Deep-space exploration as Samus hits DS

It's been a long wait for Metroid Prime on DS. When Nintendo first announced its new dual screen console, Hunters was at the forefront of the publicity wave; Samus Aran's GameCube-style first-person viewpoint being pushed heavily as the game to sell the system's potential. And then we had the hardware release, with its free bundled demo of the game's work-in-progress playable build. First Hunt gave a decent indication of what to expect from the series on the new handheld and let early DS adopters get their hands around a stylus-controlled FPS interface for the first-time, but was still just a small sample of Nintendo's over-arching ambition.

Well, now it's finally here. The final product. The finished article. And it's good. Very good - although not without its fair share of compromises from its bigger GameCube brothers.

Intuitive control

First, that control system. Ostensibly, there's two ways of moving Samus. Of these, Stylus Mode is going to be the widely preferred option, allowing for speediest head movement and thus more precise aiming, while Dual Mode puts the ability to look up, down and turn left and right on the facia buttons. In both modes the D-Pad is used for movement - forward and back, plus stepping side to side - and the triggers employed to fire.

Dual Mode is the more comfortable of the two variants, but will only really appeal to those who can't get their head around using the touch screen. And for those that like the stylus but find supporting the DS with just one hand to be problematic (or just downright painful), there's always the thumbstrap option, which is perhaps the fine medium between the two control schemes.

The effect of the DS controls is that this new Metroid feels a lot more like a first-person shooter than either of its more adventuring GameCube relations. There's no lock-on, and typical FPS principles like circle-strafing and duck-and-cover gameplay are all enabled once the intricacies of the controls have been mastered - although that's not to say Stylus Mode users won't still have the odd problem. The fact that inventory management is also housed in small panels on the touch screen make it an unavoidable fact that even the most skilled Hunters player will occasionally switch weapons when they don't mean to. This can be not a little annoying in the middle of a firefight, but given the way a first-person Metroid control scheme has been made to work on the much smaller machine, it's an acceptable evil.

In truth, the same could be said about the game's visuals. Nintendo have always been quick to downplay the DS's 3-D capabilities, perhaps aware the PSP's superior power could make them look slightly silly if they began boasting the dual screen console's N64 quality graphics - but that only makes Metroid Prime an even more surprising technical feat.

We're honestly hard-pushed to remember an N64 game that looked this good while still playing so well; running at 30 frames per second and throwing in lighting effects from time to time that we'd never have expected to see on the DS. Admittedly, the frame-rate can slow in busier instances, and areas are more angular than similar ones on GameCube, but then that's to be expected, and rarely renders proceedings less than perfectly playable.

Hi-tech Billy the Kid

The game's story is mostly incidental as an ongoing narrative, but does serve to set the scene for the adventure at hand. Samus finds herself tasked with exploring a set of planets and space stations in an area of space known as the Alimbic Cluster, and tracking down eight Octoliths which hold the key to unearthing a cryptically-referenced Ultimate Power. Honestly, it's your usual Nintendo Sci Fi nonsense that soon gives way to typical Metroid conventions; scanning areas using your visor, solving puzzles, making ridiculous jumps, curling up into a morph ball ever so often, and fighting gun battles like a hi-tech Billy the Kid.

Specific battles in the game are what give it the subtitle Hunters. Samus isn't the only one after this Ultimate Power, and if you meet and face defeat at the hands of a rival hunter, you'll be tasked with tracking them down later in the adventure in order to retrieve the Octolith they'll take from you.

These battles with rival Hunters do serve to break up play and add variation to what is, by the series' standards, a fairly linear adventure. Hunters has only a small amount of the backtracking present in the GC titles, which streamlines the play and prevents frustration, while still managing to weigh in at an impressive 15-hour adventure. However, Samus' abilities are all present and correct from the beginning of the game, meaning that slow build of augmentations and the novelty of new skills in an ongoing capacity is sadly absent.

Because of this, the game feels less exploratory and more one-dimensional; a feeling only emphasised by the boss battles, which tend to repeat one of two forms multiple times. Moreover, once a boss is defeated you'll get the typical Metroid race-against-time run to safety - except, in Hunters, the area doesn't explode afterwards; you'll find there's really little reason to have hurried so fervently back to your ship.

Another proud entry

Thankfully, the multiplayer mode does what the singleplayer mode doesn't and actually improves on the GameCube version. Be it online through a Wi Fi broadband hotspot, or using the wireless linkup play, Metroid Prime Hunters presents a comprehensive array of modes, arenas characters with which to do battle. From variants on capture the flag and king of the hill, to straight-up deathmatches and the juggernaut-style Prime Hunter mode, it's an enjoyable shooter package that will certainly give gamers an incentive to master the stylus control scheme - and for those with skint mates, there's even four-player download deathmatch play.

In summing up, then: Despite a few negative aspects to the singleplayer story, DS owners should be excited; Metroid Prime: Hunters offers a one-of-a-kind first-person handheld experience. It looks great, controls smoothly and boasts an incredible level of attention to detail, while a slight repetition of design doesn't offset the sheer technical feat of a playable handheld Metroid, or its monumental first-person multiplayer offering. It's an altogether excellent all-around first-person title, and yet another proud entry in the console's growing library of must-play portable classics.

GAME's Verdict

• Two intuitive and tight control methods
• Involving, authentic Metroid Prime singleplayer experience
• Excellent four-player online or wireless multiplayer offering

• More linear than the GameCube Metroids
• Samus' ever-present abilities make the game's pacing a little off
• Unintentionally changing weapons with the stylus in the middle of a firefight

Review by: Mark Scott
Version Tested: DS
Review Published: 27.04.06