I'm gonna say yeah. It had something very unique compared to the other atmosphere kings of recent times (i.e half life 2, bioshock, stalker) in that was it was very organic. Its ruins were also of a relatively different time period to other games in that they weren't modern but very historic and it gave the game a very mystical like atmosphere when walking through ths chozo ruins, or tallon overworld. Another thing that struck me was just how well it blended the organic with the manufactured. The ruins themselves practically became part of the environment.
More noticably atmospheric were its research areas, like the phazon mines and phendrana research station. Here the atmosphere was far more oppresive and far more claustrophobic, successfuly creating the horrifying feeling of super metroid that you were always "going down". I think few can forget the moment when they first got the thermal visor and the power went out, leaving you in the total darkness with the realisation that the metroid tanks you had so gingerly passed through before were now unprotected. Coincidentally, for those unaware, this was the first time since super metroid that you had fought the metroids, so the realisation that you would now be fighting them with in blackness was not one many games can match.
For me, the crowning glory was the wrecked ship, which managed to mix the beauty, tranquility and danger that the game so well presented. The fact that this was the same ship you had explored in the opening level was extraordinary to me. And the way everything worked so well together; from the cut off power sources, to revisiting old rooms you had seen before, to the feeling of unease you got from realising you were walking up this room at a right angle justifies metroid prime place as having the best atmosphere of any game.
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