A brilliantly well-crafted conclusion. The Prime series has really matured over the years, and this game shows it.
In this review, there will be reviews of plot details for about the first hour of the game, plus very subtle references to major turning points in the game. The ONLY spoilers will be from the first few parts of the game. You have been warned.
This war has been going on for a very long time. Both sides are taking casualties. New substances yield brilliant results against the enemy. The spreading corruption causes fear and pain. It's as if no one can be trusted...
The game opens up as Samus docks on the starship GFS Olympus for a new assignment. Three other bounty hunters are asked for assistance to help the Galactic Federation troops defend a planet from an incoming Phazon-filled meteor. What is Phazon? It's a creepy blue newly-discovered substance that enhances firepower and abilities, but at a terrible price: it can cause fear, anger, pain. Not to mention a meteor that size could wipe out life on that planet. It's your job to work with the other bounty hunters to activate the planet's main defense cannon and blow up the meteor. Along the way, an old friend drops a visit to Samus: Meta Ridley himself. After you and the other hunters turn the cannon on, you're greeted by Dark Samus, the Phazon-enhanced doppleganger we met back in Prime 2. One massive Phazon-blast later, and all four hunters are corrupted with Phazon. Samus barely manages to fire the cannon at the meteor before slipping into unconsciousness.
A month passes, and Samus finally wakes from her coma. She's given a new suit, called the PED Suit, which stands for the Phazon Enhancement Device. It allows the player to use an Energy Tank to go into a Phazon Hypermode, which increases your firepower immensely. We also learn that when Dark Samus corrupted Samus's body, it caused hers and the other hunter's bodies to generate their own Phazon.
Other nearby planets were hit with the Phazon-meteors, known as Leviathans. The other hunters were sent to fix the problem, but contact was lost. It's your new job to travel to these planets, fix the problems of the Leviathans, and figure out what happened to the other bounty hunters.
When you hear the game's main menu music, you might think of it as a finely crafted piece of music. As you play through the game, you come to realize just how mature of a tone that menu music sets for a game like this. Darker tones and scenarios are plentiful in the game. Every battle has their price...every battle has their sacrifices...
I may not know much about the technicalities of graphical power, but I know a pretty-looking game when I see one. I'm glad to see that Retro Studios took the bold step forward and actually tried to beef up the graphics as much as they could. If you look hard enough, you really can see the graphical upgrades the series has gone through since the first Metroid Prime. Samus's arm cannon, her ship, her enemies, her allies, her surroundings, absolutely everything is finely detailed and amazing. It's very nice to just look at, and even more of a blast to play through it.
Back on the subject of beautiful music...most, if not all of the music really helps set the mature tone of the conclusion of this trilogy. Some pieces help find a bit of familiarity in longtime fans; for example, the boss fight against Meta Ridley features a remix of the "escape" music from Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission. It's neat little perks like this that truly help the game stick to its Metroid roots. As for voice acting...this was a pleasant surprise. I'd hate to sound like a broken record, but the voice acting helps a ton in this game. It makes the experience more lively, and helps the game give off a real science-fiction feel to it. Hearing Rundus's (one of the other bounty hunters) voice is a thrill, for example. And the voice of the Aurora Units make them truly seem like an advanced supercomputer. Best of all, the voice acting did not seem like it was rushed. Everything sounds carefully planned and executed pleasantly. This review could probably use some complaints, so I'll throw one in: Space Pirates this time around sound...quieter. Their grunts and growls are a bit more subtle. You would think they would shriek or something when you knock them into a pool of acid or something. Their new look makes up for it, I guess.
And now the subject you've all just been dying to read about: controls.
I'll be another boring person and say "the controls really enhance the experience blah blah blah yak yak yak." If you need a reminder, you use the Wii Remote to aim at the screen at your enemies, and use it to shoot them. You also use the Wii Remote to switch visors via pointing, entering Hypermode, and fiddling around with viewing your map/logbook/equipment/options/etc. The Nunchuk is used for locking-on, movement, Grapple-related actions, and going into Morph Ball mode.
There's three control options to play: Basic, Standard, and Advanced. I have no clue how well Basic plays, but after trying out Standard and Advanced, I have to say I prefer using Standard. These three settings simply mean how fast and well you turn in the game, I think. You can also turn on and off the "Lock-On/Free Aiming," which lets you lock on to an enemy (so he's centered in your vision), but you can still aim at different areas. It's very handy against enemies and bosses with weak points not immediately able to be shot at. VERY handy. Of course, sometimes you may end up not locking on to enemies at all; the free-aim feels much better than the days of locking on only.
I do have a few gripes about the controls. Since the Wii Remote and Nunchuk are radically different from the GameCube controller, it does take quite a bit of time before you're comfortable with the new controls. For example, the Morph Ball button is mapped to the Nunchuk's C button. I keep forgetting this, and I usually fumble around with the controls before hitting it. Also, when locked onto an enemy, pointing at them with the Wii Remote, and then jamming the A button as fast as you can, it's easy to forget the B button is right underneath your finger for jumping around and strafing fast. Very, very, very easy to forget.
I am eternally grateful that Retro Studios made it so you can do a quick jump in Morph Ball with a flick of the Wii Remote up. It's SO MUCH BETTER than bomb-jumping, and SO MUCH FASTER, and feels SO MUCH BETTER.
Once you do get used to the new controls, you're in for quite a fun experience in this game.
In a direct ripoff of the Xbox Achievements, we get special tokens for completing in-game tasks! There's a few different tokens: you get red ones from scanning new enemies; blue ones from scanning lore; gold ones for accomplishing very special tasks such as defeating bosses; and green ones. To get a green token, you have to exchange friend vouchers with other people who have Metroid Prime 3. You get friend vouchers from doing some of the more bizarre tasks, such as killing 100 (or 200 or 300 or etc.) enemies, finding a shortcut, or causing a certain enemy to kill itself. This can let users freely experiment in the game...I think you'll be quite surprised what you can do.
Using these tokens, you can "purchase" a smorgasbord of goodies from the game, such as concept art, music tracks, and things unnecessary. For example, you can get Nintendo-related bumper stickers for your ship, or a Mii bobblehead for display in your ship. It's goodies like these that add a ton of replay value to the game -- you'll probably find yourself replaying the game a few times just to see everything you can unlock.
If you've been waiting all this time for a good enough reason to get a Wii, stop waiting. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, known by us geeks as the first of the big 3, is definitely enough of a reason to get yourself a Wii. Even if you've never played the first, the second, or both of the earlier Metroid Prime games, this one is the easiest to get in to. At least find a way to TRY it...this is a game not to be missed.