Metroid, as a franchise, has occupied a slightly odd space. Nintendo always seemed to be willing to experiment with its formula, but never satisfied with its sales. Therefore, when Retro Studios and Nintendo launched Metroid Prime on GameCube back in 2002 and it became a cult classic, taking that familiar Metroid feeling and plopping the player into Samus’ helmet, they then spun it out into a thrilling trilogy that lasted into the next console generation with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for Wii in 2007.
Fans of Prime then had little to do but twiddle their thumbs and get a Metroid fix with a couple of great but flawed side-scrolling titles before finally, eight years after it was announced and 18 years after Prime 3, getting their hands on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Players join Samus years after Prime 3 as she is called in to back up a Federation research base that is under attack from Space Pirates being led by Sylux, an adversary she picked up in the previous games. Sporting a new breed of Metroids capable of mind control, he seems to be trying to get to an artefact being studied by the Federation. He and Samus face off, causing a huge eruption of some form of energy, blasting Samus and a whole bunch of stuff to a weird spectral tower on another planet.
This ethereal planet is called Viewros, and it is full of ruins, temples, machinery and more that used to be part of a civilisation called the Lamorn. Samus finds recordings from this lost civilisation plotting her a new mission: find the five keys scattered across the planet’s different regions. It’s very similar in some ways to the first Metroid Prime core mission, which is a good structure to follow, and after the bombastic opening, the game slows to a normal pace for exploration and some truly ethereal moments.
People may have seen a lot of hate online for a new side character, Myles MacKenzie, a nerdy technician marine who is also trapped on Viewros. He does a decent job of comic relief, though the humour is modern in a bad way at times. Luckily, he is only directly following along during the first mission, after which he becomes the guiding voice over Samus’ comms. Unfortunately, he suffers from AAA game design methodology; he cannot resist constantly parroting hints at where to go next. It would be amazing if, in an update, they made these tips mutable.
Samus does cross paths with other marines, and when they are communicating with her, it changes the atmosphere a little. It’s never awful, but it is a shame that they seem to be cliche personalities that would feel at home in a PG movie. Given the characters, and with Sylux as the big bad, the Federation soldiers make sense in the story, and for the most part, they are pretty fun to have around.
There was a chance this stuff would reduce the isolation too much, but it feels instead like a natural flow from Prime 3‘s already dialogue-heavy-ish design; for the majority of the adventure, Samus is by herself with very little in the way of talking. In fact, she reacts silently to pretty much everything in the game, which is both excellent for her character but also deeply funny at times. It only really tarnishes it during the exploration when the game can’t resist telling players where to go first. It’s very annoying in that regard.
Overall, the story hits all the right kinds of beats for a Metroid Prime game and might even be one of the best in the series. Samus is interesting and well fleshed out, especially with her new powers. There is a load of intrigue, scannable background lore and general environmental storytelling, which, as ever with Retro Studios, is absolutely fantastically tied together into a cohesive whole. The endgame especially has some incredible moments.
When it comes to the gameplay design, everything is, for the most part, as it was in previous Prime games. Clearly building upon the tech for Metroid Prime Remastered, the game runs like a dream with a silky smooth 60fps, making the controls feel nice and responsive, and this is extra impressive given the visuals. There are some core adjustments made to the gameplay that add a layer of extra investment. For example, aiming the arm cannon using the lock-on feature then unlocks the ability to aim around the screen space, which makes things like tracing or predicting enemy movement possible, giving a much more fine-tuned experience than was seen in previous iterations (except maybe Prime 3).
Scanning is as big a factor as ever, but now the scan visor has been mixed with Samus’ new psychic powers. This offers versatility in the scanning screen, allowing players to manipulate environmental things like switching from a distance, while also allowing for the usual “scan everything” gameplay Prime is loved and/or hated for. This is kind of the matra of the gameplay design; even the Morph Ball has more challenges to overcome. Usually, Morph Ball hazards are reserved for 2D traversal, but Prime 4 is out here making loads of tricky spots to navigate in ball form.
The biggest and probably most divisive addition is Vi-O-La. This alien motorbike is really damn cool. Samus looks ultra slick riding it and has a cool suit to boot. The actual integration into the game starts well, but when it suddenly launches players into some forced tutorial-style levels, it gets a little less fun. These levels go on just a little too long. It’s great fun using the bike between the towers of the Volt Forge, but the desert between each level is a bit bland. It’s fun to explore once, but the repeat journeys don’t really show any added value to this open space.
Samus also goes through getting upgrades and tools at every turn. New beam types based on elements, psychic powers and more are dotted all over, gradually improving Samus’s arsenal. In fact, she is possibly the most powerful she has ever been in this game, so it’s a shame the developers have a forced defeat in battle to try and emphasise the importance of the Federation Force. The mind-controlled triple shot is particularly cool, bringing to mind the Nikita launcher from Metal Gear Solid.
Actual level design is excellent. Each level has that Prime charm of having the environment change while the player does things, changing where lava is active, turning on power to machinery, etc. It’s very cool. This all helps invest the player in the activities and makes them feel like part of the world. Not to mention each area is progressed in bits with the usual Metroid expectation that players return later with new power-ups to overcome new obstacles in old areas. This actually helps it avoid the Zelda-like feeling being talked about online.
Visually, things are stunning. Obviously, people on Nintendo Switch 2 have higher resolution and other control options, but Prime 4 is probably the sharpest, coolest, and maybe even best looking game on the original Switch. Building on top of what was achieved in Prime Remastered, Prime 4 has some of the most evocative lighting and sense of scale on the console. This is very evident through the OLED switch, which makes Samus’s green and purple lighting pop out of the screen.
The scenery on show is reminiscent of other Prime games, but with a much larger scale, making use of the extra brunt they’ve gained since they made Prime 3. It even has some continuity within levels, where a platform that overlooks an area can be seen from said area later in the level. It is great to experience and adds cohesiveness to the visual design.
Enemy designs have been revamped, yet they hit the traditional Metroid Prime enemy types from little crawly bugs to massive gangly bosses; it has the whole range covered. Some of these bosses are incredible to fight, but there is something about slugging it out with Sylux mano-a-mano that is thrilling. This might be the first time in the series where bosses have attacks that require Samus to Morph Ball to avoid them. Luckily, they clearly telegraph their attacks even if they move quickly, so it’s a fair challenge.
It would be remiss not to mention Samus’ new suits, too. The Vi-O-La suit is really cool, slick and stylised, making Samus look aerodynamic. Its intended in-game purpose is related to the bike, so that is a really cool bit of design flair.
Musically, the game is a triumph; the weird alien sounds offset against chanting or choirs really hit just right. Written by returning composer Yamamoto Kenji, it follows the theming of other Prime games so easily and might even outshine Prime 1 in a few places. He somehow manages to make the music fill the space and still create an uncanny, dreamlike or epic atmosphere. One of this reviewer’s favourites is the drums that kick in when Samus first mounts the bike. It’s so unbelievably epic (especially with a good sound system).
Sound effects are also great. The burbling psychic visor is a little odd at times, but the guns, atmospherics and alien roars are fantastic. The audio designers did an amazing job filling the space with sounds, making it feel alive. There are two sticklers, though. First is the voice acting, it is technically really good but suffers from a bit of a weird tone at times, and the second is the open desert, which has atmospheric sounds and music, but it’s a bit too pared back, making it feel a tad empty atmospherically.
With a whole host of unlockables, including the hard difficulty, players will probably find themselves returning for more. There is also the gallery that unlocks as the game is played through, so long as players are scanning things as they go. It’s a nice thing to have, and with amiibo, there are even more extras for those who want to shell out for them.
