An Impromptu Review of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Let me preface this review by stating some sembalance of scale that I will use for these impromptu reviews. I'll rate games out of 10 with average being 7. To give you a sense of my game tastes, I'll do some list of mini-reviews in a later post.

There's a certain point in a game where it grabs you and you're just all like 'well piss, I guess I have to finish you before I delve into any other venture.'
Metroid Prime 3 has reached that point.

Suprisingly so, because Bioshock reached that point a mere two weeks prior, but then I moved into college and the momentum was disrupted.

MPrimeWii (as it could be hiply abbreviated) is a very pretty game. Not pretty in a 'OMGlolz the graphix are all realistic!' but pretty in a very sweet solid way. While the graphics don't stun, they get the job done and they do it well. Right off the bat you can notice the polish that the game has. It doesn't have to attention to detail that games such as Bioshock have, but it has that Metroid way of doing things. By Metroid way, I mean Super Metroid/Metroid Prime 1, not Prime 2. Prime 2 was a bunch of butt.
Butt yea, very solid and pretty graphics. Good sense of mood and tone. If there is one thing Retro Studios nailed in the 3D revamp of Metroid, it was the mood and tone that Super Metroid perfected. I am currently in the patented spooky dilapidated spaceship scene and its the usual 'Oh shit, a big freaking Metroid is going to pop out at any second' horror movie mentality that usually happens around halfway through any Metroid game. Usually the big Metroid never comes until later, but it is still creepy as shit.

The big new thing with the new game has definitly been the controls. While I did not waste my time with the bounding box ridden lesser control schemes, I can say that the Advanced control scheme is quite joyous. It controls like a dream and sets the standard that all Wii FPS games should strive for. While there is an apparent learning curve, the game controls well and the farther you progress in the game the more you get used to the new method of controlling.
I have read a few reviews where people complain about some peculiar button placement on the Wii Remote (ex. the missiles are down on the D-Pad...Pausing is the 1 button) but I've racked my brain on alternate control schemes and for the context of the game, the controls are perfect after a little getting used to.

The actual game has been very good although a little too linear for Metroid standards. Part of me doesn't mind the little bit of linearity but I can understand why some hardcore fans would be disgusted. Although I'm noticing a more exploratory approach in the early beginings of the second half of the game. The added functionality of the ship has been cool but very underdeveloped. I did enjoy the moment when I accidentally used my ship's missiles in an open area and blew the fuck out of some Lizalfos (I forget the name, but they ain't Space Pirates and they're Lizardmen...thus, it must be a Zelda reference).
The boss battles have been rather spectacular thus far and I anticipate them only getting better the closer I get to endgame. The majority of them are huge and have patterns that take more time to figure out than the average boss. Some highlights include a midair duel with Ridley, a battle with a ball-craving war golem and a slippery fight with a plasma beam wielding corrupted being (Not Dark Samus).
The powerups have been standard Metroid fare but I just recently got the Screw Attack and its as cool as ever as it was in Metroid Prime 2. Probably one of the few good things to come out of Prime 2.

The voice acting and story that have been going on in the game has been standard fare but it definitly suits the space nature of the series and I welcome the appearance of story in Metroid games with wide open arms. It is about freaking time Nintendo put solid voice acting in a game not about a Fox.

I think that about concludes this inaugural review. I hope it didn't suck too bad and it was good for you and good for me...ya know, just like sex.

Final Score: 9.5/10
Final Very Long Summary Sentence: A very good single player experience with such wonderful new features like Wii controls and voice acting that has very few drawbacks.

My Opinion on Other Metroid Games
Metroid (NES) - 6/10
Super Metroid (SNES) - 10/10
Metroid Prime (GCN) - 8.5/10
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GCN) - 7/10
Metroid Prime Pinball (DS) - 7.5/10