Metroid Prime is simply a masterpiece.
True, Metroid Prime isn't developed by Nintendo. And yes, the game does take risks and turns in the series, but it's all for the better. Hell, much more than "better." The game is nearly perfect.
First off, Metroid Prime is set in the future. The story is revolved around a bounty hunter named Samus from the planet Earth, sent throughout the universe to destroy her rivals, the Space Pirates. The game starts off as a past event, in which Samus lands on a Space Pirate frigate to infiltrate it and kill remaining Space Pirates. The game starts out as a creepy, stealth operation through a ship. At the end of the operation, you are sent to destroy the Parasite Queen, a monster parasite that you've been hunting for months. The battle goes horribly wrong when you destroy the Parasite Queen and the place is set on fire. Samus is then given a new objective to escape the entire ship, from inside-out, in a matter of minutes before it explodes. The beginning of the game gives so much emotion; it rushes you to escape as you are frantic to survive. Before you escape, your longtime rival in the Metroid series returns in an alternate form: Meta Ridley. After destroying Ridley in a past Metroid game, Ridley returns rebuilt out of metal. Because you don't have time to escape, Samus evades Meta Ridley and rushes to safety, but Meta Ridley manages to damage Samus. This is the point in the game in which you lose your power-ups. Samus manages to escape, but then Meta Ridley starts flying away. But then Samus realizes that she had failed her mission because the ship would be crashing into a planet instead of combusting. Meta Ridley and the Space Pirate frigate ship head toward the planet in a crash-landing, and you are then sent to follow them.
This is the beginning of the game and events then lead on from there. After landing on the planet, Samus discovers that her crash-landing on the planet is much more than a hunt for the Space Pirates, but an epic struggle to save the planet from the Space Pirates' research with the radioactive chemical, Phazon and Metroids.
The gameplay is perfect. This is not spoken figuratively; the game's gameplay mechanics don't go wrong anywhere. Thinking back at the great memories with the gameplay, I can honestly say that the game doesn't falter anywhere, nor does it have any imperfections. The story leads on with a stunning mood that immerses you into the game. The game is a First-Person Adventure (FPA), a newly created genre from Metroid Prime. Basically, it is a first-person shooter at points but it's mainly an adventure game. The controls are adaptive and ergonomic. You are also given different beams (ammo) for your gun, which include different effects against different enemies. The game challenges you with strategy and to think (Zelda-style). There are many different enemies, bosses, power-ups, extras and different things to seek out. There really isn't much more I can say.
Once again, the graphics are marvelous to look at. The game's environments change from sandy ruins to under-land volcanoes to frozen mountains. Effects, lighting and color all add to the excellence. Enough said.
The sound is fabulous. F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S. The game's soundtrack is another factor that forces you to dive into the atmosphere of the game. When Samus is all alone in the world with no one to rely on but herself, and you've got sad tunes from an excellent soundtrack being played in the background, it's enough to make a big boy cry.
In conclusion, Metroid Prime is marvelous. There really isn't much more to describe the game; the game is so excellent in every aspect that a game can be. It's evident that Retro Studios and Nintendo worked extremely hard for this game. The story and gameplay commingle into such a beautiful piece of work. The game flows gently, atmospherically, and into detail. The game is just so excellent that I was actually speechless trying to recreate the experience of playing this game through words because a thousand words will never match the memories, experience, feelings and emotions that this game can give a human.