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03/31/06 Written by Raine
The Game:
Samus returns, donning new suits, shooting new guns, and obliterating new enemies.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is the sequel to Metroid Prime, taking place sometime after Samus vanquished the powerful Metroid Prime from the original game. The game takes place
on the planet Aether, with Samus dispatched to investigate the distress beacon of a crashed squad of marines. There, she discovers that Aether is unstable, scarred by a past war
between the planet's inhabitants, the Luminoth, and a dark and molevolent foe, the Ing. Those of you expecting another easy Explore and Adventure game had better tighten your belts
and pull up your socks.
In this game, Samus becomes less adventurer, and more warrior.
Gameplay:
Metroid Prime 2 takes the difficulty of its predecessor and cranks the difficulty dial up until it snaps. Seriously, those who are fresh off beating Metroid Prime will probably find
themselves at the Continue screen a discomforting number of times. To top the raw difficulty of the game, Retro has started playing mind games too. Right from the get-go, Samus
encounters zombie-like marines who have been possessed by the malevolent Ing and turn on her when she least expects it. The Ing themselves rarely make a direct appearance in the
early game, partly due to the fact that they cannot survive in "Light" Aether without a host organism.
However, a few gruelling fights in, and a few close calls later, Samus finds herself in a room with a new, but familiar foe. Dark Samus takes the best aspects of Samus, and adds a
whole assload of cheapness. She can fly, her power beam shotguns, and she eats Phazon like mutagenic Corn Pops. Fortunately, your first encounter doesn't result in a fight.
Unfortunately, it does result in Samus being torn from Light Aether, and transported to Dark Aether.
Dark Aether is any adventurer's worst nightmare. The very atmosphere is toxic, save for a few safe zones produced by crystals left by the Luminoth. It is perpetually dark and difficult to
navigate, and worst of all, the Ing call it their home. The Ing are amorphous black blobs that can take numerous shapes for combat, from the diminuiative Worker Ing, to the terrifyingly
ethereal Hunter Ing, there are many types, but they all share three things in common. They will all get you from behind, they're all tough as nails when combating with the Power Beam,
and just when you think you have victory, your foe will shrivel into a large black pool and move away to regroup and attack from another angle.
New to Echoes is the advent of an ammo system. Initially, this system produced a collective groan, and it's not hard too see why. About mid-way through the game, Samus recovers a
Dark Beam, and a Light Beam. These are two very powerful weapons, but initially, your ammo pool for them will be so small that you will only save them for dire battles. Fortunately for
anyone with a distinct sense to find addons, Ammo Expansions are somewhat easy to find.
The beam effect themselves leave a little to be desired. The Light Beam is little more than a multi-coloured plasma beam from Metroid Prime, complete with the ability to pass through
several enemies, and the ability to set them ablaze. The Dark Beam is a bit more creative; firing blobs of darkness. However, it's properties are similar to a fast-firing Ice Beam from
Metroid Prime. Fortunately, the Charge Beam for each gun shows a bit more creativity. The Light Beam forms a powerful shotgun pattern that will home on enemies with a lockon. The
Dark Beam fires a massive purple blob that will splash and entangle multiple enemies if they are close to each other. The last Beam, the Annihalator Beam, is unique. It's a
hyper-homing beam that uses both Light and Dark Ammo, and possesses both a super-powerful charge shot, and a disgustingly powerful Beam Combo. Oh, and it also opens Sound
Locks for doors.
Where the new weapons truly shine is in the Beam Combos. Returning from Metroid Prime, the Beam Combos in Echoes are truly spectacular. The Super Missile retains its large
radius explosion. The Light Beam and Dark Beam both fire large orbs, but to different effects. The Light Beam creates what could be called a miniature Sun, which quickly cooks off
any nearby enemies. The Dark Beam creates a sinister black orb that opens a sizeable black hole upon contact with any enemy or wall. This hole will suck in any nearby enemies, the
only traces being left behind is any energy or ammunition that the enemies were carrying. The Annihalator Beam's Combo, called "Sonic Boom," is known in the community as the
"Saran Wrap of Death," and with due cause. Saran wrap is a material that is known to cause suffocating, but I digress. Sonic Boom is an instant Combo, unlike the other three which
take some time to travel to their target, and it has a massive area of effect. Since it uses both Light and Dark Energy, anything, Ing or otherwise, trapped in the effect is instantly killed
or severly wounded.
The suits in Echoes are a radical departure from Samus's old gear. Fans all over the world cried in abject horror when concept sketches of Samus’s' new "Dark" suit were released.
Instead of the familiar ball shaped shoulder, the new suit posses wheel shaped shoulders, and a complete revamp of the colour scheme and layout of the suit. In otherwords, every suit
that Samus gets is a completely new suit, rather than keeping the same suit and just changing some of the colours. As well, each new suit that Samus gets will help her navigate Dark
Aether with greater ease, up to the Light Suit, which negates the effect of Dark Aether's atmosphere altogether.
Samus gets lots of the same gear as well, like missiles and the grapple beam. However, new gear, like the Gravity Booster (takes the place of the gravity suit), and the Screw Attack
make for some interesting variations on gameplay. As well, some of the areas have new ways for Samus to interact with them, such as heavy turrets, morph-ball cannons, and the
ability to boost-jump on magnetic rails.
Visors in this game take an entirely different sci-fi approach from the previous game. The "Dark" Visor is a visor that peers between Light and Dark dimensions, allowing Samus to
see objects that are "out of phase," multi-missile locks, and keep track of enemies that jump between dimensions. The Sonic Visor is quite simply an visual representation of
echo-location. Generally, it's only used for opening doors and keeping track of very specific types of enemies. Otherwise, it's too dark to see anything, and the sounds it produces are
very conducive to migraines and other forms of annoyance.
The boss battles is Echoes range from the super cool to the artery-bursting frustrating. There is a great variety of both, and the only relief for some of the more frustrating ones is
actually figuring out what you were doing wrong.
As I said earlier, this game is hands and feet more difficult than its predecessor. However, unlike most games, it doesn't stay difficult. Later in the game, Samus makes short work of
most of her enemies, and this makes for a satisfying game for those willing to stick it through the first few tense hours. The addition of a solid storyline, and U-Mos, a Luminoth NPC
that speaks to Samus and provides her with insight, make the game more bearable in the early stages.
Visuals:
Echoes possesses the same solid visuals of its predecessor. My only complaint is a lack of any new and original arm cannon configurations for the new beams.
Audio:
The sound in Metroid Prime is good. Nothing too terriblly fantastic, but nothing bad either. The rockets go "fwoosh," and the different cannons each make their own respectable gun
noises. The real winners are, once again, the Beam Combos, which each have their own overblown noise. The Light Beam combo makes a grinding, drawn out explosion, the Dark
Beam combo makes a humming, inhaling noise, just like you'd expect from a black hole. Sonic Boom produces a loud and sudden bang, which, if used while half asleep, will promptly
awaken the player and bring them back to attention.
The Luminoth spoken language is also presented tastefully, with a mix of echoes and multi-syllabic phrases.
The sounds of the Ing are just like the Ing themselves. Varied, and wholly terrifying. Even the Worker Ing will shriek hatred and defiance at you, and before possessing any significant
weaponry, you will attempt to silence their plaintive wails before they summon anything larger (which they never will, don't worry. Just, with all the noise they make, you'd think the Ing
have something better to do than ignore each other). The Warrior Ing's battlecries will leave you spinning wildly, trying to find which ledge it's going to leap upon you from, and perhaps
the creepiest of all the sounds is the low, almost subsonic bubbling noise of an Ing in liquid form as it creeps up on you.
A point of contention in the audio is when the Sonic Visor is activated. The Sonic visor amplifies and echoes any sound that Samus, or any other creature makes. A shot from the
powerbeam echoes and whines like an amp left in the rain too long, and getting caught by an angry Warrior Ing while having the sonic visor on is a recipe for instant deafness, as their
wrathful bellows reverberate and amplify. According to lore in the game, the Sonic Visor was used by blind Luminoth to find their way around, but either the Luminoth possess less
acute hearing than humans, or they actually ended up deafening their unfortunate patients.
Control:
The control scheme for Echoes is pretty much unchanged from Metroid Prime. The addition of some new maneuvers makes for an interesting challenge, but serious gamers should
have no trouble. Perhaps the hardest things to get used to, are the new gravity booster and the screw attack. The booster works just like the Gravity Suit in Metroid Prime, with the
added bonus that underwater, it will allow Samus to "thrust" upwards or forwards for extra distance... similar to a space-jump underwater.
The screw attack is a bit more tricky. Correct timing is needed to create maximum horizontal distance, and believe me. For some of the extra plunder, practicing with the screw attack
should be a priority right after attaining it. Also, it is apparently possible to steer while using the screw attack. Try as I might, I couldn't coax more than a fractional turn from Samus
during a screw attack, so my best advice is aim. Look before you leap.
Some of the puzzles, and indeed, boss battles, in Morph Ball form can be tedious, annoying, and downright frustrating. Don't say I didn't warn you. However, the key to mastering
everything Morph Ball related in Echoes is simply this: persistance. Eventually, no matter the puzzle, your fingers will develop muscle memory, and even the most difficult and frustrating
puzzles will yield to you eventually.
Replay Value:
Despite its awesomeness, and its inherent pros and cons, Echoes doesn't have a lot of replay value. I've had it for nearly half a year, and the only time I've put into it after beating it, is a
half-assed attempt to find more loot. I've attained the covetous 85% completion rating, satisfactorily showing me Samus, sans her bulky power suit. I am content to let this game rest
after beating it.
While it does possess a fairly effective multiplayer, it almost seems to be an afterthought compared to the single player game. Also, after beating the game, a Hard mode is unlocked.
Just the thought of the beginning of the game, and difficulties contained therein make me cringe, and cringe more, thinking it could be even more difficult. As well, the sizeable
scavenger hunt just before the end of the game kind of ruined the momentum of a possible replay. I don't want to have to hunt down any more keys, no matter what kind of temple they
promise to unlock.
Overall:
Definitely a solid game, which any self-respecting Metroid fan should own. Echoes is not a good choice for those easily frightened, frustrated, or those prone to migraines.
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