Released in early September 2016 on Nintendo 3DS, Metroid Prime: Federation Force has the dubious honor of being the most fan-criticized title in a cult series. And, although Nintendo reacted ten months later by announcing Metroid Prime 4 and with a successful remake of Samus Aran’s second adventure, the truth is we are talking about one of the video games that make the most of the 3DS itself.
At this point, the real question asks itself: What defines the Metroid saga? Between the vast spectrum drawn between the NES classic and the Metroid Prime trilogy, Nintendo has established a playable identity that ranges from the sensation of exploring imposing open environments in relative solitude to the surprising survivability and adaptation of the reckless Samus Aran .
And if all the key aspects surrounding the Samus saga reach their zenith in Super Metroid, their sonorous absence takes a huge toll on Metroid Prime: Federation Force . Not because it is a spin-off with direct ties to the main deliveries, but because it is considered a lost opportunity to revitalize a key saga for Nintendo. Something that the fans considered at the time as a humorless joke.
Which raises an even more interesting new question: is Metroid Prime: Federation Force a ” bad Metroid ” or can it be considered a bad game? Because in each cult saga there is a misguided delivery or – at least – a game that takes advantage of its acronyms. Like, for example, the Zeldas from CD-i or Metal Gear Survive.
The short answer is that Next Level Games, responsible for the game (as well as essentials such as Luigi’s Mansion 3 or the not enough remembered Mario Strikers ) failed to connect with the essence of the saga, including everything that makes it fascinating, and they did not offer a really interesting multiplayer FPS. At least for the bulk of Nintendo 3DS players. The long one is more interesting, of course, and requires more nuance.
Metroid Prime: ¡Chibi mekas al rescate!
The marksmanship of the bounty hunter Samus Aran has made a difference in a time when space pirates sow – without discretion – chaos and discord throughout the galaxy. However, the true responsibility for stopping these vandals rests with the Galactic Federation. More specifically, in its elite forces: the Federation Force.
Following the destruction of the Phazon , a new threat has been detected in the desolate Bermuda system. And although the dangers that may exist in the three planets that compose it are unknown, the mekas , the new and colossal specialized combat armor of the Federation Force, will allow them to overcome any eventuality and destroy any enemy that comes their way. .
Ahead, three planets that we must explore and rid of any threat: the snowy world of Excelcion , the planet dominated by lava Bion and, finally, Talvania , where the surface is covered with sand and the skies of electrical storms. And despite the fact that all planets breathe an air of science fiction, in none of them will we find the Metroid Prime experience that is promised from the title.
So to speak, in Metroid Prime: Federation Force there is no proper campaign. Rather, the game consists of a total of 22 missions that we will unlock in a staggered manner. Something more than twenty maps in which we will have to investigate, eliminate dangerous life forms or, simply, carry out escorts.
And although the size and design of each map and mission, respectively, is more or less correct, from the first game one of the key points of Federation Force is palpable : each of the game’s missions are designed for multiplayer. Which has two direct consequences: on the one hand, and inevitably, the game loses whole points alone. On the other, and this is more evident, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is more of a cooperative FPS than a Metroid game.
The biggest problem with Metroid Prime: Federation Force is not the acronyms
Is it possible to offer a good FPS on Nintendo 3DS? Definitely yes. And, at least in that regard, Metroid Prime: Federation Force knows how to bring out the best of the laptop. That the first 3DS models did not have a right stick or additional upper buttons is not an obstacle to offering fluid controls based on the console’s gyroscopes and a very successful pointing system. The control system is not the problem.
What does not quite work around the game is its own simplicity as a multiplayer shooter: the competitive experience is relegated to the Blast Ball, a second game included within Metroid Prime: Federation Force that we will talk about below, and -above all- that pales in not offering the player a real solo incentive. Unless, of course, your real priority is unlocking things.
The replayability of Metroid Prime: Federation Force goes through the unlockables: in addition to the missions, we can get new aspects for our meka, as well as weapons and power-ups. In this way, it is promoted that there are no two players with the same characteristics and that we help our teammates by taking specific roles in the game. Logically, on paper the theory looks better.
Logically, Nintendo did its homework when it came to offering multiplayer facilities: in addition to being able to share locally via wireless, an online multiplayer option was included with a communication system that gave an intelligent use to the crosshead for predefined messages and the map. on the touch screen. Another thing, of course, is to find games or someone who wants to play Metroid Prime: Federation Force. And that, however you look at it, is the big problem.
Although there is the possibility of playing the 22 scenarios in an indefinite loop once the difficult mode is unlocked, each player must have a copy of Metroid Prime: Federation Force in addition to the bad publicity of the game since its own announcement ended playing completely against him. Logically, the single-player experience did not help make it more recommendable either.
Blast Ball, the parallel sports experience that also failed to score extra points
The missions of Metroid Prime: Federation Force alone are something very difficult to defend. No matter how much you are a fan of the Metroid saga or you prefer casual-cut FPS. And that in 3DS there were hardly any alternatives: modest Ghost Recon Shadow Wars , Moon Chronicles and little else paraded on the screens with Nintendo’s 3D technology.
It is not so much a matter of lack of variety in the Federation Force levels, and it is not that -as we mentioned- the controls play against it, but rather that, as with games as different as Overwatch, Overcooked! 2 or Sea of Thieves, the true essence of the game is in its multiplayer.
And, despite this, the set is not so attractive as for two or more players. At least not like the Mario kart or Super Smash Bros from 3DS.
That said, there is scope to offer shared experiences in the Metroid series . Nintendo and Retro Studios were able to explore this aspect very well in the Metroid Prime sequels. Coincidence or not, Next Level Games realized that they had to offer a great extra incentive for Metroid Prime: Federation Force ; And that incentive was called Blast Ball.
Unlocked from scratch after completing the game’s tutorial, Blast Ball is the competitive alternative to Metroid Prime: Federation Force . A first-person sports bet in which two teams of three mekas will use all kinds of shots and resources to introduce a huge sphere into the opposing goal. The rules? The first team to score three goals wins.
Said wrong and soon, the Blast Ball a kind of Lúcioball from Overwatch with the playable scheme and the mekas from Metroid Prime: Federation Force , and the latter has an added nuance: in addition to being able to use the improvements and outfits unlocked within this included game In another game , we can concentrate on eliminating other players with cannon shots or by throwing the ball at them.
With the above ahead, the really interesting thing about Blast Ball is that everyone was invited to play: beyond the options of solo play, local play and online, the sports alternative of Metroid Prime: Federation Force appeared in the eShop as a free, separate download.
And while the Blast Ball was a brilliant idea to promote the main game, the reality is that Nintendo shut down its servers on the last day of 2016. By then, Metroid Prime: Federation Force hadn’t been on the shelves for five months. Although, on the other hand, at that time nobody paid much attention to it: the presentation of Nintendo Switch was imminent.
Federation Force: An ambitious idea long overdue, a bad celebration of Metroid’s legacy
Let’s return to the initial question: is Metroid Prime: Federation Force a ” bad Metroid ” or can it be considered a bad game? Regarding the former, the 3DS game brings some minor nuance to the saga and completes its lore, integrating between the events of Metroid II and Super Metroid . And yes, despite the fact that all the prominence falls on the aforementioned Federation Force, Samus Aran appears in the game for more than just saying hello.
In defense of Metroid Prime: Federation Force, it is necessary to say several specific aspects: as Nintendo did with The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, this game sought to explore and expand the cooperative multiplayer offer of 3DS through a of his most beloved and recognizable sagas. How to think that that same was going to play against him ?
In 2016, in addition, the 30 years of the Metroid saga were celebrated. With what. Through Federation Force, they wanted to give fans a new perspective on the saga’s universe through a very different gaming experience. A new type of Metroid totally focused on multiplayer. A game made in a hurry, in any way and to take advantage of the hook of a brand? Nothing is further from reality.
As Kensuke Tanabe , producer of the series and head of the Metroid Prime series, told USGamer , the central idea behind Metroid Prime: Federation Force had been around the Nintendo offices for years.
Since I was working on the Metroid Prime series, I had the idea to start developing [a Metroid game] that was not focused on Samus and to give more prominence to the Federation Force and their fight against the Space Pirates.
I didn’t have the opportunity to work on a project like that for quite some time, but when I heard about the development of the new New 3DS and that it would have a C-stick, I thought it could give a lot of play and even create an FPS for the console.
It is then that a third essential element appears to understand the bad reception of the game from its own presentation: the Metroid saga , one of the key sagas of the Big N, not only seemed almost forgotten, but Metroid Other M -the installment developed by Team Ninja for Wii had divided opinions.
Consequently, and seeing the direction that the Metroid Prime: Federation Force saga had taken as a result of its first trailer (which was punished with a 90% “thumbs down” on YouTube), a strong discontent and greater disappointment was generated. versus the game itself. A Change.org campaign was even created against the Federation Force , which – not surprisingly – surprised Tanabe.
Nintendo is a company that knows how to combine conservative values with highly experimental ideas. Link’s appearance in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker also had a cold reception that was overshadowed by the excellence of the game. But, of course, in no case is it possible to consider Metroid Prime: Federation Force as an excellent game. And not only that, alone it is difficult to classify it as a truly entertaining game, even in the face of the scarcity of FPS on 3DS.
What has established the Metroid saga as a cult saga is not its masterful way of offering side-scrolling or first-person action, but the way in which the reckless bounty hunter Samus Aran is able to immerse us in an adventure that transcends the screen. . Through its pixels or in 3D models, the best Metroid installments obsess us from start to finish. With its setting, with its progression system and its challenging levels and exquisitely designed levels.
Would Metroid Prime: Federation Force have gone through 3DS without pain or glory if it did not carry the initials of Metroid? That we will not know. Perhaps that same better-developed idea, with a solid campaign and on a console where FPS works better, would have found a different predisposition. But, of course, then we would already be talking about another game.
However, there is something that we can make clear: in 2021 the 35 years of Metroid are celebrated and Nintendo is fully aware of the responsibility that brings the saga back. Enough, to restart the development of Metroid Prime 4 from scratch if you consider that it is not able to meet expectations.
