In keeping with my promise, today’s entry is about the game currently at the top of my Must Play list (more on that later), Metroid Prime for the Nintendo Gamecube. So far, this 3D rendition of the classic Metroid series is as good as the reviews suggest (currently number 7 in the top games of all time, according to GameRankings). However, one of the frustrating parts of any Metroid game is the exploration. I mean, it’s fun when you discover new things, but it’s annoying when you have four huge open worlds to explore, and you have no idea where to even start looking for the next hidden passageway.
Luckily, Prime has a few key features to help alleviate the confusion. First, it has huge 3D maps, where inaccessible doors or passageways are (usually) clearly indicated. So when I get the Ice Beam that opens white doors, all I have to do is look for rooms with white doors that I haven’t opened yet. So that at least gives me a place to start. And if that doesn’t work, there is a hint system that can be turned on and off at will. It’s direct, but subtle: You are given a “sensor reading” that shows you which room you need to get to, but you are not told exactly how to reach it. Instead, you have to figure out which room is closest on the map, and see if you can find a previously-undiscovered door or ramp or clue. It doesn’t hold your hand, but it lets you do the gruntwork of searching, without that nagging feeling of, “What if I’m not looking in the right place…?”
So after running into a few areas where I was blocked by water (you can swim in water, but you can’t jump very high in it), I finally figured out that I needed to find the Gravity Suit, which would let me move through water as if it were air. I sussed out some likely candidate locations, and after a few dead ends, I ended up back in the research labs of Phendrana Drifts. I turned on the hint system for a moment to verify that I was, in fact, in the right place. Then I went about searching for that secret room.
I ended up in a room filled with water and tentacles and electric fish, which is about as fun as you might expect. Furthermore, the walls were too steep, and I couldn’t find a way to swim out. So I started switching visors, and lo and behold, I spotted the Gravity Suit, safely ensconced in ice at the bottom of the lake. I grabbed the power-up, watched the animation of putting on my new suit (ooooh, gold with purple highlights! I will be quite the hit at the annual bounty-hunter ball!), and bounded off with my newfound powers. Oh, and the Gravity Suit also improves visibility in water, so it goes from being downright murky to just slightly hazy. Thanks Nintendo! I went off, found my save point, and now I am ready to play again tonight because I already know at least a few areas that I can now reach thanks to my new suit. In all, I would rather have too many options than too few. We’ll see if I’m still feeling so positive after tonight’s session.
