Metroid Prime 2: Echoes [GC]

You can almost set your watch by the way a Metroid game unfolds. First you have a short tutorial style level, then Samus loses all her cool equipment, then you recover it one piece at a time (morph ball, double jump, new beam, etc.). With most upgrades, you're unlocking new areas you can backtrack to explore. So while some might be disappointed that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes doesn't do anything to change this pattern, fans of the series will be delighted at how Retro Studios once again offers a faithful 3D translation of the Metroid experience they've expected all along.

The story this time sets Samus on an alien planet called Aether, which was hit long ago by a meteor that split it into mirror images, one side light, the other side dark. The inhabitants of the light side, the Luminoth, entered into a war with the inhabitants of the dark side, the Ing. Samus is drawn into the situation when a group of battling space marines and pirates stumble onto the scene and go missing. She's recruited by the last of the Luminoth to repair the rift between the two worlds by unlocking three temples on the dark side and futzing around with some sort of energy flow thing-a-ma-bob. Or something like that. All this is fleshed out in text logs she gets from scanning objects, but the point is that there are a series of temples, each requiring three keys to open. The hunt is on!

The twist this time, and where Metroid Prime 2 really differs from the previous games, is the way the dark mirror world is used. Although this is nothing new -- we've seen it in Silent Hill, Soul Reaver, and even one of the older Zeldas -- it adds a whole new dimension (literally!) to the puzzles. You'll have to shift back and forth between the worlds, solving a puzzle in one world to lower an obstacle in the other. And the two worlds look similar enough that you can see the mirror concept, but distinct enough that it conveys a feeling of reality gone slightly wrong.

This is where Retro Studio's brilliant art design is used at its best. Light side Aether already bears Metroid's trademark alien look, with its funky ecology and slightly surreal landscapes. But dark side Aether really cuts loose with the weird. It's not just a matter of being darker. In fact, it's arguably more purple than dark. But it seethes with strange colors and visual effects. It also damages Samus so she has to dash between bubbles of light set up by the Luminoth during the wars. These bubbles heal her, so there's going to be a fair amount of cowering inside a bubble, waiting for her health to go up. But once she gets a suit of armor that protects her from the dark atmosphere, it unlocks whole new areas of dark Aether for exploration.

The new weapon and gadgets don't really change the gameplay substantially. They simply replace Metroid Prime's fire and ice beams with light and dark themes. Like the previous games, these are used to activate puzzles, unlock new areas, open doors, switch on elevators, and so forth. But they're also used to deal extra damage to enemies in the opposite worlds. And unlike the previous games, they have an ammo count, which adds a new element of strategy, much like the way you have to manage missiles. The new visor modes are basically an infravision that lets you see better in dark Aether and a sonic visor that lets you see sound, mainly useful for certain puzzles and to see invisible enemies.

One thing completely new to Metroid Prime 2 is the multiplayer game. Unfortunately, when you compare it to multiplayer support for other shooters on the GameCube like Timesplitters 2, James Bond: Nightfire, or Rainbow Six 3, it comes up wanting. You can play split-screen deathmatches on six small maps (two of which have to be unlocked in the single-player game). And that's about it. There also a silly coin collection mode where the other Samuses pop out coins when you shoot them. But otherwise, it's Metroid's unwieldy controls and limited weapons.

Also new in Metroid Prime 2 is the difficulty level. In fact, Retro Studios may have gone overboard this time. It's hard to imagine anyone beyond diehard Metroid fans plowing through some of the obscure puzzles and punishing combat. This is clearly a game made for people who enjoy the challenge of the exploration, the trial-and-error of the boss fights, and the immense feeling of satisfaction that comes with finally finding the next area you can reach or taking down a troublesome boss.

It's worth noting that a lot of the challenge has to do with Metroid Prime's control scheme, which is preserved intact since the last game. Instead of using the dual-analog controls that you find in most console first-person shooters, you control Samus more like a tank, rotating her and then moving her forward. This means that you're liable to run into objects a lot when fighting in areas that aren't very open.

Another part of the difficulty level is the save game system, which is tied to save points you have to find during exploration. If you miss one of these, you're liable to lose lots of time backtracking or, even worse, replaying long stretches when you die. By offering more control options and a more user-friendly system of save points, Retro Studios could have worked wonders at opening up the Metroid Prime series for new fans or more casual gamers. As it is, they seem to be only interested in catering to the people who didn't mind these problems in the last game.

Given how much Metroid Prime 2 is a faithful series reverberation, the subtitle of "Echoes" couldn't be more appropriate. Nintendo has competently produced another vivid 3D translation of the same Metroid you've been playing all along. Some gamers may be left wanting, but fans of the series have everything they need to enjoy the continuing adventures of Samus.