Metroid Prime isn't merely the best of the Metroid series to date, but one of the most ambitious console games created.
The protagonist of Metroid Prime is none other than Samus Aran. The storyline is about the bird-like humanoid race known as the Chozo and their non-technological utopia on a planet called Tallon IV. They made this world as a refuge for the upcoming violence of the universe that they foresaw. Eventually, a meteorite hit the planet and sent masses of amazingly poweerful toxins into the atmosphere, killing lifeforms and mutating others.This fictional element is known as Phazon. They retreated the planet, only to have Space Pirates discover it and the powerful Phazon. Samus is there to stop the space pirates a second time. this indeed is a very original concept and a cool storyline to play by.
To complete this adventure, Samus has a variety of weapons and technological gadgets in her arsenal, complements of the Chozo. Her weapons include a missile launcher (activated with the Y button) and four different "beam cannons" including the standard rapid-fire power beam, the electrical wave beam, the freezing ice beam, and the very powerful plasma beam. The controls are easy to use and the beams are selected using the C-stick and fired using the A button. An auto-aim function is available when Samus is looking at an enemy, which is a very useful funtion in this 3D first person perspective. Her life support system exists in her suit, which comes in standard, heat resistant, and gravity resistant. And in addition to her suits, she can switch her visors to utulize the situation, they include he standard combat visor, the scan visor, the heat-detector visor, and the x-ray visor. They again are easily seelcted with the D-pad. Her movements are standardly controlled using the control stick, and (if there is no enemy in her line of sight) Samas can strafe left/right by holding down the L shoulder button and moving the control stick in the desired direction. The morph ball funtion is also a nice addition into the game, as it can plant bombs and manuver smothly. It is oftenly used to fit through small holes that Samus would otherwise not be able to fit through.
The sounds are quite nice, as there is effective use in the whole environment. As her suit gets damaged, Samus ccan hear electrostatic signals in her suit that initiate she is being damaged. There are many life-forms in the game with rheir own distinctive sounds. Sound is realistically dullened when underwater as sound travels slower in water. The variety of environmential sounds is really appealing, and makes another reason of this game's superiority.
A spot where a game is really noticed and firstly commented on is its graphic display. This is a very important aspect to conquer and is the second most important feature in a video game, next to gameplay. This is probably the area where Prime shines the most, as it handles this aspect with amazing creativity and detail. This game was released in 2002 and is one of the most graphically appealing games on any system and gives Resident Evil 4 a run for its money. Samus' armour is new and cooler than ever before; it is different looking in shape and has a very shiney texture. The enemies are very detailed from head to toe, or whatever it may have, whether it be sythe-like appendages, gellatnous form, or crunchy exoskeleton. The detail in this game's graphics is beyond words and is something you must experience, but i will mention one more feature. As Samus enters different climates and meets new conditions, you will know not only by a change in environment, but by a change in your visor's look. When Samus emerges from a body of water, the water collected on her helmet slowly slides of of her field of vision, creating a chillingly graphic eyecandy. As Samus enters foggy areas, her visor begins to fog! Tiny water droplets and fog can be seen on her visor. And as a last note (for those who already have the game), the next time you go underwater, approach a wall and fire a charged power beam at it iwth you facing the wall. You must be very close, and you will see a familiar face :P. Nice details, if you ask me.
In short, there is no questions to why Gamespot gave Metroid Prime one of the highest game ratings ever, and is truely an experience to be played by all who can handle it.