Remember that scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader dispatches a bunch of bounty hunters to track down Luke Skywalker and pals? Boba Fett, Bossk, IG-88 ... it is so, so sad that I can immediately recall their names.
There are few things cooler than a group of deadly interstellar bounty hunters, which is maybe why Nintendo has Metroid's Samus Aran facing off against six of her peers in Metroid Prime Hunters. Or not. But still, they're cool.
Metroid Prime Hunters is arriving a lot later than we expected -- heck, a demo of the game was bundled with the Nintendo DS when the device launched way back in November of 2004 -- but it was well worth waiting for.
If you've played Metroid Prime or Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on the GameCube, you have a pretty good idea of what Metroid Prime Hunters will offer. It's a very capable translation of the slick 21st-century Metroid gameplay onto a handheld, but with an entirely new setting and storyline (involving Samus and the rest of the galactic bounty-hunting community chasing after powerful artifacts) and a bunch of new enemies.
Hunter's control scheme is truly revolutionary in terms of the degree of finesse you have over Samus' aim. By default, you move forward and backward and strafe left and right using the D-pad, while your aiming and facing are controlled by using the touchscreen, either with the built-in stylus or the wriststrap's oddball thumb nub.
The great visuals, lengthy single-player game and almost mouse-and-keyboard level of control would be big enough selling points on their own. But the game's other killer feature is online play over the Internet via any wireless network. The multiplayer mode has a ton of game types and even includes voice chat, at least among people you've added to your online friends list. (So if you're cursed out, it will be by someone you know instead of a random stranger. Nice touch, actually).
This is probably a visual you don't need, but I had a minor gaming epiphany the other night while lying in bed, playing this first-person shooter online against someone in another city, and sending voice messages to my friend. Truly this is a new era in interactive entertainment, when you don't need even need to get out of bed to play games online.
And yeah, I was naked. Who says technology doesn't enrich our lives?
BOTTOM LINE
Another polished game set in the 3-D Metroid universe, but this time it's being served up on a handheld platform with superb control, great visuals and a well-rounded suite of online modes.
WHAM! Rating: |
9 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
T (Teen) |
Official Web Site: |
|
|
