on Metroid Prime. The game is currently set for release sometime next year on the GameCube.