GamesActionMetroidMetroid Prime has been making gamers love reading since 2002When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesActionMetroidMetroid Prime has been making gamers love reading since 2002When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Exposition is a fickle instrument in the writer’s toolbox. Too little, and your audience struggles to properly comprehend the scenes playing out before their eyes. Too much, and they drown in a sea of information without the necessary emotional weight to ground it. “Show, don’t tell” has become a cornerstone of scene writing for this reason - If you show just enough for the audience to fill out the rest themselves, you simultaneously avoid the issue of overburdening them with information while they get the satisfaction of reaching the answer with little help.
There are few video game series that so masterfully control the use of exposition as Metroid. While the sci-fi series does have a vast lore connecting 17 games over 39 years, engaging with all of it is entirely optional. For most players, you’re simply dropped into a new hostile alien planet with only your wits and a recently-nerfed Power Suit (every time!). Rather than telling the player where to go with sudden text boxes and immersion-breaking tutorials, Metroid opts to show. If the player explores with care, they’ll see subtle signposts that vary from oddly textured stone walls, to enemies placed so precisely you can grapple up to a ledge with their bodies. This ‘invisible guide’ design works perfectly in the 2D entries in which players can see a whole screen around Samus, but when the player is limited to just Samus’ own first-person perspective in the Prime games, a new idea is needed to make up for the reduced viewing area.
Through a scanner darkly
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Scan to win(Image credit: Nintendo)Hopefully Samus' visor comes in handy for taking on her next big rival,whose identity may have been teased for 17 years
Scan to win
(Image credit: Nintendo)Hopefully Samus' visor comes in handy for taking on her next big rival,whose identity may have been teased for 17 years
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Hopefully Samus' visor comes in handy for taking on her next big rival,whose identity may have been teased for 17 years
Enter the Scan Visor. While players will spend the majority of their time using the Combat Visor to blow away other life-forms with a multitude of beams and missiles, the inquisitive Scan Visor is just as important as its violent counterpart. Rather than just a game-y mechanic disconnected from immersion, the Scan Visor is Samus’ in-universe method of obtaining information on the planets, creatures and century-spanning history of the various civilisations she inevitably ends up destroying (for the greater good, of course).
The immersion this choice creates cannot be overstated. Not only does it serve as a compelling avenue into understanding the worlds presented, but it also functions as a neat workaround to make exposition feel more subtle, even if it is truthfully still a lot of information; it avoids the trap of immersion-breaking cutscenes or convenient lore delivery from an NPC (although, this necessary evil does still occur a few times throughout the series).
Optional optics
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Most importantly, other than a few cases in which it’s required to find or activate some progression-blocking elements of the environment, the Scan Visor is largely optional. The “show, don’t tell” approach is still employed as the baseline of Prime’s world design, as players are encouraged to explore and make connections between areas and objectives themselves, and thus can choose how much they wish to interact with the Scan system. If you’d prefer to challenge yourself and figure everything out on your own, you can simply not use it. If you couldn’t care less about worldbuilding and just want to move forward to the next boss, you’re free to do so.
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As we wait for Samus' next adventure, here’s everything we know aboutMetroid Prime 4
CATEGORIESNintendo SwitchPlatformsNintendo
CATEGORIES
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More about metroidIt took me 14 hours to 100% the amazing Metroidvania Ender Lilies, and just days later the dev announced that the 35-hour sequel launches in a few monthsNintendo has apparently been teasing the big villain of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for 17 yearsLatest26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time"See more latest►
More about metroidIt took me 14 hours to 100% the amazing Metroidvania Ender Lilies, and just days later the dev announced that the 35-hour sequel launches in a few monthsNintendo has apparently been teasing the big villain of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for 17 years
More about metroid
It took me 14 hours to 100% the amazing Metroidvania Ender Lilies, and just days later the dev announced that the 35-hour sequel launches in a few monthsNintendo has apparently been teasing the big villain of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for 17 years
It took me 14 hours to 100% the amazing Metroidvania Ender Lilies, and just days later the dev announced that the 35-hour sequel launches in a few months
It took me 14 hours to 100% the amazing Metroidvania Ender Lilies, and just days later the dev announced that the 35-hour sequel launches in a few months
Nintendo has apparently been teasing the big villain of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for 17 years
Nintendo has apparently been teasing the big villain of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond for 17 years
Latest26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time"See more latest►
Latest
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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2
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3
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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2Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
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3Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3
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4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”