Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Review
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer:
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PEGI:
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It’s been a long time since Metroid Prime 3 ended, a whopping 18 years. With the last Metroid Prime game launching in 2007, safe to say that fans have been anxiously waiting this release. Honestly, it felt like this week would never come, as Metroid Prime 4 went through a number of rollercoaster moments during it’s development cycle. Other Metroid games have released during this lull, but as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy Metroid outside of the Prime series, it wasn’t enough for me. The question becomes: is the hype so big for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond that it cannot possibly live up to it? Let’s check it out!
Samus is not alone in this latest release, and as you begin your adventure you’ll be fighting alongside federation troops to take down some easy space pirates. The action kicks off right away, which I appreciate for a game like this – getting you situated and learning the basic controls is often stuffed beneath layers of story and simple mechanic learning, but in Metroid Prime 4: you are almost thrown right into the action. This will get stripped away and new ideas will be implemented over time, but getting right into things is probably my favourite way to get into games like this. Within a short time you are transported of the world of Viewros where the design team begins to stray from what is familiar to Prime fans, and might great some issues for some. That said, I love to see development teams swing for the fences, and this is defineitly the case with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Story aside – a bit of a mix of a story, to be honest, with a baddie that doesn’t get enough time – the mechanics in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are outstanding. Samus’ movement, guns, ball, and motorbike seamlessly work together, and it all feels really smooth and intuitive. I’ve played action shooters before where swapping between different vehicles, modes, etc. is clunky and disjointed. When you master it in Metroid Prime 4, it feels satisfying almost every single time.
Artistically, Beyond is an absolute dream, and is probably the best looking game Nintendo has ever published. Even for those who are not a fan of the Metroid series, the visual quality here should get Nintendo Switch 2 owners excited about the possibilities on this platform. Honestly, seeing Metroid Prime 4 has increased my anticipation of what a new Xenoblade game could look like 10 fold. The game has phenomenal lighting, and the variety in plants and animals (alien’smonsters?) look outstanding. Even the smallest corners of the open world areas have little details that, again, get me excited for the future of the console. There are times where I wish there was a bit more – crossing the dessert on Samus’ bike can feel a bit open and empty at times.
In fact, it’s this open desert that is the biggest letdown for me overall. I really like the new bike Samus has access to, but this area feels like it only exists to make the bike worthwhile. Scrapping it all loses us a really cool new machine for Samus, but also alleviates the worst part of the game in my opinion. This area serves mostly as just a hub, and I never felt like I had to spend more time than necessary criss-crossing this area. It was the levels you accessed from this hub area where Metroid Prime 4 shines the most.
Each area is beautifully detailed and unique, and exploring each feels like large dungeons. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond isn’t an overly long game, roughly 16-20 hours to complete, so don’t expect more than what you get when you enter each of these sub-areas. They are impressive, but again are more like dungeons than new worlds to explore. And honestly, that’s pretty OK with me, as the game doesn’t overstay it’s welcome in my opinion. Honestly, Metroid Prime gives back to you whatever you want to put into it. Want to quickly blow through these linear areas and push the story forward? Find the upgrade/gadget in the area and take down the areas boss. But if you want to explore and learn, there are tons of things to scan and read along the way.
The Metroid series has always felt like a solitary experience, with Samus moving about on their own. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond introduces characters that will tag along with you for parts of the story, and while I was never overly annoyed by their presence or dialogue (which will give hints for progression), I do think this will be a decisive addition to the franchise. These characters don’t stick around long, which means you will never feel fully connected to any of them. But there are many to interact with throughout your adventure, so when you see the first one, expect a lot more. Again, it wasn’t so much the addition to the game that made Metroid Prime 4 better, but rather another testament to what Nintendo and their studios can do with the right investment. Facial animations are fantastic, and voice acting is top notch across the board. These companions might lack character arcs, but that didn’t stop the development team from going all out on everything else.
There are other things that are going to be a problem for some players. Character dialogue gets repetitive, and the story doesn’t seem to always have a great focus, aside from learning the history of the planet. All of these issues, though, are small in my opinion, and don’t detract from what is a really great game, and likely one of the better titles we will get on Nintendo Switch 2. Ultimately, though, the hype for this game is likely to do more harm than good. There are a ton of things that just seem 3/4 of the way there, and all of this would probably be more easily forgiven if we hadn’t waited so long. To be fair, that’s not necessarily a knock against this Metroid experience, but they hype is real and there are too many things that might bother people to say it has lived up for fans.
I’ve enjoyed the Metroid Prime series as a whole but I’m far from a hardcore Metroid fan. That said, when breaking down my experience from start to finish, it was one of the more enjoyable Metroid Prime releases in my opinion. The inclusion of mouse controls is really great, and was definitely the way I played the majority of my time in the game. I do feel that with most mouse supported games, while you CAN use your paints as a mouse pad, it’s probably not the best way to do things. When playing at my desk, mouse support was fantastic. It was really fluid to move between mouse support and Joy-Con 2 support. That said, I know a lot of people are not going to use this mode as most people find the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls uncomfortable. I’m not in that camp, but I do know that is a popular opinion.
Overall, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a great game that doesn’t overstay its welcome. You won’t get dozens of hours of fun, but you get a tight and clean experience that doesn’t linger. It runs incredibly well with very few – if any – graphical or performance issues. We highly recommend this title for your Holiday 2025 season!
Article By Adam
