E3 Preview: Metroid Prime 3

Initially, though there was only one beam (the power beam) present in the demo, I was a bit concerned in regards to how to select a different weapon beam. In the first two Prime titles there would be three additional beams other than the standard power beams that could be switched to with ease depending on the situation. It seems fairly obvious that the d-pad on the Wii Remote will be used for the scan visors, but what of beam selection? Well as it turns out beams will now stack like they did in Super Metroid. So instead of having to switch from your power beam to another beam that can shoot through walls in Prime 3, your normal beam will instead gain that functionality and be graphically altered to boot.


The newest gameplay mechanic featured in the demo involved using Samus' traditional grapple hook in a new way. Samus can how use it to pry things from the environment or even enemies. No longer will it be used for swinging alone. In fact, no actual swinging of the grapple hook was in the demo as the focus was placed on the new ability to, well, grapple with your grapple.

There were numerous points in the demo where Samus had to pry off a door or obstacle from a tunnel. This was done by locking onto the object or door in question and then flicking the Nunchuk attachment toward the screen. This caused Samus to, likewise, flick her left hand forward and shoot off the grapple beam. Holding back on the Nunchuk's joystick would then cause Samus to yank the door or obstacle away. It's a very impressive new feature and a lot of fun. The mechanic works exactly the same for an enemy. In the demo there was a particular space pirate that would hold up an electric shield of some sort which would deflect all of Samus' power beam shots unless you aimed carefully where his shield did not protect him. Conveniently, instead of having to aim carefully at this enemy every time, you could embarrass him by ripping that shield off with your grappling hook. No doubt he would feel defeated well before you let off a missile into his face.



This is the standard Metroid Visor. You can, um, see with it and shoot at enemies with ease while locking onto them if you like. It has been in all the Prime games and is really not worth describing, but I've done so anyway.



This visor also returns from the first two Primes, but with an updated look. Its general function is the same (lock-on to an enemy, scan them over the course of a couple seconds, gather info) but it now controls slightly different thanks to Samus' ability to lock-on to specific enemies by pointing at them and pressing the lock-on button. While using the visor, scannable items are colored and outlined, while all other surroundings are rendered in black and white. It does a good job of making it easy to see what can and can't be scanned.


This visor was not featured in the E3 2006 demo, but some information is already known. Basically, it is expected to be similar to the X-Ray visor featured in Prime 1, but with far more functionality. Whereas in Prime 1 it was only occasionally used as an important feature in the game and mostly used to find the last few missile expansions or energy packs, Prime 3 promises an X-Ray visor that can see through an enemy's armor to locate a specific weak spot to target, or aid in shooting through walls with one of the game's new beams Samus will collect. Needless to say, the opportunities it presents are intriguing.


This visor was also not in the demo, but is the most intriguing of all. With this visor Samus will be able to command her famous ship to perform certain functions. The extent of how much control over her ship is still to be known, but she will be able to call bombing strikes and use the ship to move large objects in her path. Sounds pretty cool to me and will more than make up for the fact that the game will not allow the player to fly her ship, despite the fact the game will encompass multiple planets for her to explore.