Metroid Prime 2: EchoesPublisher: NintendoSystem: Game CubePrice $49.99ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

The last free game sent to me here at the Mass Media was complete and utter shit. Naturally when I received another one I was a bit wary. However I was reassured by the fact that it was from Nintendo and it was Metroid, and Metroid can do no wrong. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is the sequel to the Metroid Prime (obvious statement), the first Metroid game for the Game Cube and the first Metroid game played in first person. Now I do play a few first person shooters although I am not a huge fan of them, Metroid satisfied me in a way few first person games have and Echoes has managed to do it again.

In Echoes you play as pirate ass-whooper and intergalactic bounty huntress extrordiner Samus Aran. The game starts with you receiving a message that a Galactic Federation Starship has disappeared on a planet chasing pirates. Upon arriving at the planet your ship is heavily damaged due to an atmospheric storm causing you to make a crash landing. You then venture forth on the planet to find the missing Federation ship while yours repairs itself. What you find is an empty makeshift Federation base and a warp portal. Upon stepping through the portal you see a dark version of your self and little black bug-like creatures steal your gear.

Without giving away too much of the game, you find out that a meteor hit the planet separating its energy and existence into two realities, a dark world and a light world, much like Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. You are given the task of restoring the planet’s energy, stolen by the dark world inhabitants called the “Ing,” to the light world. The map is divided into three areas with a central hub; each area contains a temple in which you must go to the dark world version of and restore the energy to the light world. While the map doesn’t cover as large an area as in the last game you will be constantly using portals to travel back and forth between light and dark versions.

The game engine is the same as the previous with a few tweaks to improve graphics. The game features new weapons, a beam that shoots dark energy which is effective in the light world and a light beam which is most powerful in the dark world. Other items such as the beam cannon, the grapple beam, and the ubiquitous morph ball are left intact. This game is not for beginners though, with a learning curve that graphs as a perfect right angle and little to no in-game instruction, it is designed to be played by those who have played the original. The only other problem I have is with the morph ball. The transition from a first to third person camera has been greatly smoothed out since its predecessor, however once you are in morph ball mode the camera sucks, well, balls. The camera’s position is random and arbitrary, with no way to reposition it so it’s behind you. Boss battles which require the morph ball are very difficult due to this.

Aside from this problem it is a great game and a must own for Metroid fans, even though it feels as though they’ve lifted a plot device from an older Nintendo game which they seem to do a lot when they’re low on ideas. Anyway ignore my rambling and try this game for yourself and, if you’re not a lonely nerd who sits in dark rooms by himself playing video games at night, it even has a multiplayer mode for those with friends. Up to four people can try to kick each other’s asses with weapons from the game. Go out and try it today, or ask to get it for Christmas!