Norion: The small GFS base on Norion consists mostly of plain metal corridors, demonstrating that the humans aren't as prone to artistic expression in their architecture as other civilized species tend to be. Damaged from a Pirate attack, broken glass and exposed conduits make footing treacherous in places.
Bryyo: The most diverse of the alien worlds, Bryyo offers a wonderfully bizarre landscape of bulbous, spiked growths and cyclopean golems. The planet's moons are held in low geosynchronous orbit by gigantic chains. Luminous butterflies swarm about lakes of brilliantly-lit fuel gel, a caustic fluid taking the traditional place of lava as an environmental hazard. Hidden away within the alien jungles is a warp point taking Samus to a small snow enshrouded citadel, glistening with ice.
Elysia: Planet Elysia is home to an ancient Chozo research station called Sky Town, a city that literally hovers amongst the clouds, held aloft by rocket thrusters. The city is broken up into small hubs of rooms and elevators separated by suspended walkways, zip-lines, and open space. The Chozo bird motif is seen throughout the metal structures, their forms bronzed with age. Tiny repair robots skitter about, frantically working to keep the shuttering structures aloft.
Pirate Homeworld: Industrial and uninviting, it seems the entire world is a warren of metal halls and jumbled machinery. Red and orange are the dominant colors with blue tendrils of phazon reaching towards the sky. Here is the odd beast, victim of pirate experimentation, its massive carcass now simply a part of the room to be burrowed through and built around.
GFS Valhalla: Easily one of the moodiest locations seen in the trilogy, this battered ship reminds me of the Space Pirate Frigate, bringing the journey full circle in a way. Garishly lit by the enveloping nebula, the wrecked capital ship bears the scars of the battle it lost. Smoldering debris drifts through the airless rooms exposed to the vacuum of space. Twisted metal fills passageways, and the bodies of marines and pirates alike remain frozen in silent testimony to violence.
Phaaze: Liquid neon shifting blues, flowing like blood through capillaries. Crystalline structures tall as skyscrapers, membranous walls and too many things writhing and pulsating to coral with a few sentences. Everything radiating light. A visual tour de force, but don't admire the scenery too long—Samus' very life is eroding away.