Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

[Skywarp! 0]

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

 

Multiplayer!

[Red Baron 0]

eh

 

I'm not impressed

[SamoaRowe 0]

Those are not that impressive.

[Skywarp! 0]

Well, that's what I'd expect from a game that's recently announced...

[LaParkaYourCar 0]

I loved the first one and the addition of multiplayer sounds cool to me. The screenshots look a lot like the first one, which is fine since the first one was quite nice looking, but I guess there should have been some improvements.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Planet Gamecube:

 

Metroid Prime 2's blowout at E3 is only a few weeks away now, but Nintendo of America has released a tiny dose of information and the first online screenshots, including some new ones that haven't been seen in the early magazine exclusives.

 

Perhaps the biggest news is the new subtitle. The game is now known as Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, though the name could still be tentative. NOA's initial report notes that Samus will be traveling to a planet split into light and dark worlds, perhaps not unlike Hyrule in A Link to the Past. Samus is being pursued by a mysterious entity, perhaps the character who seems to have his own power suit, as well as a new alien race called the Ing.

 

NOA's information also briefly describes the multiplayer mode, saying that players will be able to search for weapons, use the grappling beam to swing across the ceiling, and go into Morph Ball mode for a quick escape. None of this is particularly new or surprising, except that it seems the Metroid staple of weapon upgrades will be incorporated into multiplayer.

 

The first brand new screenshot is taken from a cutscene. Samus is standing in a corridor, holding out her right (blaster) arm...which is charged with so much energy that it almost looks on fire. If something dramatic is happening to her blaster during a cutscene, it may have to do with an upgrade or some kind of malfunction. From the heroine's stance, it's not clear whether or not she's pleased at what is happening.

 

The other newly revealed screenshot is less ambiguous. It shows Samus in Morph Ball mode, rolling along a rail on the ground in an outdoor area. From the ball's limited perspective, the environment looks similar to Tallon IV's Chozo Ruins in the first Metroid Prime. The really interesting element in this screenshot is the lower-right corner of the HUD, which indicates that there are C-stick options in Morph Ball mode. This feature might allow you to select among different types of bombs, or to toggle Spider Ball mode without having to hold a button the entire time. It could be used for some upgrade that we've never seen. In any case, the designers have clearly made some kind of change to the Morph Ball, either in control interface or with brand new gameplay elements.

 

It sounds awesome.

[Guest Smues]

Other then Metroid: Fusion there hasn't been a Metroid game I didn't love, so I'll be sure to pick this up. You could unlock the original NES Metroid in Metroid Prime 1, I'd cream my pants if MP2 had Super metroid.

[AndrewTS 0]

Other then Metroid: Fusion there hasn't been a Metroid game I didn't love, so I'll be sure to pick this up. You could unlock the original NES Metroid in Metroid Prime 1, I'd cream my pants if MP2 had Super metroid.

You liked the tedious gameplay and 5,000 identical areas of Metroid II, but didn't like Fusion?! Granted, Fusion's end boss kinda sucked, but the only decent boss in II was the end boss.

 

I wouldn't count on Super Metroid. Maybe (yuck) Metroid II, because Super Metroid sounds more like a GBA re-release than a "bonus" game.

[Guest Smues]

I loved Metroid II other than the fact I got lost too often. I liked the evolved metroids, and the spiderball was a great powerup. Metroid Fusion just didn't do it at all for me.

[LaParkaMarka 0]

I loved Fusion. I was quite terrified of S-X, which usually doesn't happen with video-game villians.

 

I loved Prime to death, so I'm stoked for MP2. I just hope it has some kind of online connectivity. Having to only play on one tv with four people would be lame.

[AndrewTS 0]

I loved Metroid II other than the fact I got lost too often. I liked the evolved metroids, and the spiderball was a great powerup. Metroid Fusion just didn't do it at all for me.

Gee, now THERE's an involved answer.

 

The biggest complaint I heard about Fusion (and one I happen to agree with) is that having the stupid computer there to tell you what to do and when--it killed the non-linearity of the game dead. In a freakin' Metroid game, I do not want a damn computer to tell me what to do. Screw that.

 

At least it was far, far better than the movie it was based on (Alien: Resurrection).

 

I loved Fusion. I was quite terrified of S-X, which usually doesn't happen with video-game villians.

 

I agree. You know this uber-powerful enemy is roaming around the ship, trying to kill you...and if you run across it you have to avoid it at all costs until you're strong enough. It was a cool idea and pulled off very well, I think.

 

How's Zero: Mission by the way? I'm thinking of picking it up.

[Skywarp! 0]

How did the monster "hunt?" Was it programmed to appear in certain rooms at certain times, did it randomly appear, or if you hung around in a room too long would it come and get you?

 

That last way is how a super-leech zombie hunts you down in a hospital in "Resident Evil: Outbreak". Spend too much time hanging around somewhere and it'll find you by busting out of the ventillation system. That kept me agitated, especially in rooms where I had to solve a puzzle.

[AndrewTS 0]

How did the monster "hunt?" Was it programmed to appear in certain rooms at certain times...

I'm almost positive that's how it worked out, because I played through the game about 4 times and generally I saw it in the same places. For example, it may be in one area the first time you enter it, or in an area you've been in before after returning from completing a certain event/beating a certain boss.