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Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS) PAX East Impressions

by Zachary Miller and Neal Ronaghan - April 29, 2016, 10:04 am EDT
Total comments: 5

Zach and Neal played it together. What'd they think?

Zach Miller (ZM): Neal Ronaghan and I played the Metroid Prime: Federation Force demo at PAX East. It was his second time with the title, and my first. No, Blast Ball was nowhere in sight. We played the game with a Nintendo rep and another games journalist. I wasn't exactly floored, but before we go into the meat of the demo, you should explain your previous experience with Federation Force and what you expected going into this one.

Neal Ronaghan (NR): I really liked how Blast Ball controlled when I played it at E3 2015. It took a little getting used (and was greatly enhanced by playing it against a seemingly pro-level Nintendo employee), but once it clicked, it felt like a slightly modified version of Metroid Prime. So back at E3, I was greatly heartened by Federation Force's potential.

That heartening took a bit of a step back with the PAX East demo. Since we only played through the demo once (thanks long lines!), I never got to reacquaint myself fully with the controls. It also didn't help that the C-stick on the demo unit wasn't quite working. The one thing I'll give to the controls is that I'm a moderate believer in the "hold down a button and use the gyroscope to finely tune your aim" option.

What was your first time like, Zach?

ZM: Underwhelming.

First of all, it looks like a DS game. Remember how we played Monster Hunter Generations the next day? That game had textures out the ass, almost to the point of being confusing. In Federation Force, we played a stage I forget the name of but could've been called "sterile space base." The stage consisted entirely of featureless, square rooms. We learned that one player needed to find a "Missile Key" to open locked doors. The control scheme is roughly similar to Metroid Prime Hunters. The C-stick works, but you cannot look around and fire simultaneously (you only have one thumb on your right hand). Numbers appear when you shoot something, like an RPG. You lock-on with the L button. Instead of a double-jump, your chibi space marines have a hover jump.

I did appreciate that every player has to be in the elevator, pressing and holding the A button, in order to activate the elevator.

And then we fought a boss that was literally a brown column in the middle of a brown room. I fought that boss in Renegade Kid's "Moon," and it was more challenging. This evil column just filled the room with poison gas--it maybe liquid?--and shoot missiles at us from the perimeter. And then it was over.

NR: To be fair, we all died before we finished the stage. I've read about that level in particular and I think Space Pirates show up at the end, so maybe the boss is a little cooler than you're giving it credit.

But yea, you kind of hit the nail on the head. Federation Force is a muddy-looking game with a lot of hallways that look similar. Visually resplendent it ain't. Maybe it looks like that to run buttery smooth online? Maybe with voice chat? Who knows.

I do like the idea of modding your character and coming up with the optimal loadout for the mission. But I still don't know if it's better for each player to play a role (e.g. healer, tank, etc.) or to all be jacks-of-all-trades. I stand by that I think the whole loadout and mod system will be a lot better when you have more ownership over your character, but from the demo, it just seems needlessly confusing.

What was your take on all that?

ZM: Oh yeah, we died. Shit, we all died in Monster Hunter too.

The loadout stuff was cool, but the rep wasn't crystal clear on whether or not you're supposed to actively take a role or everyone should divvy things equally. But it leads me to wonder about how the game will function online--will you be able to tell your teammates (with words, not emoticons) that "Neal should be the tank, Zach will be the healer, Alex will be the DPS" or whatever. Like Triforce Heroes, this works great in the same room, not so much online...if there's no voice chat.

And man, if there's no voice chat? It's a non-starter. It was bad enough in Triforce Heroes, but in a game that encourages different team members to actively take different roles? You have to be able to communicate that.

I was encouraged when the rep said there will be single-player missions as well. He didn't say a single-player campaign, just missions, so I don't really know what that means. Might we get something as bulky as Splatoon? Probably not, but a girl can dream.

What's this game got to do to sell you?

NR: Exist. Even with a tempered reaction to the PAX East demo, I still believe in Next Level Games enough to give the final game a try. And, I know this isn't a popular opinion to have, I'm curious to see how the lore and story play out.

I'm not so sure about those single-player missions. I think you just can play through the missions by yourself. But who knows. We still have four months until Federation Force is out. Maybe it got delayed to add in more single-player?

How about you - what's your interest level coming out of this demo?

ZM: Despite my ambivalence to the demo, I'm honestly interested to see if they pull a last-second Hail Mary and make the game work. I love Metroid, and I generally love the Metroid universe, and I'm interested to see it expand beyond Samus' adventures. The chibi character designs make my blood boil and the game ain't pretty, but the idea of a four-person co-op online game with voice chat is something I could really get behind. Maybe its very bare-bones aesthetic is a sacrifice for better online performance? Who knows.

Either way, I'm in wait-and-see mode. I just hope it's not this year's Triforce Heroes.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is due out in North America on August 19, Japan on August 25, and Europe on September 2. Still no word on a “real” Metroid game.

Talkback

Mop it upApril 29, 2016

I hope that it is this year's TriForce Heroes. Amazing game, that.

SorenApril 29, 2016

You can almost feel Neal's future crushing disappointment start to sink in...

Quote from: Soren

You can almost feel Neal's future crushing disappointment start to sink in...

*sigh* I don't think it demoed well... :/

If your game hues toward MonHun, it will not demo well. Ever.

PhilPhillip Stortzum, April 30, 2016

I've been giving this game a fair chance since Next Level Games is behind it, but every piece of footage and preview I've seen just don't make this game seem exciting at all. It's really disappointing, and it annoys me because then the "wah cancel this game" Metroid manchildren will feel like they were right in their embarrassing behavior last E3.

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Metroid Prime: Federation Force Box Art

Genre Shooter
Developer Next Level Games
Players1 - 6

Worldwide Releases

na: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Release Aug 19, 2016
PublisherNintendo
RatingTeen
jpn: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Release Aug 25, 2016
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Release Sep 02, 2016
PublisherNintendo
Rating12+
aus: Metroid Prime: Federation Force
Release Sep 03, 2016
PublisherNintendo
RatingParental Guidance
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