New details on Metroid Prime 3

August will be a month of destiny for a couple of high-profile shooters. First is Bioshock, that spiritual successor to System Shock 2 that has high hopes of making us wet our pants in delight (or terror). Another game that you shouldn’t take for granted is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, that first-person shooter/adventure game that gamers are babbling about.

So what’s the latest on Samus Aran?

A reader by the alias of NDAninja got his/her mitts on the most recent issue of Play, a U.K.-based game magazine, and revealed the details to Go Nintendo. Within the pages of the new issue were some details on the third installment (tenth Metroid game overall). Where did the lucky staff writer play Metroid 3? The Nintendo Media Summit last May.

Here’s the checklist of impressions:

• The first level of the game takes place on a spaceship, and is crammed with fights. While in this ship meeting with its captain, you get attacked and have a boss fight with Ridley. The second level is set in a floating city, and is focused more on exploration.
• “Motion controls work better than dual joysticks.” Obviously. Apart from the keyboard and mouse control scheme, this is how shooters should be played.
• The game has a super-sensitive pointer in “advanced” mode.
• Like Super Metroid, you can also stack beams here.
• Retro Studios, the game’s developer, is giving extra time to polish Prime 3. Nintendo wanted “Twilight Princess” levels of polish. Metroid Prime 3 is being aimed at Metroid fans and hardcore gamers.
• Backtracking, the old Metroid feature, will make more sense in the third installment than in the previous Prime games.
• The game will have larger environments, bloom lighting, and better textures.
• Play says Prime 3 could be the biggest revolution in FPS gaming since Halo. Wait, since when was Halo a revolution in FPS gaming?

I’m looking forward to this game because 1) it’s Metroid, and 2) it ditches the traditional controller scheme. Sure, there’s still a lock-on feature in there, but why bother? Choosing to use auto-aim even if you don’t need it is like drinking non-alcoholic beer.

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