So, how is it?

Kharay1977

2004-11-20 08:41:44 am

Now that it has been finished by at least a couple of people, I'm curious, how does it rate? Mainly in comparison to Metroid Prime I.

Is it worth digging up my Gamecube from the attic for, or would it be better for a not-too-great Metroid player like myself to just leave my Gamecube collecting dust?

Thread title:

GreenMamba

2004-11-20 09:15:51 am

What luck, there's french fry stuck in my beard.

If you loved the first Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 is all that you could ask for and more. Maybe not better than the first one, but easily just as good.

Kharay1977

2004-11-20 09:26:41 am

Quote from GreenMamba:

If you loved the first Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2 is all that you could ask for and more. Maybe not better than the first one, but easily just as good.

Somehow... I have my doubts. The best thing about MP1 is/was the non-linearity. And, from the posts/threads so far I get the impression MP2 is more linear.
Is that impression accurate? And, about the story... is it any good? Did they do a good job at making it plausible why there are Metroids and so on the planet?
I'm just being careful here... last half a dozen games I bought (including some highly appraised titles such as Fable, Disgaea) were a major disappointment.

nate

2004-11-20 10:11:29 am

the story is excellent. the writing is just some of the best you're going to find in a video game, imo. and that's saying a lot, coming from me. it just fits very well in the metroid universe, very believable and respectful.

having said that, the actual play part of it could use some work. unless miracles happen, we're probably not going to see the replay value the first one had (outside of multiplayer, anyway). i don't mean to be apocalyptic, but it's pretty obvious that retro, either by choice or without, attempted to correct in this game all of the "problems" that plagued the previous one.

i'm about two-thirds through ... that's my impression so far.

Superion

2004-11-20 10:44:11 am

I don't have it yet, I can wait until the end of the month or when so I actually get it. I was over at Vertigo's watching him play it though... interesting. The graphics, to me, haven't changed the least bit. The make the ball-bomb look better and they added a bit of blood to the fish you kill in the water. I like the Light Beam but not as much the Dark beam, and everythign else is just the same. Music didn't really appeal to me as something that was great, and with all that being said its just the same old Metroid Prime.

Ekarderif

2004-11-20 03:26:56 pm

Prime was fairly linear when not taking account sequence breaking. Most people tend to ignore this aspect.

arkarian

2004-11-20 10:05:00 pm

red chamber dream

I think it's almost as good as the first one. Prime I will probably always be my favourite game of all time, but this is a good follow-up.

I really can't stand how you have ammo for three of the four beams though. I just can't get past this fact, even though it's fairly easy to find, and you can still fire slow shots without any ammo. It just brings my overall impression of the beams way down. It would just be so cool to be able to use the Light Beam all the time, but now it's something that you're almost afraid to use too much. Also the lack of Sequence Breaking is going to kill me.

Besides all of that, four out of five stars. The story and gameplay are great.

Pekod

2004-11-20 10:17:19 pm

I disagree about the beams. I found out immediately that you can and should use them until they're dry.

Since its the other beam type that is used to recharge your ammo, it is TOTALLY impossible to run out of ammo unless you somehow use up both types, and that could only happen with a whole lot of missed shots. It's smart to use up all your light ammo, waste it even, and then use up all your dark ammo.

As long as you keep trading off like that, the other beam charges up way before the current one runs out.

This is in addition to the fact that overall, the dark beam is far more useful, which is convenient, because there are times when you really need that light ammo. I always use up all the dark ammo before switching to light.

arkarian

2004-11-20 10:24:44 pm

red chamber dream

Maybe it's because I haven't found any ammo expansions then, because fifty shots isn't a whole lot. Also, the Dark Beam is almost useless to kill enemies while in Dark Aether, and the Light Beam doesn't do much in Light Aether, so it's hard to trade off between beams, when one hardly damages enemies at all.

Ekarderif

2004-11-20 11:10:00 pm

I rather enjoy the ammo system. No longer does one beam rule all (Plasma). Problem is that Light/Dark seems too powerful. The Power Beam, Missiles, Super Missiles, or even the 4th beam doesn't even come close to Light/Dark.

nate

2004-11-20 11:51:06 pm

Quote from Pekod:

Since its the other beam type that is used to recharge your ammo, it is TOTALLY impossible to run out of ammo unless you somehow use up both types, and that could only happen with a whole lot of missed shots.

even then, just charge up the gun and you can fire a single shot (e.g. at an ammo box).

bushwacker

2004-11-20 11:58:53 pm

Quote:

having said that, the actual play part of it could use some work. unless miracles happen, we're probably not going to see the replay value the first one had (outside of multiplayer, anyway). i don't mean to be apocalyptic, but it's pretty obvious that retro, either by choice or without, attempted to correct in this game all of the "problems" that plagued the previous one.

save us kip

arkarian

2004-11-21 11:27:09 am

red chamber dream

I don't know if even kip could save us, but I'm sure there will be at least some small SB'ing in Echoes. But not a whole lot at all.

EDIT: I think it's interesting how this is the first time there has been two Metroid games made for the same platform. Pretty cool.