For a long time it felt like we were never going to see the fourth Metroid Prime game. It was over eight years ago that we got a cheeky look at a logo, and after that there was a whole lot of silence from both Nintendo and Retro Studios. Rumblings of project restarts only caused more concerns, and as time went on it was hard to get invested in an exciting new game in this beloved series. Our patience was eventually rewarded though, and against all odds we somehow saw the release of both Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Hollow Knight: Silksong in the same year. Living up to the hype is never easy for a game that’s a long time in the making though, so Samus had a hell of a job to do.
As is traditional for a Metroid game, it doesn’t take long for our gal to get herself stuck on an unknown alien planet. This time around it’s Viewros, a place once populated with an intelligent psychic race that has long since vanished. You’re actually not alone on this deserted space rock though, with members of the Galactic Federation and the hateful rival hunter Sylux (that blue fella from the DS game) all also investigating the dangers of Viewros. I’ll admit I was slightly worried the isolation would be lost because of this, but you still get plenty of time to explore in peace.
If you haven’t played a Metroid Prime game before, let’s catch you up on the series. They’re the first person alternative to those classic 2d titles, and involve exploring atmospheric biomes, blasting enemies, and scanning your surroundings. In true Metroid fashion you’ll gain access to all sorts of different abilities, and will use them to access new places. Different elemental shots, the morph ball and jumping powers all return in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but with a slightly psychic twist.
There are always new abilities to experiment with in a Samus adventure, and this fourth first person outing is no exception. Most of these involve psychic abilities, and allow you to do things like control the flight of projectiles to shoot around corners. You’ll also spend a lot of time using telekinesis to move glowing bits of door around, which is admittedly a little less exciting. It’s all fairly standard stuff for the genre, although admittedly there’s a key change in the world design of Viewros.
Whereas most Metroid games and those they inspired focus on backtracking to find new abilities, Metroid Prime 4 has a whole lot less of this. The first jungle area only has a couple of optional upgrades you can’t grab the first time around, and this sets the tone of the game. It’s a wild departure from the norm, only made more noticeable by the fact you’re constantly funnelled to the next location by your allies who give you exact directions whether you want them or not.
Now you might assume that you’d use fast travel to get around a massive alien planet full of secrets, and you’d almost be correct. Your fast travel though is a bike, which admittedly is quicker than walking. You mainly use this in the desert that connects the different biomes, which is desolate by design and still rather beautiful in its own way. Throughout my playthrough my mind was changed multiple times about my bike Vi-O-La. Sometimes I thought it was fun to boost about on her, other times I was irritated about how many crystals I was expected to smash while crossing the desert. Especially towards the end of the game I definitely would’ve preferred to be able to teleport to save time regardless.
It might sound like I had a bit of a bad time with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, but despite its issues I actually had a blast. There’s not a single game with a better world that was released this year, with snowy wastelands and fiery depths oozing with atmosphere and danger. The actual combat is fantastic too, with the lock on system meaning you can focus more on dodging attacks than having precise aim. Learning more about the world itself is especially compelling too, with so many log entries to read about the flora and fauna of this mysterious planet.
Of all the dangerous and wonderful things I saw on my journey across Viewros, it was the boss fights that delighted me the most. Whether you’re fighting a ridiculously monstrous flaming serpent or your similarly sized bounty hunting rival, learning attack patterns and figuring out how to actually use your abilities to damage these foes is a joy. Admittedly this would probably be even better if there was any sense of danger throughout the game, but I guess a hard mode playthrough down the line will help with that.
I played through all of Metroid Prime 4 on the Switch 2, and I’m incredibly glad I did. The visuals on this new hardware are incredible, and push the Switch 2 more than anything else I’ve played. With 60fps available in fidelity mode there’s barely even a reason to drop down the quality, which is so often what I do when given the choice. With the Switch 2 you can also use mouse controls if you so desire, which take a bit of getting used to with the button changes but are really well implemented otherwise.
After over a dozen hours with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond I find myself torn. It’s undoubtedly a great game with so many positive aspects, but as a Metroid game it’s also rather lacking. Despite being likely the weakest in the Prime series though I still had a blast playing through the whole thing, even with less backtracking and more biking. Metroid Prime 4 has certainly proved to be a divisive branch of this long running series, but for its world alone it absolutely should be experienced.
