Metroid Prime Hunters (Nintendo DS) Second Opinion Review

It was amusing when MP: H was delayed. News headlines such as "Hunters not hunting until May" sent many fans into shock, not truly believing that they'd have to stick with the First Hunt demo for their Metroid fix for longer than anticipated. However then everyone actually read the news stories and suddenly the shock was transformed into glee. Full online multiplayer was being added... huzzah! And it seems like Nintendo are taking onboard the criticisms from it's other WFC games. Brand new additions to the service like an option to add "rivals" you play through the matchmaking service, and choosing which friends you want to play against greatly enhance the service.

Once you're through the improved match choosing service and actually into gaming you'd best cancel any plans you have for a few months. You see, it's best to look at Metroid Prime: Hunters like a multiplayer shooter with a single player mode added as an extra. Multiplayer mode is undoubtedly the major selling point of the game and it really shows. The care taken in each aspect of it is simply astonishing and it really is a testament to the skill of the developers that they've ventured into this new world of portable FPS and succeeded where others have failed.

The main reason why multiplayer works is the fact that the characters and weapons are both supremely balanced and compliments each other magnificently. You see, each special weapon gains a certain attribute when used by a specific character. So magmaul sets opponents on fire when used by Spire, when Samus charges up her missiles they gain heat-seeking capabilities. Whilst this concept sounds hideously like the game is tailored for novices in the genre, it actually works amazingly well. The specialities fall into the category of 'easy to grasp, difficult to master' and whilst it helps novices settle in elite players can turn it into a decidedly devious advantage. This kind of balance can be found everywhere, for instance the alt form of Kanden can give easy kills for novices but an experienced player will take advantage of the easy head kills capable when facing him.

The stages continue to reflect this great mix with stages for all type of players being there. You encounter the same problems as always online when you play, as you do with any other game people choosing the same three stages constantly and after a few nights of playing combat hall will be dead to you. But all it takes is you to play several different players and all of a sudden the stage takes different forms. There are different flash points, different places that you will fight for... just like in the big PC FPS games. That's one of the great joys of Metroid Prime: Hunters, it replicates the fun and particulars of its bigger brothers on the PC almost exactly. All the game modes, weapons and frantic battles you'll get on your monitor are on your dual screened wonder... it's just a pity that the single player mode couldn't live up to it.

Remember when Metroid Prime arrived on the GameCube? Remember how awe inspiring it was when you climbed atop a ledge in Phendrana Drifts and gazed out across the epic landscape, it slowing dawning on you that all this has to be explored. All those tunnels, passages and enclaves just bursting with gameplay...it was daunting but in a very good way. Well, Metroid Prime: Hunters simply does not replicate this amazing feeling... and the gameplay experience it places on us is simply not befitting the fantastic reputation the series has built up. The single player game is split into different planets, each with it's own environment. These environments are quite small and claustrophobic, but not in a scary kind of way. It feels like the game is holding you back from exploring fully, from seeing what is over that wall... and that is terrible in a game that is all about exploration.

In each environment you have to search for artefacts that lead to the boss fights, these boss fights are pathetic with it being slight variations on the same 3 bosses. And those are hardly inspiring anyway, extremely simple and extremely...dull to be honest. Why not put in some...you know...different bosses? Would it have been so difficult to have even 1 or 2 different bosses that lived up to the Metroid series and hell even just the FPS genres reputation as being a grand action spectacle? To top it all off in the actual stages you only fight the same 2-3 enemies and it gets very repetitive very quickly. Such a disappointment, such a great disappointment.

Graphically the whole game is extremely impressive. Don't judge it through screens viewed at an absurd resolution on your PC. Actually get a DS in your hands and start playing, it's the only way to view this game. Textures look great, excellent details in characters and all with minimum slowdown. The music is less impressive however and a rarely shows the outright genius we've seen in the series since the NES days. There are moments where you'll honestly love the music playing (the music for when you are capturing a node is fantastic) however this is always short lived and never that befitting of the Metroid name.

It's odd, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was an amazing single player game but multiplayer was lacking. Now we have Metroid Prime: Hunters which is the polar opposite, and it makes you wonder who in quality control let the single player out. We have a sublime multiplayer package that really does show how online gaming on the DS should be done and it's sullied by a dull single player mode that should never have made it off the drawing board. We're lucky that the multiplayer is so strong though that it warrants a purchase completely on it's own merits and any fan of FPS games should seriously consider investing in this. Just don't expect Metroid Prime in your pocket for when you are away from a hotspot, if you do you'll be sorely disappointed.