Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Review

6 Comments 11 Votes 4073 Views 12/10/2009 Back to Reviews Metroid Prime Trilogy

Metroid Prime Trilogy - 9 / 10

You'll be able to get the Metroid Prime Trilogy soon, so to encourage you to get what is an awesome title, we'll take a look at the second installment in the series, subtitled 'Echoes'.

In this game you will once again take control of bounty hunter and member of the Galactic Federation Samus Aran, however this time it is to restore peace to Aether, a planet which has been split into two dimensions - Dark Aether and Light Aether.

Samus is originally sent to Aether after contact with Galactic Federation Trooper Squad Bravo is lost. At the start of the game while you move around investigating some wounded and dead soldiers, you stumble across a blue version of yourself - Dark Samus - powering up with phazon, a substance which players got to know all too well in the original Metroid Prime game. She'll send some creatures at you, who will jump all over you and do you serious harm - also stealing all your equipment.

Through interaction with different objects around the environments, more about the story can be discovered. For example, in one stage you'll find a damaged ship and dead Galactic Federation soldiers everywhere. You view the scenes of their encounter with Dark enemies - that is, powerful creatures which have crossed over from the Dark world. Most of these creatures are part of the ING - inhabitants of Dark Aether and sworn enemies of the Luminoth.

The first main difference you'll encounter between this game and its predecessor is one of the fundamentals of the game; weaponry. While in the original Prime game and in the majority of other Metroid games the weapons were created by the Chozo, in this game, they were created by the Luminoth instead, resulting in an ammo system being implemented. This was also seen in Metroid Prime: Hunters on the DS.

Weapons in the last game were somewhat element-based, in this game it is completely based on the world you explore. There is a dark beam, effective especially against inhabitants of Light Aether; a light beam, effective against the ING and inhabitants of Dark Aether, and the annihilator beam, a mix between the two.

Along with the weaponry changes are the visor changes. While the combat visor and the scan visor remain and are very much the same as the first game, the thermal visor and the x-ray visor are replaced by the dark visor and the echo visor respectively. These become useful as you go further into the game, where you'll to find inter-dimensional creatures or track creatures based on their sonar movements.

Like the first game, the one big world is split up into several different areas, for example, Torvus Bog and Agon Wastes. Add to this the division of each area into a dark world and a light world, and you have just as much exploration as the original game if not much more. Exploration in this game is very much necessary if you want to give yourself an advantage when it comes to major boss fights such as the Alpha Blogg or Dark Samus.

Echoes was also the first Metroid game to feature split-screen multiplayer, in which up to four people could participate. This really added a lot of replay value to the game as you could battle your friends on 5 different stages which represent different areas of the game. In the Trilogy, this will also have motion controls, which will make it one of the best single-client multiplayer games to appear on the Wii.

There's a lot to do in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. There are big boss battles, well hidden power-ups and a good storyline to follow, as seen in most Metroid games. There's a lot of exploring to do, and a lot of shooting for you as your quest to get your equipment back from those greedy ING and overrun Dark Samus to restore peace to Aether goes on. You'll need to be smart with the introduction of ammo, which simply adds to the strategy part of this game.

Echoes is a fulfilling experience but will definitely have more to it when the Trilogy comes around next month: Motion Controls will make not just the single-player adventure, but also multiplayer battles, much more fun and challenging. A combination of both improvements in the Trilogy and original implementations make the game very good. But exactly how good...?

Gameplay - 9.6/10
Very similar to the original Metroid Prime game, which is not a bad thing at all. A few extra features added to the game enhance play slightly.

Graphics - 9.0/10
The graphics were on par with visuals seen in other games at the time of Echoes' release. Very nice environments seen in both normal play and in cut-scenes add a lot to the game.

Audio - 8/10
A good range of music tracks which add to the atmosphere of the game (literally!! ha-ha-ha) mixed in with those sound effects which make this sci-fi shooter seem all the more futuristic.

Value - 10/10
You'll get this game bundled with the original Prime game as well as the sequel, with updated visuals and motion controls, for the standard price of just one Wii game. Add to that the exploration, action and adventure found in each individual story and you have a perfect buy.

Overall - 9.3/10
This game very much stands shoulder to shoulder with its predecessor, delivering an immersive and action-packed adventure. Visuals and audio add a lot to the feel of the game. A very large world to explore in combination with the huge range of creatures you encounter would make this game very much worth it on its own - throw in another two updated games and give it the price of a standard Wii game and you have a must-buy.

Review by: KK1387 29344Kudos 12/10/2009