Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
I just finished my first play-through of this great game and I decided to share my thoughts. Do not read this if you have not completed the game, this is a review for those who have completed the game (you don't see that often, do you? I guess that's because most reviews are either telling you to buy a game or to stay away from it). Anyway, i'll just list the good points and bad points that are fresh in my mind.
+ One of the most immersive games i've ever played, a lot of the time it actually feels like i'm in that suit walking around in another world.
+ Some incredible environments add to immersion, one such moment that I will not forget for a long time, is when I was in Torvus Bog, where it rains, and it was actually raining outside my window in real life, that was a surreal experience, I was imagining that I was there.
+ Some great music, Torvus Bog wins another award for having awesome music, the underwater part also has great music.
+ Great intro. I was immersed at the very beginning, Retro set out the presentation of the game nicely.
+ Scanning things to unravel the story is very interesting, and if you aren't in the mood, then you don't have to scan things. The "optional" story's are a great idea. I had fun learning about what happened to all those dead bodies.
+ Some absolutely incredible boss battles. Huge bosses make Samus look tiny and give you great satisfaction when you kick their ass, and there are some very clever smaller bosses, such as the Spider Guardian.
+ Samus has a great character model, the suit that you start the game in looks very nice, the light suit is also very nice, not to mention the awesome part at the end where you see the real Samus behind the suit, i'd hit it.
+ Excellent map system, the map was my best friend.
+ Lots of great effects like the blue smog left over from toxic flying things in the dark world, water effects, lightning striking the ground, the fire, cobwebs, and much more, I thought they were impressive.
+ Some nice gameplay additions such as the Screw Attack, and the genius that is boost balling while on rails.
+ Tons of secrets everywhere.
- Often flawed progression left me scratching my head with no sense of direction. Too many times i'd just be walking around with no clue what to do next, this game was almost RPG'ish in it's vague hints and terrible explanations and directions.
- Some enemies are very annoying, for example those space pirates that turn invisible (before you get the Dark Visor) and the Quad MB combat drones, walking through rooms with enemies like that in them felt like a chore sometimes. Some of the bosses were also very annoying, and i'm not too fond of the "hop around and mash A until it's dead" strategy.
- Lag when opening some doors, I got attacked many times because I was just standing there waiting for the door that I shot 3 seconds ago to open.
- The Dark Suit, which you see for a large percentage of the game, is a dull colour, and is dull looking, and drags down the feeling of the game.
- You can't shoot those flying moths in the sky, which is a huge step backwards from Metroid Prime, where you could shoot anything in the sky that moved.
- Most of the music that isn't Torvus Bog and a few other tracks, is forgettable and boring.
- Overall the environments aren't varied enough
- The dark world starts to get uninteresting after a while, and eventually I found travelling through the two worlds tedious
- When in morph ball mode, there's a problem that VERY RARELY occurs when the angle changes while holding down R on a rail and Samus goes spastic, and you end up having to press left to go right, which is confusing.
Overall the good things far outweight the bad things, and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is an amazing game, but the flaws I mentioned prevent it from being a classic in my eyes.
9 / 10
Now, this is where I compare it to Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime has much better music and environments, nothing in Echoes is as good as Phendrana Drifts. The varied environments in Prime far eclipse those in Echoes.
I never really found myself lost in Metroid Prime, I always knew where to go, the progression was excellent. The bosses were better too, some of the bosses in Echoes were just tedious, the bosses in Metroid Prime were hard, but not tedious, they take skill rather than persistance and frantic hopping around.
Overall I find Metroid Prime to be a better game, despite all the extra bells and whistles that are obviously present in Echoes. Metroid Prime is a classic that will be tough to top, and I give it 10 / 10.
There, those are my thoughts! Criticism is welcome and wanted.
Topic: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Read 3108 times)
