Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

When Metroid Prime 4 was first revealed at E3 in 2017, there was a real sense of excitement from the fanbase. Retro Studios was coming off an all-time run, dropping three excellent Metroid titles across two consoles, and it felt like the franchise might finally lift itself from the mid-tier of Nintendo IPs into the upper echelon, where Samus Aran might stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mario and Link. Of course, we now all know how the story goes – it was, in fact, Bandai Namco who was leading the charge at the time, and two years into development, the game was entirely restarted, with the gang at Retro Studios brought in to rescue the project.

Six long years and two whole console generations later, we were finally able to play the latest instalment in the Metroid Prime franchise, now subtitled Beyond. But amongst the excitement, the fanbase was concerned. Trailers showing Samus gliding through a near- empty desert on a motorbike and demos including a nerdy (and worse, chatty) NPC had Metroid fans clutching their pearls. As a longstanding fan of the franchise myself, I was keen to take a look at the new entry and see if the fuss was warranted or not.

Well, first impressions were certainly different, but impressive.

---

---

We’re reintroduced to our favourite intergalactic bounty hunter amidst a chaotic battle between Galactic Federation (GF) and Space Pirate forces; Sylux, a rival bounty hunter, is attempting to steal a valuable artefact from a GF research base and Samus is called in for aid. With the backdrop set, the intro treats us to scenes the scale of which the franchise hasn’t seen before. In something more akin to Star Wars, you see waves of troops battling it out on the ground, gunships screaming overhead, and enormous battlemechs blasting enemies to kingdom come – it’s new, immersive, and above all exciting. I was into it.

What I mostly enjoyed was that, in a flash, a universe that has previously been expressed mostly through the lens of bleak isolation was filled with others. We’re given a stark look at the reality of Samus’ existence, where the lives of dozens of human troopers hinge upon her success or failure. Suddenly, the stakes of Samus’ adventures were raised, and I liked the change of tone. 

As the skirmish comes to a head, Samus and Sylux meet in a tense showdown and the artefact is activated by mistake. The device teleports Samus, Sylux, and a collection of GF troopers to the far flung planet of Viewros, where an ancient race, known as the Lamorn, have been silently waiting for a ‘Chosen One’ to save their civilisation. 

I know – stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

Sadly, this well worn plot hook is just the first in a series of elements that make Metroid Prime 4: Beyond feel less like a whole new entry and more like Metroid Prime: Again.

As you play through the game, it becomes clear that the level design is not as intricate as in previous instalments. Puzzles are achingly simple and often feel recycled, and with the exception of Volt Forge, levels mostly play out in a straight line from start to finish. Beyond feels like the most linear entry in the series to date, and plays more of a general adventure-shooter than a Metroidvania. There is some backtracking later on but it’s very limited, and on the whole, the environments Samus explores hold scant few secrets after your first exploration, which is disappointing.

Similarly, it will come as little surprise to fans that the upgrades you collect throughout the game are carbon copies of those in every earlier Metroid game, albeit with the word ‘psychic’ cheaply tacked onto their name. I appreciate that a Metroidvania requires a certain power-ramp to make the genre work, but we’re long-overdue some innovation in Samus’ arsenal, which really hasn’t changed much since she was an 8-bit sprite.

When trailers initially dropped, players were quick to jump on the desert hub world of Sol Valley for being graphically uninteresting and seemingly empty, and in a rare victory for the social media critics, they actually got this one right on the money. The ‘expansive’ desert area exists only to link the various levels together with an Ocarina of Time-esque overworld – it’s a design choice that feels utterly outdated and offers absolutely nothing enjoyable to the experience. In fact, the only reason I can see that the area was introduced at all was to give Samus a space to ride the Vi-O-La motorcycle, which, needless to say, is a very poor reason. (Especially since the Vi-O-La is equally as dull in a gameplay sense.)

Furthermore, I believe that the hub world of Sol Valley actually damages the feeling of exploration rather than enhancing it. Biomes are now clearly disconnected from one another in a spatial sense, highlighting them as distinct videogame levels as opposed to interconnected environments within a living world. Gone are the days of exploring an area, only to get ‘sidetracked’ into a different biome out of necessity, before circling back with the right powerup to ‘get back on track’. This ‘pass through but unable to explore’ concept gave the earlier games a winding, adventurous feel, which is non-existent this time around.

Sadly, even the enemy design feels uninspired, which is criminal for a game set in the nether reaches of space where any manner of alien creatures could exist. Almost every native creature you encounter feels like a reskin of a baddie you faced back on Tallon IV. A floating mine-creature that explodes into a poisonous cloud. A tendril being that lives underground and lashes at you as you walk by. A crowd of nuisance bugs that charge into you and explode. *yawn* Sadly, I didn’t find the mechanical enemies any more interesting either, with the Psy-bots seemingly inspired by the sleek, bland forms of 1960s sci-fi. That said, to be fair, the boss enemies are all incredibly cool to look at (even if they’re very samey to fight), and the feature enemies, the Grievers, have a certain Stranger Things quality to them, which I really enjoyed. 

So what exactly does Metroid Prime 4: Beyond do well? 

For one, it’s visually stunning on Switch 2. Textures are crisp, environments are beautifully lit, and the characters look fantastic. Samus, in particular, looks incredible throughout – gleaming in her new red and silver power armour, she exudes strength and looks every bit the conquering hero. On top of all that, I’m glad to report that everything runs like a dream – regardless of whether you’re playing in docked or handheld mode. 

As players have come to expect from the Metroid Prime series, the sound design is also solid. While perhaps not as memorable or noticeably unique as other instalments, the music in Beyond offers excellent support to the visual elements by adding considerable depth to the environments. While each area has a unique sound, the soundtrack is tied together with choral vocals that sound almost gospel in parts. It’s a sound that wonderfully emphasises the ‘higher-ness’ of the Lamorn race and bestows their homeland with a certain sanctity that befits their otherworldliness.

The imposing towers of Volt Forge are scored with multiple layers of electric guitar that create a wonderfully industrial sound that expresses the heart of Lamorn manufacture perfectly. Each riff is similar but unique, alluding to a myriad of individual parts that are pulling the same direction within one enormous machine. My favourite piece of music by far is the Fury Green theme though – a lofty, operatic piece that is highly reminiscent of the Phendrana Drifts theme from the original Metroid Prime. The twinkling piano melodies and warbling synths combine with the beautiful vocal work to give the lush jungles a genuinely sacred feel, more so than any other area in the game. It’s impressed upon you that you are somewhere entirely other that borders upon holy.

Finally, and this is perhaps a hot take – I really liked the NPCs in the game. Mackenzie, the GF engineer encountered early in the game, becomes a traditional companion character to Samus, buzzing into your comms to give advice on where to go next and what to do. While his introduction is rather hammy, I never felt like his inclusion ‘rUiNs ThE mOoD’ of the game – in fact, I quite enjoyed the human element he and the other GF characters brought to the experience. 

Now, I’m not saying these are the most well written or utilised characters in all of gaming, but the inclusion of Mackenzie and co. brings a whole new feel to Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. This entry is less about the isolation of Samus as an individual and is more about the group’s isolation from their race and their home, offering a story where Samus’ human side is accentuated through her collaboration with others. I particularly enjoyed the interactions between Anderson and Samus, with the GF trooper clearly in awe of her superhuman idol and Samus not really understanding what all the fuss is about. Even if it is a little heavy-handed, it creates a lovely lopsided sisterly dynamic that feels logical and meaningful, and really helps entrench Samus as an important part of the wider universe. 

After a long and complicated development cycle, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will ultimately land as a disappointment to series fans – not because it’s a particularly bad game, but because it offers very little that’s new. While Retro Studios offer up some excellent visuals on Nintendo’s latest hybrid hardware, there is scant little progress made in any other area. With the gimmicky motorcycle and bland hub area falling entirely flat, the game relies on a tried and tested gameplay loop that (mostly) holds up, in spite of the weakest level design in the franchise so far. Perhaps in a twist of grave irony, Beyond fails to travel even a single step further than previous titles, despite 8 years of hard labour.

---

Thanks for taking the time to read our review, If you’d like to support us further, please consider buying us a coffee!