Seeing as how it's a scant few days until the official release of
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, I've decided to hype the shit out of it in one all-encompassing rush of information and Samus-love!
For those of you unaware of what MP2 actually
is, I'll enlighten you. In November of 2002, Nintendo released unto the buying public not one, but
two new installments of the Metroid franchise, a series Nintendo hadn't laid hands upon for
eight years. Not since the stellar
Super Metroid, released on the SNES in 1994, has Nintendo's fanbase been given a fresh episode of the advantures of Samus Aran, galactic bounty hunter and Metroid destroyer. The two games Nintendo gave us in 2002 were the GBA title
Metroid Fusion, met with ciritcism and praise, and the series'
first foray into the realm of 3D,
Metroid Prime, for the Nintendo Gamecube. Since the release of the original Metroid Prime, people have hailed it as the absolute pinnacle of software to be found on the console, and for very good reason. It was a brilliantly designed, constantly compelling and perfectly balanced mixture of depthy exploration, nerve-wracking action and engrossing plot. Since it's release, it has been hailed by most fans as being the absolute perfect translation of the Metroid series into a 3D medium, and for the last two years we have waited for the sequel, frothing with demand for it.
And now we come to it. On November 15th, 2004, Nintendo and Retro Studios will release the second installment of the 3D Metroid Franchise,
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I'll give you all the information I have, and when I'm done, you'll be sweating rivers in anticipation.
Samus takes aim
The second installment of the 3D Metroid saga takes place just after the events of Metroid Prime. Samus has just escaped the planet Tallon IV after having defeated Metroid Prime itself, when she recieves a communique from the Galactic Federation headquarters. A support team sent to the nearby planet Aether has suddenly gone silent. Headquarters hasn't recieved any word from the team for several hours and they request that Samus head down to the planet to lend support and provide a status report if possible.
Upon approaching the planet, Aran sees that the entire world seems visually unstable. The entire globe seems to phase in and out of existence, shifting between two polar "light and dark" extremes. Entering the planet's atmosphere proves to be much harder than expected. Violent electrical storms rip through the sky, causing interferece with her ship, forcing her to make a rocky emergency landing. Upon exiting her ship and further exploring the planet, she locates the Galactic Federation team, all slaughtered by an unknown assailant. Further exploring the region, Samus encounters a wise race of creatures native to Aether, named the Luminoth. Asking for assistance from these pacifistic creaures, the bounty hunter is informed of several things: 1) Their planet has been invaded by the Space Pirate scum that Samus has been fighting since her first mission. They have apparently come in search of Phazon to mine, which was their objective on Tallon 4. 2) While the Space Pirates are certainly a threat, they are not the ones responsible for the slaying of the Galactic Federation Team that Samus came in search of. Another native race of Aether, a violent, dark breed of creature named the Ing are responsible, and they are at fault for far more wrongdoing that simple murder.
Samus learns that Aether itself is being ripped apart by the Ing. They are the physical, intellectual and spiritual opposite to the Luminoth, so much to the point where their very presence has caused a disturbance in the fabric of reality itself. The odd phase-distortion that Samus had seen when approaching the planet is a result of two wholly separate versions of Aether itself, each fighting for dominance. These two separate worlds, named the Light World and Dark World, for the sake of convenience, are constantly vying for superiority over the other, and as such they are causing the entire planet to break down. While the Luminoth are passive, kind creatures, intent only on living peacefully, the Ing desire nothing less than to slaughter and devour every last thing in existence. In return for repairing Samus' ship, thereby allowing her to escape the planet later, they ask that she rid their world of both the Space Pirate menace and the Ing Hordes completely.
However, the going won't be quite as easy as it seems. In order to defeat the Ing and Space Pirate threats, Samus will have to traverse both the Light and Dark dimensions of Aether. She will have to travel into the Dark World in order to hunt down and exterminate the Ing Hordes on their own turf. However, doing so comes at a price. The Dark World literally
drips with such powerful negative energy that simply existing there for too long can cause her physical harm. In order to give her some sort of advantage over these seemingly insurmountable odds, the Luminoth provide her with two brand-new weapons with which to defend herself: the Light Beam and the Dark Beam. The Light Beam works wonders against Dark World enemies, and the reverse it true for the Dark Beam. However, (and this is a first for the Metroid franchise) these two incredibly destructive beam weapons have a limited supply of ammunition, which Samus will have to constantly monitor in order to make sure she's properly armed at all times.
Samus in the Dark Suit
In addition to her two new Beam types, Samus will also acquire several new extra abilities and pieces of equipment during her mission. She will acquire at least two new suits of armor, including a Dark Suit capable of protecting her from the corrosive effects of the Dark World. She will also apparently acquire a few new, as of yet unannounced, Beam types. Also, longtime fans of the series will be
elated to learn that MP2: Echoes will hail the return of Samus' legendary Screw Attack and wall-jump abilities from previous games in the series. In addition, Samus' missiles will also recieve an upgrade or two, including the ability to lock onto multiple targets for maximized destructive capabilities. Finally, Samus will be granted two new Visors, the Dark Visor, with enhanced visibility in darkness, and the Echo Visor, which sees pure sound. Samus will also have full access to the majority of abilities and weapons offered to her in Metroid Prime, including the Morphball mode, Grappling Beam and Beam/Missile Combo weapons.
Concept Art of Dark Samus
If the odds didn't seem stacked against our heroine
quite enough beforehand, Samus has one other nasty opponent to deal with during her travels. Dark Samus. In the end sequence of the previous game, Samus lost her powerful Phazon Armor to Metroid Prime during their final battle. As inner catacombs of the Phazon Crater collapsed around her, she escaped, leaving the Phazon Suit and her
apparently dead opponent behind. However, as she escaped the planet's atmosphere on her ship, her discarded armor suddenly sprang to life, apparently now possessed by the undying will of Metroid Prime itself. Since Samus' escape, Dark Samus has pursued her across the galaxy to Aether with the sole intention of humiliating and destroying the bounty hunter. During the course of her time on Aether, Samus will be forced to do battle with her Dark counterpart several times.
Multiplayer goodness!
On top of all of these incredible enhancements being made to the single-player game, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes will also feature the series' first
multiplayer experience. Players will all control their own Samus in a variety of first-person deathmatch modes, loaded with weapon powerups, and several environmental additons such as the Morphball cannons, which launch Samus over great distances while in Morphball form.
The game will feature an innumerable amount of graphical enhancements over the original, an amazing soundtrack, several new modes of play, plenty of unlockables and enough atmosphere and high-intensity action to keep you superglued in front of your TV for days.
November 15th quickly approaches. Reserve your copy now! Else you'll get a healthy dose of Dark Beam upside your head!
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