Rishabh Borde
Few games have had an impact on the game industry as Nintendo’s Metroid series of First Person Shooting games. Not only is the series often held up as the torchbearer of console FPS games done right, but it also inspired an entire subgenre of video games based on its unique gameplay elements – the Metroidvania.
Despite the franchise’s immense popularity and heritage, its been nearly a decade since the release of the last installment in the franchise, ‘Metroid: Other M’ for the Nintendo Wii. Therefore, when Nintendo announced at E3 2017 that a new Metroid game was under development, fans were understandably fervid. However, a lot has transpired in the project’s development process since then, so read on to find out everything we know about the upcoming ‘Metroid Prime 4’.
Metroid Prime Series Retrospective
The Metroid series boasts a long a storied history starting way back in 1986 with the release of the original ‘Metroid’. The game introduces us to our protagonist Samus, a bounty hunter who travels through the treacherous caverns of the planet Zebes to foil the Space Pirates’ plans to leverage the life siphoning powers of the alien Metroids to achieve world domination. The game initially came out on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
There were a fair few more Metroid games between the first one and 2002’s ‘Metroid Prime’ but none are as relevant as the first of the famous trilogy on the Nintendo GameCube. The game follows Samus’ adventures as she foils the scheming of Space Pirates, collects twelve artifacts of the ancient Chozo alien race and confronts a gargantuan corrupted Metroid known as Metroid Prime. The game also introduces us to Samsus’ biggest nemesis and evil alter ego, Dark Samus.
2004’s ‘Metroid Prime 2: Echoes’ sees Samsu traveling to the planet of Aether in order to investigate the deaths of a squad of Marines. She soon discovers the existence of an evil alien race known as the Ing, who have the ability to possess other life forms and corrupt them into dark versions of themselves. In her quest to recover the planet’s life force known as the Light of Aether, Samus once again runs into Dark Samus.
The third and final installment of the trilogy, ‘Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’ came out in 2007. Samus teams up with her fellow bounty hunter friends Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda to purge various planets of the corrupting influence of Phazon, a mutagenic and energy dense substance. Her exploits eventually lead her into a final showdown with Dark Samus, and the game ends with the destruction of Dark Samus and the planet Phaaze, which was the origin of all Phazon in the galaxy. ‘Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’ closes out with Samus mourning the death of her bounty hunter friends, although there is a slightly different alternative ending on offer if the player manages to collect all in game items.
What Can We Expect From Metroid Prime 4?
We don’t know much about the plot or gameplay of ‘Metroid Prime 4’, but we do know that it will feature an entirely new story arc after series producer Kensuke Tanabe confirmed in a 2015 interview that “the stories of Dark Samus and Phazon are done”. In all likelihood, the game will also follow in the tradition of its predecessors and play as an Action Adventure First Person Shooter with Metroidvania elements. This means that parts of the game world will be locked away until the player obtains a specific item, ability or skill.
There’s a distinct possibility that ‘Metroid Prime 4’ could make the transition to an Open World, just like other recent Nintendo next generation releases of classic franchises including ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ and ‘Super Mario Odyssey’. We can also expect all new weapons, abilities and enemies.
Metroid Prime 4 Developers: Who Are The People Behind It?
‘Metroid Prime 4’ was initially announced way back at E3 2017 with a new unnamed developer at the helm and series producer Kensuke Tanabe back in the fold. However, after no shows at Gamescom 2019 and E3 2019 Nintendo EPD General manager Shinya Takahashi announced in January 2019 that the ‘Metroid Prime 4’ project was being scrapped and restarted with a new developer at the forefront – Texas-based American video game developer Retro Studios, who also developed the original Metroid Prime trilogy.
‘Metroid Prime 4’ will be published by Nintendo.
Metroid Prime 4 Release Date: When And Where Can I Play It?
Given that development for ‘Metroid Prime 4’ just restarted early this year, we cannot expect the game to arrive anytime soon. A 2022 release seems most likely right now, with a possible 2021 release if we’re being optimistic. The game will launch exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Metroid Prime 4 Trailer
While we have no way of telling what the new overhauled version of ‘Metroid Prime 4’ will look like until much later, you can watch the older E3 2017 version’s reveal trailer right here:
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