Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Review

A lot of developers this generation have not taken big risks with their flagship franchises. When a game becomes a smash hit, no matter what it may be, the developer begins to be afraid of straying from that winning formula. Whether it’s EA with their sports titles, Capcom with Resident or Namco with Soul Calibur, it’s been happening a lot. In 2002, Retro Studios made a huge name for themselves with Metroid Prime. They took a huge risk with that game as they somehow pulled off what everyone thought was impossible. They took Metroid, a franchise known for its excellent 2D roots, into a fully immersive 3D world. Not only did they pull it off almost perfectly, but they made it tough to outdo themselves. Unfortunately with Echoes, they didn’t stray too much from MP’s winning formula, but thankfully still delivered a very enjoyable experience that any action-adventure fan can enjoy.

Let’s get one thing straight though, if you’ve played Metroid Prime, don’t expect much different here. If you loved MP, there isn’t a whole lot of change. If you hated Metroid Prime, there’s nothing really here to appeal to you. Players once again take on the role of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran. She’s on call with the Galactic Federation, as she’s charged to investigate the disappearance of one of the Federation’s elite military squads. This leads her to the planet Aether, which when you first see it, you’ll notice it’s enshrouded in a light and dark mixed atmosphere.

One of the very slight drawbacks of Metroid Prime was that there wasn’t a whole lot of story to it. That was made up with players being thrown into a gigantic world free for them to explore, but stories are always a nice thing to have. Echoes definitely prides itself on being more story driven, but that doesn’t take away from the core play of the game, which is exploration. The story is a little corny though, because it seems like everything in it is either a lame replacement or just stuck in there to keep it Metroid faithful. Metroid Prime featured the demise of the Chozo on Tallon IV due to the Phazon meteor crashing into the planet and the Space Pirates’ presence. The race on Aether is the moth-like Luminoth. They don’t look anything like the Chozo, but their possible fate and culture seem pretty identical to the Chozo’s.

A meteor also crashed into planet Aether, but instead of poisoning it like the one in MP did, it caused a cross-dimensional rift. A race known as the Ing, meaning terror, desire universal domination, and they take refuge in Dark Aether since that is their main power. They are spider-like creatures who are great warriors and have the ability to possess just about anything. Somehow the Space Pirates’ presence has managed to get in this whole ordeal somehow, even though you never know exactly why they’re there in the first place. Then of course with Space Pirates you have to have Metroids, and they are in the game too. But they don’t have a really significant presence or role, so it can leave you wondering why they are even in the game. It also would’ve been nice if the beam designers did something more noticeably different, as each are obvious ripoffs of the ones from MP. The Dark Beam looks just like the Ice Beam; the Light Beam is identical to the Wave Beam and the Annihilator Beam is very similar to the Plasma Beam. What is very nice though, are the brand new visors that have very entertaining and useful purposes.

As stated before, if you’re familiar with Metroid Prime’s gameplay at all, don’t expect a huge change here. The way Echoes controls is virtually identical save some new additions and tweaks. This is that winning formula that was talked about before, but there’s actually nothing wrong with that. The few additions and tweaks makes what made Metroid Prime incredible great in this game as well. You will use the traditional Combat and Scan visors as well as the standard Power Beam. Some of the new features are the implementation of the Screw Attack and Seeker Missile. You’d think the Screw Attack would be strange to use in a 3D environment, but it feels just as natural as using the Morph Ball. The Seeker is very fun to use as well, as you can target up to five enemies or objects at once and launch a series of devastating explosives at them.

Now while Echoes does rely a bit more on the story, the way it’s told is pretty much still the same. You use the Scan Visor to read a handful of text-driven logs which come in various colors on your screen. Logs can be read from both the planet’s creatures and various walls, and they are short and to the point. Although they aren’t quite as interesting to read as the ones in Metroid Prime, they still narrate the story well. Echoes also has a number of great looking cutscenes, and while they never carry dialogue, they’re always nice to see. The new Echo and Dark Visors do their job too. The Dark Visor functions similar to the X-Ray Visor from Metroid Prime, as you can see objects in Dark Aether that you couldn’t normally. The Echo Visor is rather strange, but also very fun to use. It works more or less like a SONAR system that bats use to navigate while flying. When you change to it, you see your entire environment as black and white, with various white waves representing nearby sound travel.

The best part of Echoes is definitely the boss battles. Virtually all the new equipment you have to obtain is guarded by some kind of enemy, and they are all very different and unique. Retro definitely gets props for their job on this, as it does nothing but compliment the overall experience. The challenge of all the bosses is just right, as some aren’t too difficult and some really offer a test of your skills. There is only one recurring boss and that is Dark Samus. Dark Samus is a strange Phazon incarnation of our beloved Metroid heroine, and you encounter it multiple different times during play. You never really know where it came from or what it’s doing on Aether, but it’s very intriguing to see such a strange looking Samus. Dark Samus aside, all the bosses usually require a unique strategy to defeat them, so simply firing your Power Beam at them each time just won’t be enough. Sometimes it won’t do anything at all. You must be on your toes at all times, and pay attention to all available clues.