Topic: Nintendo Ships Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

[Jonnyboy117]

Metroid goes all Zelda:LttP up in here.

New Adventure Lets ``Metroid'' Fans                  Step into the Light -- and the Dark

In ``Metroid Prime 2 Echoes,'' the Bounty Hunter Becomes the Hunted

REDMOND, Wash.--Nov. 15, 2004--You might be comfortable in the armor. You might wield the arm cannon with devastating precision. And you might even be a master at maneuvering the Morph Ball. Yet nothing you've encountered has prepared you for the edge-of-your-seat adventure of "Metroid(R) Prime 2 Echoes," launching today exclusively for Nintendo GameCube(TM).

"Not only is this the most graphically beautiful and intellectually challenging 'Metroid' adventure ever," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, "but the game also, for the first time, lets up to four players compete to determine the best bounty hunter of all."

"Metroid Prime 2 Echoes," developed by Retro Studios, continues one of the most fabled franchises in interactive entertainment and is a sought-after title for the holidays. The first-person shooter chronicles the adventures of Samus Aran, the baddest bounty hunter in the galaxy, as she blasts her way through a planet that's been split into light and dark halves.

The deep, single-player storyline begins as Samus finds herself trapped on a mysterious planet, populated by creatures of both light and darkness. She must bolster her suit's power to battle enemies and solve puzzles, all while a hostile entity stalks her. Players explore the environment using new scanning equipment and new weapons that yield different results, depending on the type of enemy. Players use the new Light Beam and Dark Beam, as well as staples of the "Metroid" arsenal like the Morph Ball, Grapple Beam and Missile Launcher.

In the game's multiplayer mode, up to four players don metal suits to try to blast their opponents into oblivion. Jump and shoot to find special power-ups or roll away from a punishing attack.

The original "Metroid(R) Prime" was named the 2003 first-person action console action game of the year by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and "Game of the Year" by the International Game Developers Association, GameSpot.com, GameSpy.com, IGN Cube.com and Planet GameCube.com.

[Ian Sane]

I put this game on my birthday/Christmas list (my birthday's in December) so now I can't just go out and buy the game in case someone is getting it for me.  ARRRGH!  Sure I'll save money but the wait is going to suck.  

[Hostile Creation]

Same thing here, Ian.  It's torture!
Can't wait to see the review, though.

[VideoGamerJ]

Nintendo likes teh PGC!

[PaLaDiN]

I'll be sure to tell you guys how awesome MP2 is.

[Polemistis]

My B-Day was Nov 10th, and I'm getting MP2:E as my present, lol. Just a few days wait, unlike Ian, lol.

[Hostile Creation]

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I'll be sure to tell you guys how awesome MP2 is.

Thank you, PaLaDiN.  That means a lot.

[Flames_of_chaos]

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Originally posted by: Ian Sane
I put this game on my birthday/Christmas list (my birthday's in December) so now I can't just go out and buy the game in case someone is getting it for me.  ARRRGH!  Sure I'll save money but the wait is going to suck.

Well Ian I did the same thing with the DS and some DS games since my birthday is Dec. 21st.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

The official site is open.  It actually makes sense this time, unlike the last Prime site.

metroid.com

[Eminem]

You didn't know? The Metroid site has been up for a long time now. Get with the times.

MP2 got a 9.5 on IGN. I'm getting my copy tomorrow.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It's been a week since I checked the Metroid Prime 2 SECTION.

The IGN review is sooo last week.  Get with the times.

[PaLaDiN]

I've already seen the MP2 site.

Got 108% scan if I remember right. Some pretty neat stuff in there... although I didn't read any of the text from the scans.

[Djunknown]

I'll be picking this up sometime tomorrow in the afternoon. I'll post some initial impressions when I get the time. Shame I won't get a chance to sample to multi-player though, all my buds are out of town, college life and all.

[Djunknown]

True to my word, here you go:

The first chunk seems to be a refresher course for those who haven't picked up MP1 since 2002 or for those who are new to the series. There's lots of scanning of machinery and dead bodies.  The  scan visor has been touched up a bit, as the things of interest are highlighted. But don't let the initial pacing fool you: sometimes the dead don't stay dead...

Overall, the feel is the same as MP1, the visuals have touched up a bit; the subtleties do add up. Most sound effects remain intact, and the soundtrack is as trippy as always, though at the beggining its more ambient.

As you progress foward Dark Samus and Co show up. From there, most of the gear you have is stolen though you still keep your varia suit, morph ball and charge beam. more cutscenes unveil. There's not to much to shoot at first (At least nothing that will fight back) as Samus comes in after the fact. Speaking of which, there seems to be more of them, so be advised.

New to MP2 is how things are scanned and stored. When you scan a lore or a creature, you'll get a brief summary, and then get the option to go into a tricked-out menu to get more details. In what seems to be a page out of Pokemon, creatures are seperated by classes. So far the ones are I encounterered are simple, like ground, pedator, and flying.

That's all I have for one hour of playing. Pretty much, it seems to stick to its proverbial guns (Beams?) on the major things, though I can't wait to try out the new gadgets.

Worth the wait? I'd like to say so.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Initial impressions:

THE BOX IS SHINY.  OMG THE COLORS!

The cover does not say "Best Seller" on it.  Mario Tennis > Metroid, sez Nintenbo.

[Hostile Creation]

Yeah, I saw how they organized the creatures in the new game, and I'm glad about that (looking through that massive list in the last game was a pain).  I was concerned about the descriptions, but hearing they're more in-depth if you check back is not only an improvement (quicker game time), but is extremely reassuring.  I really liked that about the original.
So yay.  Christmas is too far away, let me briefly damn you all yet again.  Lucky bastards.
Good review, on the site, since there's nowhere else to mention it.

I'm glad to hear the box is shiny.  I was concerned about that, too.