E3 2006 - Wii - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
by Matt Casamassina

  • The Wii-mote's responsiveness enables gameplay situations simply not possible with dual-analog sticks - even with their sensitivity turned all the way up. Once I figured out what to do - how to hold the remote and how much pressure to apply for aiming and turning - I was able to run through the game's environments with considerably less trouble and occasionally I found myself kicking a little ass. You can manually aim or alternatively auto target with the press of a button, and I employed both methods to obliterate foes. It was during these situations that I transitioned from being engaged to being hooked. When you're on your game, pointing the Wii-mote at multiple enemies can be a breeze and it's an extremely intuitive and rewarding experience. Retro seems to understand this because as a whole Prime 3 features more combatants than ever before and the artificial intelligence of these characters has been vastly ramped up.

    Retro is using the nunchuck's accelerometer in an interesting, surprisingly non-gimmicky way. It controls Aran's grappling beam. You simply gesture flick the unit forward and the heroine's beam springs outward. The beam is used offensively, too, which is a pleasing addition, to say the least. Some Space Pirates come fully equipped with shields that they stubbornly refuse to part with, and therefore you have to figure out a way to disarm them. The grappling beam does the trick. Flick gesture the nunchuck unit toward one of these creatures and her beam will blast toward them and grip their shield. Then, all you need do is press backward on the nunchuck unit's analog stick and you'll literally rip the shield away, exposing the Space Pirate. This process is all the more intuitive because it can be done completely separate from the aiming process - once you've mastered it, you'll notice yourself blasting at enemies as you tear shields off others.

    The Wii-mote is likewise used in clever ways. The world in Prime 3 is of course littered with trademark doorways, many of which open when blasted. Some, however, don't - and you'll need to try a little harder to get past them. In a couple instances, I needed to use the Wii-mote to act as Aran's right arm. When I approached a doorway, I noticed a groove in a wall and learned that I could gesture forward with the Wii-mote to make Samus punch her arm into the groove. Then, I had to turn the remote as though it were a key in a lock, at which point Aran's arm did the same. Eventually, I needed to pull backward again, and here Samus grabbed hold of a level inside the door and - you guessed it - pulled it open, unlocking the contraption. The process was really well implemented and clever.

    Some notes on the other controls. You do not, as previously suspected, make a stabbing motion with either controller to trigger the morphball. You simply press a button on the nunchuck and she drops. Neither do you control the morphball with the Wii-mote. It's done with the nunchuck's analog stick. Weapons are selected with the D-Pad on the Wii-remote and Samus shoots her blasters whenever you hit the A button. It all seems to work perfectly fine.

    The fastest 10 minutes of my life were spent playing Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. When it was all over, I was reluctant t leave. The Nintendo people handling the demo first informed me that my time was up. I continued playing. They then asked me to finish up. I kept playing. Finally, they told me that I had to end the session and I begrudgingly agreed to accommodate their demands. It's a shame because I left the demo really liking some parts of Prime 3 and totally unsure about other portions. If I could have only had another half hour, or perhaps six hours, with the game, everything would surely be clear.

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