With “Metroid Prime 4,” Nintendo’s Frankenstein is Beyond Saving | Video Games

“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond” has had an uncharacteristically troubled development cycle. After it was completely rebooted in 2017, we’ve finally gotten the next mainline “Metroid Prime” game, 18 years after “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.” But something feels off about “Metroid Prime 4.” Even after 8 years of development, the game lacks a cohesive vision. It’s a cobbled mess of uninspired ideas with flashes of brilliance. Biomes are stunning, and exploration feels exciting, but the game has the blandest open world in recent memory, along with a boring cast of supporting characters.

“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond” follows Samus Aran as she and members of the Galactic Federation get mysteriously transported to the planet of Viewros during a heated combat encounter. There, an ancient civilization called the Lamorn tasks her with collecting five keys across the planet to teleport a device to safety. The story is just fine for what it is, as this series is about the vibes and atmosphere anyway. However, what drags the experience down are the annoying Galactic Federation members.

You have the nerdy engineer Myles, the weary sniper Reger, the gruff sergeant Ezra, the energetic soldier Nora, and the curt robot VUE-995. These Galactic Federation members constantly spout Marvel-like sarcastic quips and idolize Samus, but it’s incredibly awkward when all she does is stay silent and occasionally nod. In many past adventures, Samus is a lone agent and doesn’t interact with others much. Even though she was silent, her unwavering confidence gave her a badass personality. Prime 4 attempts to be more cinematic and character-driven, but the supporting cast doesn’t really develop beyond one-note personalities. By the end of the game, it’s hard to care about them.

The Lamorn grants Samus psychic abilities, which is Prime 4’s gameplay gimmick this time around. With these newfound powers, she’s able to latch onto walls, create platforms, and grapple on hooks. I had a lot of fun revisiting old areas whenever I unlocked more of her kit to find more upgrades. However, these psychic powers are underutilized in the combat department. The only attack that even remotely uses her psychic abilities is being able to control where her blasts go manually in slow motion. It’s a cool mechanic that showcases Samus’s fighting prowess in a new way.

Instead of more of these kinds of mechanics, “Prime 4” falls back on generic fire, ice, and electric elemental shots that Samus can switch between. It feels devoid of creativity compared to past games, such as her Phazon Corruption arm cannon in “Prime 3.”

At the very least, the game is a technical marvel. Performance issues are nonexistent on Nintendo Switch 2, the different environmental biomes are gorgeous. I loved exploring places like Volt Forge, a place powered entirely by lightning strikes, the sweltering Flare Pool facility inside a volcano, and the Ice Belt, an eerily cold underground lab. These dungeons helped flesh out the history of Viewvros and the Lamorn’s extinction, providing valuable worldbuilding. The sound design and soundtrack are also superb in keeping you immersed.

Unfortunately, in between these biomes, you’re forced to cross vast distances in the Sol Valley, an utterly lifeless desert area that is one of the emptiest open worlds I’ve ever experienced. There’s nothing here besides a few weapon upgrades scattered about and green crystals that Samus can crash through with her motorcycle. Every time I step out into Sol Valley, I feel like I’m just wasting my time. The pacing would’ve been much better if the biomes were interconnected in some way, you know, like a Metroidvania. The desert could literally vanish into thin air, and nothing of value would be lost.

“Metroid Prime 4: Beyond” could’ve done so much more with its open world, supporting cast, and psychic powers. It just feels like a Frankenstein of half-baked concepts. The ambiance and exploration that made past Metroid games fun are in here, but those moments are stuck between laborious driving and plodding dialogue. I’m not entirely sure what was going on during the game’s troubled development, but there’s little coherence between all of its systems. Just go play the much better “Metroid Dread” instead.

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