Metroid Prime 2 is more or less the same as its predecessor, but it's missing something that made the first one great.
Metroid Prime 2 follows up after the events of Metroid Prime, we follow Samus Aran on her way to Aether to find out what happened to the Space Federation soldiers who crashed landed on the planet. It turns out all is not well and Aether is going through an identity crisis with a light and dark world. Of course, the planet wasn't always like this and it was all peace and lovely until a meteorite crash landed on the planet bringing the Ing with it. The Ing are your main enemies this time round, but also included is Dark Samus who you fight several times throughout the game. Phazon returns and for what it's worth, Retro Studios made a worthy attempt in bringing a solid story into the Metroid universe.
Fortunately the trademark isolation feeling is back and you're still on your lonesome. So that's great. What's not so great is the fact that besides the obvious portal alternate world travelling escapades there's nothing truly new. It plays in the exact same way as Metroid Prime, which is not bad considering FIFA does it year in, year out. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting a huge departure from the foundations made in Metroid Prime but in the original Prime game I didn't know what to expect. Metroid Prime 2 has less surprises then Metroid Prime. That's not the game's fault at all. You still have Morph Ball, Screw Attack, Space Jump etc yet they lack the spark because I've already seen them in 3-D and when I saw the Morph Ball this time, I didn't swell inside it was just another move. Scanning is back and is just as important as ever. With that being said though, the game is still a remarkable one and plays really well.
This is where the game's had the significant additions, the graphics. What was mind blowing in Metroid Prime has become something more. In fact, the game is so graphic intense you have to play it in 60 hertz exclusively. And the new graphic tweaks really shine. Samus has recieved a lot more detail this time round. But with that said, everything else has as well. It's just a stunning game to look at.
The music is once again handled by Yakamoto-san and it shines once more. There's very little difference between this and Metroid Prime's soundtrack, but it's still quality stuff. The sound effects have lost some spark due to the recycling but they're still solid.
The game is about 20 hours long, like its predecessor it's almost double that if you look and search everywhere. There's also a multi player tacked on , but the game really didn't needed one. It's nice it's there, but Metroid has always been about the lonesome experience.
If you loved Metroid Prime, you'll love Metroid Prime 2. It dosen't really push the Metroid series into a new direction like Metroid Prime did but if you're after more of the same, you can't go wrong with this title. I love it to pieces but it won't ever be as good as Metroid Prime.