Metroid Prime: Hunters
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| Metroid Prime: Hunters {{#if:{{{image|}}}|<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">{{{image|}}} | |
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| Developer(s) | NST {{#if:{{{publisher|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Publisher(s)<td>{{{publisher|}}} |
| Release date(s) | Demo November 21, 2004 Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 20, 2006 Image:Flag of Canada.svg March 22, 2006 Image:European flag.svg May 5, 2006 Image:Flag of Australia.svg May 25, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | first-person shooter, first-person adventure |
| Mode(s) | single player, multiplayer {{#if:{{{ratings|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Rating(s)<td>{{{ratings|}}} |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS {{#if:{{{media|}}}|<tr><th style="background-color: #ccccff;">Media<td>{{{media|}}} |
Metroid Prime: Hunters is a first-person shooter / adventure game for the Nintendo DS. In the Metroid series, Hunters is the third first-person game, the second multiplayer game, and the first online multiplayer game in the series. On Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, it is the first game to feature (VOIP) voice chat. It is the fifth game for the DS to use the Wi-Fi Connection.
Developed by NST, a Redmond-based first-party developer for Nintendo, it was released on March 20 (USA), and on March 22 (Canada) 2006 in North America.
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Overview
Metroid Prime: Hunters is an adventure game in the first-person perspective, the graphical style and level design of which emulates Metroid Prime. Although the game engine takes the Metroid Prime series nearer to conventional first-person shooters, the single player campaign is still almost as detailed and puzzle-centric as prior Metroid Prime games for Nintendo Gamecube. Movement is much like a PC FPS, using the stylus in place of a mouse; though aiming can also be controlled using the A/B/X/Y buttons. Supported features include wireless multiplayer, Nintendo WiFi online play with voice, and rumble via the DS Rumble Pak. Metroid Prime: Hunters is the first game in the Metroid series where players can control a character other than Samus Aran, though this is only in multiplayer mode. Numerous new creatures are introduced to the series, including the genetically engineered "Quadtroid," which does not fly but attacks in a way similar to a Metroid.
First Person Adventure vs. First-Person Shooter
The Metroid Prime series is often grouped into the "First-Person Shooter" genre, and this is not literally incorrect. Nintendo, however, prefers to describe these games in the more specific sub-genre "First-Person Adventure," to illustrate the uncommon focus on navigation and discovery, rather than survival of life-threatening danger, though that element is regularly present as well. Metroid Prime: Hunters made this distinction narrower, with the removal of assisted aiming, and the inclusion of popularized multiplayer modes from mainstream FPS games.
Story
Image:Action noxus.jpg Image:Stance spire.jpg Image:Roaring kanden.jpg Image:Sylux ready to shoot.jpg Image:Weavel walk.jpg Image:Trace metroid.jpg Metroid Prime: Hunters is set chronologically between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which take place between Metroid(Metroid: Zero Mission) and Metroid II: Return of Samus.
Excerpt From Manual
In the most distant reaches of space, beyond the territories controlled by the Galactic Federation, is the Tetra Galaxy, once home to a mighty race known as the Alimbics. An advanced civilization, peaceful, prosperous and powerful, the Alimbics maintained stability over the region forcefully but judiciously. They reigned over a vast region known as the Alimbic Cluster. One day, perhaps thousands of years ago, perhaps tens of thousands, they simply disappeared, leaving behind artifacts, all scattered across the Alimbic Cluster, all protected by a lethal arsenal of the Alimbics' most advanced weaponry.
Today, for the first time in centuries, the long-dormant Alimbic System is stirring, delivering strange tidings. A telepathic communication originating in Alimbic Cluster, has downloaded into the brains of some of the most exceptional bounty hunters in our galaxy. The message translates into a thousand different languages on a thousand different worlds. But the message always is the same: "The secret to ultimate power resides in the Alimbic Cluster."
This message has intrigued and enticed some of the most formidable bounty hunters in the galaxy to make the long journey to the Alimbic Cluster, each of these great warriors motivated by a different reason. Some desire power for themselves, or for their planet or people, while others simply have a relentless desire to hunt, or to kill, along with a fierce determination to prove themselves the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. Now, it's a race against time to see which bounty hunter will triumph over the others, who will discover the secret behind this promise of "ultimate power."
The Galactic Federation has heeded this strange, suspicious communication as well, and has called for the help of Samus Aran. Her mission: to discover the truth about this mysterious message, to protect against a potential threat, and to keep the Alimbics' ultimate power from falling into the wrong hands.
The Alimbics
The Alimbics were a peaceful, spiritual, highly evolved society. When first attacked, the Alimbics developed weapons of war, which they successfully employed toward peace.
Having mastered the elements of the harsh homeworlds they lived on, the Alimbics built huge thriving cities. They developed huge outposts in space, including the Celestial Archives and the Vesper Defense Outpost. Prior to their extinction, the Alimbics were known throughout the universe, and their legacy continues. Alimbic Lore warns not to pursue the mystery of their disappearance.
Eventually, the Alimbic utopia was shattered, and their civilization destroyed. The Alimbics tracked a meteoroid heading for one of their homeworlds, but judging it not to be a significant threat, let it come. Once the meteor struck, out of it came a dark black smoke that solidified into a monstrous creature the Alimbics would name Gorea. Gorea copied the cellular structure of the Alimbics, and physically mimicing them and their weapons, destroyed the Alimbic civilization. The wrath of Gorea was the downfall of the Alimbic species.
The dying act of the Alimbics was to seal Gorea away until another could destroy it. Led by the eight elders of the Alimbic order, the entire race transformed themselves into focused telepathic energy, then confined Gorea into a "Seal Sphere," which they hid in a dimensional rift, to be released only when eight keys called "Octoliths" were assembled. Each Octolith was left in the care of an artificially engineered guardian (increasingly powerful variants of machines called Cretaphid and Slench), which were in turn also protected by locked portals with scattered sets of keys.
Characters
- Samus Aran: Renowned bounty hunter and protagonist of the Metroid series. Orphaned wielder of the Chozo Power Suit, favored agent of the Galactic Federation. Samus' most famous exploits are her clashes with the Space Pirates over their weapon of choice, the Metroid organism. Alternate form: Morph Ball - a compact sphere capable of dropping energy bombs.
- Noxus: This Vhozon bounty hunter seeks the Alimbics' ultimate power in service of justice, and intends to keep it safe from evil hands and the unworthy. Alt form- Vhoscythe: A top with an extendable blade that can be used to damage adversaries.
- Sylux: A sharpshooter who wears a stolen prototype Galactic Federation suit. He also hates the Federation, and Samus Aran by association. Alt form- Lockjaw: a small hover craft that deploys bombs with electric tripwires.
- Spire: The last Diamont, a silicon based species. He believes finding the power of the Alimbics will help him solve the mystery of what happened to his race. Spire is immune to fire and lava. Alt form- Dialanche: a slow boulder-like form covered in spikes, with the ability to climb walls and extend a pair of stone battering rams.
- Trace: A Kriken of the despised Kriken Empire, undergoing his rite of passage into adulthood, he searches for a planet that the Krikens can invade. Alt form- Triskelion: a three-legged insectile creature that can become transparent when stationary. Capable of lunging forward with its needle-like claws to inflict damage.
- Kanden: A Supersoldier experiment gone awry. Insane and power-hungry, he searches for the secrets of the Alimbics to prove himself the strongest bounty hunter. Alt form- Stinglarva: a worm-like creature with the ability to leave its tail behind as a target-seeking bomb.
- Weavel: Space Pirate assassin, who Samus left for dead after a confrontation with Samus on Brinstar. His brain and spinal cord remained intact and he was rebuilt as a cyborg. It is unknown where his loyalties lie, though he remains with the space pirates as long as it suits his interests. Alt form- Halfturret: The upper body moves freely, walking on its hands, attacking with a jumping, slashing movement. The lower body remains stationary, acting as a self-sufficient gun turret. When in Halfturret mode, each part has 50% of Weavel's health. If the upper unit is destroyed, Weavel dies.
Game Engine
The top screen displays the view from the character's visor, including ammo for the current weapon and health. The bottom (touch) screen displays radar, and buttons to switch between available functions. Using the default control scheme, movement over land is controlled using the D-pad, and aiming is controlled by dragging the stylus along the touch screen. The L button fires the weapon, and double-tapping the touch screen executes a jump. Buttons on the touch screen are used to switch between weapons, visors and alt-modes. In most Metroid games, the functions of Samus' Power Suit must be obtained one at a time over the course of the game, but most such functions in Hunters are available from the start, with the exception of alternate beam weapons.
Weapons
As noted, each character has an "affinity" for a particular weapon. These weapons take on special properties in the hands of the right character.
- Power Beam Standard weapon for all characters. Unlimited ammo, fast rate of fire, weak per-hit strength. Compatible with the Charge Beam function.
- Missile Launcher Features "splash damage" - Samus's affinity: Can charge to gain homing capability
- Judicator Shotgun ice projectile with ricochet - Noxus's affinity: Freezes enemies when charged
- Magmaul Magma grenade launcher with large blast radius- Spire's affinity: Sets enemies on fire when charged and has a larger blast radius
- Volt driver Strong electrical projectile with spray capability - Kanden's affinity: Disrupts vision and bends trajectory toward nearby targets when charged
- Imperialist Sniper beam with zoom scope - Trace's affinity: Becomes cloaked when stationary with Imperialist equipped, half-cloaked when aiming while standing in place.
- Shock coil Short-range continuous electricity blast, seeks nearest target after being held for a moment, similar to wavebuster from Metroid Prime- Sylux's affinity: Absorbs health from enemy.
- Battlehammer Arcing rapid-fire mortar - Weavel's affinity: Knocks enemies back and has a larger blast radius
- Omega Cannon Instant-kill shot with large blast radius - No affinity (Only used in the battle against Gorea 2 and on the multiplayer field "Oubliette")
Multiplayer
For up to four players, Metroid Prime: Hunters features single-card play, multi-card play and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online play. Unlike Mario Kart DS, Hunters online mode does not have any restrictions on maps, modes, or options (when playing against friends and rivals). Seven characters are selectable for multiplayer, but only Samus, Kanden, and Spire are available from the start. To unlock other characters, they must be defeated in single-player or multi-player mode. Many game styles are available such as: Battle (Deathmatch), Survival (Last One Standing), and Defender (King-of-the-Hill) modes.
Wi-Fi play shows numerous improvements over prior Nintendo Wi-Fi games, including voice chat (in lobby only [1]) and online stat tracking, with a stat representing how often the player remains in a game rather than disconnecting before a loss.
A passive link function called "Rival Radar" is available, similar to "Bark Mode" in Nintendogs and "Tag Mode" ("Contact" in European versions) in Animal Crossing: Wild World. A player can set their copy of Hunters to "Rival Radar," then shut the DS, and carry it with them as they go about their day. If they pass near another player with Rival Radar activated, both players will automatically be registered in each-other's multiplayer rival lists.
On the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection website, anyone can view a leader board of the top ten scores in many different catagories like number of headshots, number of kills in alt form, in biped form, etc. The player can also view their own stats on their Hunter License, as well as anyone on their friends list. Other tracked stats are most used weapon, favorite character, mode and arena.
Pre-Release
The first details of the game emerged at the annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E³) show in 2004.
A highly prototypical demo, titled Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, was included as a pack-in (now discontinued) with the DS launch on November 21, 2004 in North America, Australia and Europe. This demo was not released in Japan.
In August 2005, Nintendo announced that Metroid Prime: Hunters would be delayed, to implement WiFi support. [2]
Just prior to launch, an updated demo version, derived from the final version of the game, was released for in-store demo units. In it, players can play through adventure mode until they encounter rival hunter "Spire."
Metroid Prime: Hunters -First Hunt
Metroid Prime: Hunters -First Hunt had a different layout to the lower screen, and a slightly different weapon system. There was a different default control method, in which the screens were transposed, and targets could be fired upon by tapping them with the stylus, regardless of whether they were centered in view. The control schemes found in the final version were also available. Power Beam had no charge function, and it had an ammo system. When Power Beam ammo was exhausted, the rate of fire slowed greatly. There was also a "Double Damage" pickup and only one sub-weapon, called the "Electro Lob". Three training scenarios were present, as well as a multi-card multiplayer mode.
There is no story per-se, since the game consists of training scenarios. There are only four types of enemies, namely traditional Metroids and Zoomers, smaller less aggressive "Xenomorphs," and a green Samus doppelgänger.
- Hidden movie
- After obtaining a high score in each single-player scenario, a video is unlocked. In this video, Samus is about to be ambushed by a Space Pirate hanging above her, but someone else shoots it first. Now in slow motion and accompanied by the Space Pirate theme from Metroid Prime, Samus spins to see the silhouettes of three other hunters, none of which particularly match the cast of the final version of the game, though one has a forearm scythe like Weavel and other space pirates. The camera then zooms in down the barrel of Samus' arm cannon as she fires. The video finishes with the tagline "The Real Hunt Begins", then the URL http://www.metroidhunters.com/firsthunt/. In later versions of the demo cartridge, the three armored figures and the URL do not appear. Instead, Samus herself fires the shot. After being unlocked, the video can be watched any time by tapping a glowing dot on the main screen.
Screenshots
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Reviews
- IGN: 9 out of 10
- GameSpot: 8.6 out of 10
- Nintendo Power: 8.5 out of 10
- Game Rankings: 88% average
- GameTab: 87% average
- Wired: [3]
External links
- Official site (US)
- Official site (EU)
- Template:Nintendo.com
- Template:Nintendo.com
- NintendoWifi page
- Template:Moby game
- IGN Coverage
- GameSpot Coverage
- GameFAQs entry
- Metroid Prime: Hunters Feature @ GamePro
- GameSpy Review
- Metroid Prime: Hunters Automatic Friend Code Adder
References
- Nintendo Power - Volume 201fr:Metroid Prime Hunters