Two years ago, Nintendo surprised everyone with Metroid Prime, a game we all thought could only fall flat on its face. It took a classic renowned series and completely turned it on its end, somehow managing to completely change the way the series played and yet not really changing all that much in the long run. Metroid Prime was still most definitely a Metroid game, and that really was the best part about it.
Jaws dropped to the floor when we saw the graphics, and those jaws then continued through the floor when we actually played it. Newcomer Retro Studios not only succeeded, they overcame all odds; it was as if they had been working on Metroid Prime for all 8 years of Samus' absence (and who knows?), slow-cooking it until it was perfect. The game captured the Metroid universe and gameplay in 3 dimensions perfectly, and is a testament to the kind of evolution a series can go through. So here we are two years later with the sequel to Metroid Prime. Retro Studios is naturally at the helm again, and this time the groundwork is all in place, leaving them room to really push this generation of Metroid games further. But was Prime simply a fluke or does Echoes solidify Retro as one of the best developers of this generation in gaming? The answer to this question is quite complex.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes takes place at and undisclosed point between the original Prime and Metroid 2: Return of Samus. All things considered, it's safe to assume that it's relatively shortly after the events in Prime. Samus is sent by the Federation to a planet called Aether, where a team of Federation troops have signaled a distress call. Let's ignore for a moment the fact that one only person is being sent to assist a team of over 20 troops obviously in dire need of assistance; after all, the Metroid series isn't quite Shakespeare. The series' main villains have always been aliens known simply as Space Pirates, which isn't exactly the most compelling or original moniker. Such things are forgivable considering the ridiculous amount of quality that each title in the series overflows with, and attempts to further a storyline has only really begun recently with Prime and Fusion.
Samus crash lands on Aether only to find the entire squad of troops wiped out, and soon discovers that the planet is dimensionally split in two, and the denizens of each world are warring for the energy the other possesses. When the only means of transferring the energy between the two worlds is bonded to Samus' suit after a battle with a creature from the dark side of the world, it becomes up to her to restore Aether to its original state. But there's more to the story than simply good versus evil. Dark Aether is teeming with phazon (the mutagen ore that Prime's story centered around), and there's a Dark Samus prowling about the planet absorbing the phazon into its power suit (those who beat Prime with the 100% ending know exactly what Dark Samus really is). To top it off, the Space Pirates are here as well, looking to mine the phazon for their own needs. That's a lot of potential storyline for one game, especially considering Echoes' only real vehicle for delivering this plot is a Logbook which is composed of data and research logs you'll find along your journey.
While Echoes essentially plays exactly like the original Prime and many things haven't changed (your 3D map and HUD layout are basically identical the original game's) it does do the standard sequel thing and make improvements and changes to the formula. Your Logbook is infinitely more organized than before, and you can actively keep track of the percentage of scans and logs you've found in the game so far (as opposed to finding out when you've reached certain landmarks in completion in Prime). This actually does wonders for the game since browsing your Logbook is easy and the information included is often either interesting, crucial to the plot, or both. In my two-day journey of ripping through Echoes, I would take eating and cigarette breaks and wound up going through the Logbook during these times simply because of all the information it will eventually contain and how genuinely interesting most of it is.
Your Scan Visor has also been given an overhaul. You can scan almost everything in the game to find info about it, regardless of whether or not it goes into your logbook. Objects in the game are also color-coded when in Scan mode, so you can instantly tell if you've already scanned it or not (or in the case of bosses with multiple forms, if they need re-scanning for new information). While this color system was extremely off-putting and weird looking at first, it grows on you quickly and you'll often find yourself doing quick 360's around an area looking for a glimpse of red or blue objects that you missed. Scanning and collecting information is very important in the game, and I found that this new system makes it much more user-friendly.
The game's controls are the same as in the original, and Samus moves and feels just like she did in Prime. If you played the original (and you probably have if you're looking into Echoes), you'll feel at home instantly. Regardless, the beginning moments of the game are still a kind of mini-tutorial on the basics of the gameplay mechanics, which is fine since you can just ignore the messages and continue on your way if you want. If you happen to be a n00b to the First Person Adventuring of Samus, you'll find the tutorial quite helpful without being too intrusive. The same goes for the ever-subtle yet helpful Hint System, which also makes a return, pointing out where your next destination should be on your 3D map. It works the same way as it did in Prime, although it seems that it waits longer before showing up. I guess Retro felt that it the hints came up too early in Prime (which I wouldn't disagree with), and rest assured that the only time you'll be seeing hints popping if you're really stuck, instead of it popping up multiple times to tell you where you're already on your way to. With that in mind, you'll likely play through most of the game without seeing it. I only saw it pop up twice, and was only actually stuck at the time once.
Echoes' graphics are also similar to its predecessor, but if you pay attention, there have actually been some significant improvements. The game's environments are as beautifully designed as ever; more-so, in fact. Retro continues to amaze and impress me with their unmatched art direction, and certain parts in the game will simply leave you in awe. Aether is a beautiful, complex world and it's filled to the brim with gorgeous models, landscapes, designs, and environmental details. The organic areas have plant life everywhere, as well as small animals flying around in swarms, and even groups of small spiders skittering across your path which aren't really modeled, just black dots, but the fact that Retro took the time to include such minor things really speaks volumes about the rest of the game's world. The technological Sanctuary area is so complexly designed and textured I can't even imagine where Retro started when they first began drawing up original plans for them. Object models and textures are also greatly improved. Although most of the time the improvements are subtle, there will be many times when these improvements really hit you, whether it's when an enemy leaps out of the water and shakes itself off before attacking (sending silky-smooth water particles flying), or when you take a closer look at a creature in your Logbook. Other moments will be more in your face, like when you enter a room to see it filled with a huge, electrified gyroscope that you will eventually be walking and spider balling on. The lighting effects are more apparent, crisper, and more realistic, and smoke billowing out of engines and elevator platforms looks fantastic, if only because there is a slight lighting fade on the edges of them. Details like this can make all the difference though, and in a world where things like fire and smoke effects can be the most daunting tasks for a programmer or artist to get right if only because their realism (or lack thereof) can be noticed by the human eye with such little effort, getting something like smoke to look as great as it does in Echoes is greatly appreciated. It's all in the details, but sadly this is Echoes' downfall as well as its greatest strength.
Because it's when you're noticing such awesome details as the ones cited above that you start noticing the more sobering, less impressive ones. Retro reuses many enemy designs, patterns, and traits from the first Prime. You've got the water enemies you shoot once to turn upside down into platforms, two-legged beasts that can only be hit from behind, snake-like creatures that pop out of walls, airborne pirates that fire the exact same missile patterns and fly around identically as they did in Prime, constantly re-spawning and disappearing Chozo Ghost wannabe Pirates, the annoyingly unnecessary endgame keyhunt that sends you all over the world again, and Visor upgrades that look new, but have essentially the same uses as before.
Even your new weapons, the Light and Dark beams, behave almost exactly like the Plasma and Ice beams, respectively. All these make Echoes feel more like a kind of glorified expansion pack than a sequel.
I can deal with all that. I can handle the similarities to the original game, despite their numbers. What I can't handle, on the other hand, is the fact that Retro took the original Metroid formula of exploration and placed on top of it one huge keyhunt throughout the entire game.
Since there are essentially two Aethers, the energy between the worlds is shared. To destroy Dark Aether, you must take the energy from its three temples, and replace it back into Light Aether. To get to the energy chambers in each temple, you must first find three keys to open up the temple and defeat a Guardian. These guardians work just like the regular bosses do in Prime, and you end up being rewarded with a new suit, weapon, or upgrade. The classic Metroid exploration factor is still in place, and exploring Aether is still as interesting as exploring Tallon IV was, but the fact that the emphasis is no longer on exploration but instead been replaced with the mandatory keyhunt puts a damper on the whole experience. The joy of exploring new areas is constantly burdened by the fact that you know you're either looking for these temple keys, or will have to at some point. Sometimes you'll just happen across these keys while exploring, but often times you won't, and you'll have to do some hardcore searching for some of them. Instead of rewarding all of your struggles with a new weapon or tool to explore even further with, you have to trek back to from Dark to Light Aether and to the 'real' temple and replace the energy, at which point you're rewarded with a hologram of a grateful Luminoth (Light Aether's main race), and then you must go back to the main Temple only to be told there's another temple for you to travel to and find keys to access.
After spending the entire game scouring the world for nine keys, you're only forced to find nine more just to fight the last boss. And yet the game is still designed so you're free to explore as you please. It's such a frustrating mixed bag I can't decide if I hate the game for it, or if I just don't care. Either way, it hurts Echoes considerably and drains your enthusiasm to explore a new area.
While I'm complaining about things, I'll complain about the music. I'm not going to say the music is bad, because it really isn't. Most of the tracks are great ambient sci-fi stuff that really sets the mood well. But considering that all my favorite tunes from the original Prime were the melodies, the music in Echoes feels just slightly under par. Don't get me wrong, there is still great music in Echoes, and
it's all of the same high quality that the music in Prime was. But while it's still high quality music, at the same time it's just not as memorable or endearing. The fact that I was impressed with Prime's music through and through, and then hearing the reprise of the main theme during the credits which was absolutely fantastic, I must say I hoping for something similar in Echoes as the credits rolled. Alas, it wasn't even an altered version of the game's theme. I also noticed a few spots in the game where the music actually missed a beat when the track started to loop again. In this day and age, that's just kind of sad; especially when you consider the meticulous detail that the rest of the game reeks of.
While I don't understand Retro's decision to go in the direction it did with the gameplay goals or to reuse so many elements from the first game on top of it, and while I wasn't as impressed with the game's music, it's worth noting that they do a lot to make up for it. The sound effects in Echoes are absolutely stellar. The visuals are perfectly complimented with environmental noise and sound effects that really bring Aether to life, especially if you're listening to the game with surround sound and a good subwoofer. The metallic thud as an elevator reaches the bottom of a shaft literally feels heavy, and the rest of the game's sound is of the same caliber.
To go along with the awesome environments, the level designs, puzzles, and boss fights are all insanely original. Puzzles that would've felt at home being done in Prime to gain a new weapon are considered simple in Echoes and usually result in a missile expansion or energy tank. Whereas Prime had largely forgettable bosses, Echoes has numerous original ones that are extremely fun to figure out weaknesses for and execute. One boss ingeniously takes places entirely in a Morph Ball maze, while another has you immobilizing a three-story robot to detach the head unit so you can spider ball up its legs and jump onto the floating head portion to damage it (this boss battle alone nearly makes up for every qualm I have with this game). Echoes also has many new environmental additions, like Morph Ball cannons that launch you long distances and gun turrets that are all integrated into puzzles seamlessly.
You also, of course, gain new abilities in Echoes. Your Boost Ball upgrade can be used in conjunction with the spider ball, and you can leap away from a spider ball track to... well, whatever Retro decides to put next. Another track, a wall for you to break through, key points on a boss, etc. What irks me is that while such a simple update to an old ability like this is used so often, new abilities (and arguably much cooler ones) like the Screw Attack/Wall Jump are underused to such an extent it should be a crime. I can count the times the Screw Attack was mandatory for a certain puzzle on one hand, excluding a few bits where it's needed to jump a little bit further than the double jump allows. And, if you don't go hunting for every single one of the 14 energy tanks, 49 missile expansions, and 9 power bomb upgrades, you'll only use the wall jump ability twice. Did Retro not see the reaction from people at E3 when they first saw Samus screw attack off a wall? Considering what they've done with the rest of Samus' abilities, this new one to the Prime series has awesome potential for some truly jaw dropping puzzle designs when in the right hands (and Retro is clearly the right hands for puzzle designs). Sure, it's fun to Screw Attack everywhere and across a room, and lord knows I did plenty of it once I had the upgrade, but I can't help but feel a little bit cheated by its inclusion and ultimately its misuse. The first thing I thought when I saw Samus do the Screw Attack was "Think of the puzzle possibilities!" Unfortunately, I'm still thinking about them, and I guess Retro is, too. Maybe next time.
Then there's the multiplayer mode. It's really nothing special, and confirms what I originally thought when I first heard this: Blah. I tried to be hopeful since Retro had established itself as being able to achieve the impossible, but in the end it turns out that everyone was right. It feels tacked on, and therefore will be treated as such here. It's barely worth talking about. It's not like you were going to buy Echoes for it, anyway, so it's not even really that big of a deal that it sucks.
Ultimately I was both blown away and extremely disappointed by Echoes. It's not the completely groundbreaking experience that Prime was, but that's to be expected and I don't think anyone was really counting on that. With all its flaws, Echoes still stands firm as an extremely well put-together, creative, and most importantly, fun game that is a strong contender for Game of the Year and a must play for fans of the first Prime. It's just a shame that Retro decided to stick such a generic formula to Metroid's classic gameplay features, and it really does hurt the overall fun factor. It's not enough to ruin the experience, and there's still the ever-present attraction to get all the beautiful image galleries and the multiple/extended endings. And who knows, maybe Retro stuck Samus 'just in bailey' somewhere...
