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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is the sequel to Metroid Prime, also released on Nintendo GameCube, in 2004. It was the first Metroid game to feature a multiplayer mode.
Gameplay
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a first-person shooter and action-adventure video game that revolves around combat, puzzle-solving, and platform-jumping. The game takes place on the fictitious planet Aether, home to a race of moth-people called the Luminoth. Players must navigate an expansive map of interconnected regions in order to uncover secrets, collect items, and ultimately win the game. In addition to the overworld map, there is also a parallel "dark" realm that bears a strong semblance to the light world. The atmosphere of Dark Aether is detrimental to Samus's health, but much of the damage can be negated or reduced by use of light beacons and various suit upgrades. Exploring Dark Aether is necessary, which forces player to continually warp between the two worlds via portals in order to progress.
The heads-up display (HUD) simulates Samus's visor. Samus's health bar, weapon selection, map, radar, and visor are displayed around the edges of the screen at all times. Throughout the game the player collects various visors that change the way Samus views Aether. The Combat Visor is the default visor used for most navigation; the Scan Visor collects information on enemies and landmarks; the Thermal Visor can be used to track heat signatures of foes and otherwise invisible platforms; the Echo Visor makes supersonic activity visible to the player.
Echoes and the original Metroid Prime are very similar in terms of controlling Samus and her weapons and visors. However, while the core gameplay remains in tact, Retro Studios modified a large number of existing elements and added quite a few new ones. Samus gradually acquires new power suit upgrades: the Dark Suit, which decreases the rate at which Dark Aether's harmful atmosphere deteriorates Samus's health bar, and the Light Suit, which eliminates that threat entirely. Additionally, new weapons have been added to Echoes, such as the Screw Attack.
Perhaps the most notable change is the introduction of an ammunition system. Whereas the first Prime limited only explosive ammo, Echoes implemented and ammo system for its two new beams, which used light and dark ammo respectively. The third new beam uses both light and dark ammo. The player initially starts out with 50 ammo slots for each weapon but can increase that clip size if they are able to locate ammo upgrades hidden throughout the game.
Plot
As Samus screens the space near the planet Aether for a fleet of lost Marines, her ship is knocked down to the planet's surface by a lightning storm. Samus realizes that the electromagnetic forces generated by the intense storms have shut down her communication with the outside, and that the Marines were most likely cut off by the very same storm. Continuing on foot, Samus discovers dead Marines scattered within a hive of indigenous, spider-like creatures called Splinters. Soon thereafter the bounty hunter comes across her twisted doppelgänger, Dark Samus. Samus pursues Dark Samus through a portal and into Dark aether, where she is attacked by a group of Ing. The Ing steal most of her weapons and she is flung back into Light Aether with only her primitive suit functions. After discovering that the Ing possessed creatures in Light Aether and were the ones responsible for the Marines' deaths, Samus travels to the nearby Luminoth Temple in search of clues. There she meets U-Mos, the last remaining Luminoth sentinel. U-Mos explains that the Ing have stolen the life source of Aether - called the Light of Aether - and are hording it in their contorted Dark world. He sends Samus on a mission to recover the lost Light of Aether.
Samus ventures to several different regions of Aether: Agon Wastes, Torvus Bog, and the Sanctuary Fortress. She recovers the keys to the regions' specific temples and defeats the Ing in the parallel Dark portions of the levels. Along the way she encounters Space Pirates, who are harvesting Phazon to mutate Metroid specimen.
Ultimately, Samus transfers all of the energy back to Light Aether, save for the last unit protected by the Emperor Ing itself. U-Mos gifts Samus the Light Suit and sends her back to Dark Aether one last time, where she combats the Emperor Ing. Upon acquiring the last fragment of the Light of Aether, Dark Aether becomes unstable and threatens to collapse within minutes. Samus flees from the Sky Temple and attempts to return to Light Aether, but is balked by Dark Samus, who has absorbed Phazon to critical capacity. Samus overcomes her adversary and warps back to Light Aether mere moments before Dark Aether ceased to exist. She returns to U-Mos, who has awoken the previously slumbering Luminoth. The Luminoth thank Samus, who then leaves in her repaired gunship. Should the player finish the game 100%, they are rewarded with a post-credits cutscene depicting Dark Samus reforming herself in outer space.
Trivia
- In the PAL region, it remains the only Nintendo-published game not to be compatible with the PAL-50Hz mode, which means it cannot be played on older PAL TVs except for the Metroid Prime Trilogy version.
