Metroid Prime Remaster - Game Review - video Dailymotion

GamesRadar

Samus is back in the first person but is this second time through Talon IV gonna be a first in score?

Transcript

00:00 While some of the elements of its design feel antiquated, stunning changes made to the Metroid

00:07 Prime's visual design, performance and controls are enough to breathe new life into one of

00:12 the greatest video games of all time.

00:14 Whether this is your first journey to Talon 4 or return trip, Metroid Prime Remastered

00:18 is well worth your time and attention.

00:20 Peering through the lens of the combat visor, it's easy to believe that it's a window,

00:24 your way of assessing the acrid ecology of Talon 4.

00:27 But it's really a mirror, reflecting the anguished determination of Samus Aran as bright

00:32 beams of light illuminate dark and dusty corridors.

00:35 Two decades later, Metroid Prime's smartest visual flourish has lost none of its impact.

00:40 Is that down to the quality of this remaster which occupies uncommon ground between faithful

00:44 emulation and confident reconfiguration?

00:47 Or because the foundations first outlined by Retro Studios have largely circumvented

00:51 the slow decay of time?

00:53 It's difficult to say.

00:54 Although we can tell you that Metroid Prime Remastered is a triumph.

00:58 Remastered is like seeing Metroid Prime for the very first time.

01:00 A quiet contemplative adventure where the balance of power shifts gradually.

01:04 Not as you repair the damaged Vari suit, slowly expanding the capabilities with hidden troves

01:09 of technology, but as you gain a better understanding of the alien flora and altered fauna that

01:14 surrounds you, that hurts you, that hunts you.

01:17 Metroid Prime is underpinned by vibrant imagination and powered by a vivid attention to detail.

01:22 That was true of the original, though the atmosphere is undoubtedly accentuated after

01:26 a careful remastering process.

01:28 The hiss of a power suit straining against the weight of movement.

01:31 The audible crosstalk as visor modes layer atop of one another.

01:34 The sharp exhale of air, Samus' energy shield is peppered with plasma.

01:38 All of it combines to create such a severe sense of place that the arm cannon quickly

01:42 feels like a direct extension of your fingertips.

01:45 More so than ever before now, with the introduction of a somewhat finicky dual analog stick control

01:50 option alongside classic and pointer schemes.

01:53 Almost all of Metroid Prime's stories conveyed environmentally and through the accumulated

01:57 written logs.

01:58 At the time, this was a somewhat unconventional narrative structure.

02:02 In the context of modern first-person adventure games, it still feels revolutionary.

02:06 There's a freedom to Metroid Prime's core design that is as daunting as it is exhilarating.

02:11 Getting lost isn't a mistake, it's the point.

02:13 An opportunity to conquer undulating terrains that always find a way to fold back on themselves.

02:19 Getting your scan visor won't remind you of forgotten mission objectives, but it will

02:22 let you learn more about every incidental object around you.

02:27 The three-dimensional map is as difficult to read today as it was way back when, which

02:31 we still believe was designed as such to sabotage concerned efforts to get back on track.

02:35 There were a lot of rapid comparisons drawn between Halo Combat Evolved and Metroid Prime

02:39 in 2002, and Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary featured a high-definition visual overhaul

02:45 that while technically impressive, stripped much of the charm and personality out of Installation

02:50 04.

02:51 The landscape was recognisable, but alien.

02:53 Giant jagged shapes terraformed into smooth cylindrical structures.

02:57 Conversely, Metroid Prime has only been accentuated in its remastering, with its labyrinthine

03:02 corridors and concourses gaining a scale of depth and level of detail that the GameCube

03:07 wasn't able to deliver.

03:08 Not without our imaginations filling in the blank spaces.

03:11 There's a real authenticity to the presentation, new textures and geometry, all of which help

03:16 propel Metroid Prime Remastered through some of its rougher areas.

03:20 The headache of navigating dark facilities with the thermal visor, the slow arc of combat

03:25 against multiple antagonists, the sheer simplicity of the morph ball puzzle.

03:29 While Metroid Prime isn't a difficult game by any stretch of the imagination, the safe

03:33 state limitation is perhaps the biggest signal of antiquation of the GameCube era.

03:38 Even the scanning which needs to be completed in every quadrant of the sprawling spaces

03:42 and the secrets which may be lurking within, leading to replay lengthy sections because

03:46 of a poorly timed strafe, can feel somewhat arduous.

03:49 There are rough ledges, but Metroid Prime Remastered is worth the occasional splinter.

03:53 Metroid Prime is to first-person shooters what Super Metroid was to side-scrolling platformers.

03:58 It's singular and special, inspiring generations of players to dream of more immersive worlds

04:02 and pushing countless video game designers to try and deliver them.

04:06 The fact that Metroid Prime is able to carry as much resonance today as it did 20 years

04:10 ago doesn't just speak to the quality of the remaster that Retro Studios and a legion

04:14 of partnering development teams have delivered, but the strength of the underlying foundational

04:18 design.

04:19 Metroid Prime Remastered is not only a dazzling reminder of why the original is one of the

04:23 very best GameCube games, but a pointed argument that it should stand as one of the all-time

04:27 greats.

04:28 Hail the Chozo!

04:42 -Metroid Prime Remastered-

04:43 (whooshing)

Metroid Prime Remaster - Game Review

Category

Transcript

Recommended