MP3 Intro Level Movie

2006-10-06 01:05:20 pm

A tad outdated, but I can't help myself: this is the coolest of the Corruption videos I've ever seen. Reminds me of Halo...

http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/6028

You might get an advertisement, but don't worry: just let it play through the the real video'll begin shortly after.

Thread title:

Prime Hunter

2006-10-06 01:55:56 pm

After seeing that video, I think I'm going to really like using the Expert Mode control system. The one in the video seems too restricting, even for Samus.

And luckily for me, I've only played about an hour of Halo before, so I won't be making comparisons like that at all. grin new

Aedious

2006-10-06 02:55:31 pm

I like the idea that Retro's exploring the military aspect of the Metroid universe.

MetroidRhyme

2006-10-12 12:01:32 am

i dunno i think they are losing the prime feel of it still being a metroid game and kind of turning it more into a FPS... even more so...
we'll see.

arkarian

2006-10-12 09:58:03 pm

red chamber dream

I agree with MetroidRhyme. I don't want to know the military history of Metroid, as imo Metroid shouldn't have a military history. There's not supposed to be an involved story; it's about Samus pulverising weird aliens.

Prime Hunter

2006-10-12 11:03:55 pm

Unfortunately, that's one thing I feel the Prime series never got right: The games spend a lot of time bringing up the backstory of the Federation and Space Pirate struggle, but they hardly focus on the main enemy of the series, which are the Metroids themselves. (Sure, they gave us Metroid Prime and some new Metroid forms, but I mean the more traditional Metroids like there used to be.)

In the Prime series, we don't get the sense of FEAR from them that we get in the earlier 2D games. This is where ROS shines the most actually, because there are Metroids everywhere and they are the main focus of progression in the game. (Think about the first time you ever saw a Zeta or Omega Metroid: We need that kind of surprise, excitement, and danger from the Metroids again in my opinion.)

One other thing that this added story is giving us is even more reasons for the Space Pirates to fear Samus. (As if they needed any more reasons at this point...)

Yoshi348

2006-10-12 11:58:07 pm

PAGE BREAKER

Ready and willing.

I think one of the reasons why this is the case is that the Metroids themselves aren't intelligent in the least. They don't really have any grand motivations at all. They're merely the "weapon" that the Space Pirates try to use at times. Therefore there's only so much you can do with them... you have to be rather clever to think up new ways to use Metroids that either aren't either A) just there to be there (Echoes, I'm looking at YOU) or B) pretty much the same thing as one of the other plots. (Oh noes, the Space Pirates want to use the Metroids to do bad things!) This is compounded by the fact that the Prime series is stuck between I and II, which makes it hard to do stuff without stepping on the toes of games further down the line.

This isn't insurmountable, mind you. It's a path-of-least-resistance thing rather than a true barrier. Also, I really think a core part of Samus is that she's kind of a rogue, not bound by the normal structure and getting called on for the last resort, so tagging her SPECIFICALLY with too much military stuff would be bad. Sure, she was on a tight leash during Fusion, but she actively chafed under said leash and ended up being justified in thinking so. Plus she wasn't in a position to argue at first, having just undergone massive surgery and all.

But in the end, I'm not absolutely opposed to exploring other aspects of the Metroid series, given that the Metroids are actually less interesting than some of the other stuff going on.

I think one of the reasons why this is the case is that the Metroids themselves aren't intelligent in the least. They don't really have any grand motivations at all. They're merely the "weapon" that the Space Pirates try to use at times. Therefore there's only so much you can do with them... you have to be rather clever to think up new ways to use Metroids that either aren't either A) just there to be there (Echoes, I'm looking at YOU) or B) pretty much the same thing as one of the other plots. (Oh noes, the Space Pirates want to use the Metroids to do bad things!) This is compounded by the fact that the Prime series is stuck between I and II, which makes it hard to do stuff without stepping on the toes of games further down the line.

This isn't insurmountable, mind you. It's a path-of-least-resistance thing rather than a true barrier. Also, I really think a core part of Samus is that she's kind of a rogue, not bound by the normal structure and getting called on for the last resort, so tagging her SPECIFICALLY with too much military stuff would be bad. Sure, she was on a tight leash during Fusion, but she actively chafed under said leash and ended up being justified in thinking so. Plus she wasn't in a position to argue at first, having just undergone massive surgery and all.

But in the end, I'm not absolutely opposed to exploring other aspects of the Metroid series, given that the Metroids are actually less interesting than some of the other stuff going on.

Prime Hunter

2006-10-13 05:27:23 pm

I'm for trying new things with the series as well, as long as things don't go too overboard and we end up losing the core of what Metroid is. (So far, I don't think any game has really done this, but Hunters definitely came pretty close.) Focusing TOO much on the war between the Feds and the Pirates, could lead to this in my opinion. But if they have the war going on in the background and Samus is one small part of it, I think it can work.

As for the Metroids themselves, you've got a point there about their non-intelligence. I just wish they could've played more of a part alongside the Phazon storyline than they did.

Now, if we had more intelligent Metroids somewhere down the line, that could prove to be an interesting development for Samus to tackle, IF it was done right. I think it would have to be a game taking place after Fusion though, because as you said, it would be hard not to mess something up in the storyline if they tried it now.

arkarian

2006-10-14 02:24:22 pm

red chamber dream

The Phazon thing was very, very cool (in Prime I); it's just that Dark Samus made the idea go sour. I can honestly say I got the same feelings around Phazon in Prime I that I got from the Metroids in ROS.

Also, Hunters did completely deviate from the normal Metroid story (focused too much on the Feds and other hunters and such), but I think that's forgiveable, as I don't regard the game as truly being a part of the series anyway.

UchihaSasuke

2006-10-14 08:07:14 pm

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

Quote from Prime Hunter:

In the Prime series, we don't get the sense of FEAR from them that we get in the earlier 2D games. This is where ROS shines the most actually, because there are Metroids everywhere and they are the main focus of progression in the game. (Think about the first time you ever saw a Zeta or Omega Metroid: We need that kind of surprise, excitement, and danger from the Metroids again in my opinion.)

the Omega at the end of Fusion scared me the first time i saw it. i didn't even know it was a Metroid until Samus mentioned it's name later when she was giving the end game speech.

i agree that metroids were underused in the Prime series. i thought we would see more of them in mp2 but that game made a sharp turn somewhere concerning story.
mp3 doesn't look like it will deal with metroids too much either.
i think that only a remake of MII or a sequel to Fusion could give them a second chance to shine. they are the name of the series and they should be involved in future sequels (but there's also the whole thing with the Zelda games where Zelda never appears, so we might see a Metroid game without metroids.... oh wait, it happened with MPH already)
at least the main games should have them in.

[quote="Prime Hunter"]
In the Prime series, we don't get the sense of FEAR from them that we get in the earlier 2D games. This is where ROS shines the most actually, because there are Metroids everywhere and they are the main focus of progression in the game. (Think about the first time you ever saw a Zeta or Omega Metroid: We need that kind of surprise, excitement, and danger from the Metroids again in my opinion.)[/quote]

the Omega at the end of Fusion scared me the first time i saw it. i didn't even know it was a Metroid until Samus mentioned it's name later when she was giving the end game speech.

i agree that metroids were underused in the Prime series. i thought we would see more of them in mp2 but that game made a sharp turn somewhere concerning story.
mp3 doesn't look like it will deal with metroids too much either.
i think that only a remake of MII or a sequel to Fusion could give them a second chance to shine. they are the name of the series and they should be involved in future sequels (but there's also the whole thing with the Zelda games where Zelda never appears, so we might see a Metroid game without metroids.... oh wait, it happened with MPH already)
at least the main games should have them in.

LDreamNinja

2006-10-14 08:51:00 pm

Even worse for me was the fact that the strategy guide calls Samus "an agent of the Federation". The game also makes other implications that samus is just some GF dog.

I had a really good reason why metroids didn't need to be in every metroid game, but it feels like to much of a rant to post in this situation (though there are some old topics in the hunters board that need a good rant).

Derek

2006-10-14 09:38:28 pm

Quote from PiccoloCube:

i think that only a remake of MII or a sequel to Fusion could give them a second chance to shine. they are the name of the series and they should be involved in future sequels

There was brief mention of a game called Metroid Dread that was supposed to take place after Fusion and would be on the DS (although it would be 2D), but nothing ever came of it and I don't think the game has been mentioned by Nintendo since before the DS launch.

Although it all does raise the question, how far can the Metroid series go? Especially if it focuses on metroids? Any thoughts?

Prime Hunter

2006-10-14 10:53:00 pm

I don't want the Metroids to be so overused that it becomes worse to have them in a game than to not have them. But I think it's time that the series brought them back into the centerstage. If the Metroids remain the way they are, and are mainly a side story or hold the same amount of power that they do now (Which is very little compared to the early games), I don't think it will work out in the end.

Nintendo needs to find a way to bring back the Metroids in a way that regains their former presence in the series. Since the Federation was quick to try and bring them back for their own purposes (And didn't seem to care about the consequences much: Just played Fusion earlier today so it's fresh in my mind.) something could be used from that to launch into a new danger. (Newer, more menacing evolutions that the Feds concocted perhaps? Or the possibly for them to gain intelligence?) The Federation obviously had something big planned for the Metroids, and as I've said before in various threads, I doubt the BSL Station was the only place they were doing this research.

I think I kinda derailled the thread this time. Should this conversation be moved somewhere else?

I don't want the Metroids to be so overused that it becomes worse to have them in a game than to not have them. But I think it's time that the series brought them back into the centerstage. If the Metroids remain the way they are, and are mainly a side story or hold the same amount of power that they do now (Which is very little compared to the early games), I don't think it will work out in the end.

Nintendo needs to find a way to bring back the Metroids in a way that regains their former presence in the series. Since the Federation was quick to try and bring them back for their own purposes (And didn't seem to care about the consequences much: Just played Fusion earlier today so it's fresh in my mind.) something could be used from that to launch into a new danger. (Newer, more menacing evolutions that the Feds concocted perhaps? Or the possibly for them to gain intelligence?) The Federation obviously had something big planned for the Metroids, and as I've said before in various threads, I doubt the BSL Station was the only place they were doing this research.

[size=7px]I think I kinda derailled the thread this time. Should this conversation be moved somewhere else?[/size]

A Silly Goose

2006-10-15 08:56:10 pm

Look, witty text!

The thing about Prime that I found the most interesting was how Retro had started building a whole universe for Samus, the Space Pirates, the Federation, and other races. Without that, all you have is a generic heroine in a generic space suit that runs around shooting generic aliens inside generic caverns.

...And don't forget, we don't know what the full story of Prime III is going to be. For all we know, metroids may very well end up at the heart of the whole matter.

As for the "main" series, I'm willing to bet that Fusion's successor will involve a much closer relationship between Samus and the metroids, partly due to the metroid DNA she now possesses as a result of the X-vaccine. I can also see the Chozo becoming involved on some level, as her loyalty ultimately lies with them; the Federation is just an employer, after all.