Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Review – A Stunning Return
▼ Summary
– Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a visually stunning and atmospheric game that successfully revives the 3D series, though it cannot fully meet years of built-up anticipation.
– The game features significant flaws, including a large, barren desert area that serves as tedious padding and a lack of enemy and boss variety with repetitive attack patterns.
– Its story is largely standalone and unintrusive, focusing on the extinct Lamorn race and incorporating new psychic abilities for Samus, while the presence of Galactic Federation troopers does not ruin the sense of isolation.
– Progression is more linear than in past Prime games, with some hand-holding elements, but backtracking for 100% completion is well-supported by map upgrades and shortcuts.
– Despite its shortcomings, the game offers satisfying controls, excellent technical performance on Switch 2, and delivers a rewarding adventure that fans of the series will likely enjoy.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond delivers a visually breathtaking and atmospheric return to the beloved first-person adventure series, even if it stumbles in a few key areas. The game’s stunning environments and compelling sense of isolation successfully recapture the magic of the original Prime titles. However, a massive, barren desert zone and a surprising lack of enemy and boss variety prevent it from reaching the legendary heights of its predecessors. For fans who have waited nearly two decades, this is a satisfying, if slightly flawed, homecoming for Samus Aran.
The moment the title screen appears, it’s clear Retro Studios understands the series’ core appeal. A hypnotic, alien aesthetic and a haunting musical score immediately pull you into its world. This presentation is so absorbing that the intrusive platform branding feels like a minor blemish on an otherwise perfect setup. Beyond feels like a direct successor to the atmospheric exploration of the first Metroid Prime, wisely moving past the motion-controlled gimmicks of its immediate predecessor. Familiar biomes like dense jungles and industrial complexes are rendered with incredible detail, each feeling like a place with a deep, mysterious history.
This is, without question, a gorgeous game. On newer hardware, the visual fidelity is astounding, with environmental design that is both artistically striking and rich with narrative clues. The lighting in derelict laboratories or the oppressive scale of ancient forges creates an unparalleled sense of place. Yet, for all its beauty, the experience is marred by significant design choices. The much-touted open desert, Sol Valley, is a profound disappointment. Designed for traversal on a new speeder bike, the area is overwhelmingly large and painfully empty, serving as little more than tedious padding between the game’s more compelling locations.
Combat also shows signs of rust. Enemy variety is surprisingly sparse, with only a handful of genuinely threatening types appearing throughout the entire journey. Boss fights are particularly underwhelming; most share similar attack patterns and rarely require strategic use of Samus’s arsenal. It’s not until the exceptional final confrontation that the game delivers a battle worthy of the series’ legacy. This simplicity extends to progression, which is more linear than the labyrinthine layouts of past games. While this streamlined approach can be effective, certain areas devolve into repetitive combat gauntlets that lack inspiration.
Where the game truly excels is in its core exploration loop and mood. The story of the extinct Lamorn race, discovered through environmental scanning and data logs, is fascinating and unintrusive. Samus gains new psychic abilities from this lost civilization, allowing her to manipulate the environment in fresh ways, though her classic arsenal of beams and bombs remains satisfyingly familiar. Backtracking to find every item is a joy, thanks to clever shortcuts and a helpful mapping system that reveals collectibles. When Samus is fully powered in the late game, navigating these intricate biomes feels incredibly rewarding.
Concerns about chatty Galactic Federation troopers breaking the series’ isolation are largely unfounded. While one character has an irritating habit of solving puzzles for you, the group is mostly endearing and their presence is limited to specific story beats. Their evolving home base adds a touch of welcome life to the world. The game’s technical presentation is a marvel, offering multiple control schemes, including superb gyro and mouse support, and silky-smooth performance that makes Samus a pleasure to control.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a brilliant, if inconsistent, revival. Its breathtaking art direction, tight controls, and captivating atmosphere provide a powerful reminder of why this series is so revered. The expansive desert and lackluster boss fights hold it back from true greatness, but the overall adventure is deeply compelling. This is a triumphant return to form that proves there’s still immense life in Samus Aran’s 3D explorations, leaving us hopeful that her next mission arrives much sooner.
(Source: TechRadar)
