Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review – Better late than never

I must admit, my Metroid Prime 4 review is a little later than expected. That’s not down to my feelings on the game, though; it’s actually more down to just wanting to soak myself in its atmosphere for as long as possible without coming up for air.

In that regard, Metroid Prime 4 is a fantastic glance through Samus’ visor that’s been a long time in the making. And, while the wider structure doesn’t always give everything a chance to shine, it’s one of my favorite games on the nascent Switch 2.

The Escapist recaps

• Metroid Prime 4 is finally here, after being announced in 2017, restarted in 2019, and finally launching in 2025.
• It’s been 18 years since the third game, and this one can be played on Switch 1 or Switch 2 (I reviewed it on the latter).

Here we go again

For all of the pleasing familiarity of stepping into Samus’ well-worn armor, there remains a sense of deja vu that’s present in just about any entry in the series. It’s hard to be surprised when Samus spends a few minutes armed to the teeth before slipping back to her upgrade-less, missile-less state.

It’s the same song and dance we’ve seen in every Metroidvania (there’s a reason this very franchise forms half of that portmanteau), but to Metroid Prime 4’s credit, I didn’t roll my eyes this time.

That’s partially because of the new psychic abilities interspersed with the usual expected upgrades, but also because my goodness, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a looker.

Viewros is a new world with some striking environmental design, but in a rare move for Nintendo (no shade intended), the focus here is on the sheer visual fidelity. Nintendo has pushed artistic design consistently for decades, but the Switch 2 running Metroid Prime 4 at an upscaled 40K and 60FPS feels delicious – and that’s to say nothing of the 120FPS supported on the handheld mode (albeit at an upscaled 720p resolution).

I’ve been playing the majority of the game docked, and finding moments that have me staring at vistas and snapping screenshots with gleeful abandon.

You’ll spend plenty of time roaming each location, too. Expect plenty of backtracking and exploration, seeking out fresh nooks and crannies once you’ve upgraded Samus with movement abilities, weapons, or the new psychic powers making their debut.

They’re primarily used for puzzle solving and the occasional boss confrontation, and while they feel a little more shoehorned in than the obvious upgrades like missiles we’ve come to expect, they’re at least an attempt to make what could be a rote process of exploration and combat a little more surprising.

Time to hunt

Combat is pleasingly familiar for anyone who’s played the original Prime trilogy, or even just the excellent remaster of the first game.

Samus’ arm cannon has a handy lock-on, meaning you can strafe and jump to your heart’s content. There’s still that satisfying feeling of gently nudging up the right stick to secure that headshot, too, while missiles feel just as satisfying as they’ve always been – whether you’re blowing up foes, or crashing through walls.

One thing I can’t quite adjust to, though, is the mouse controls. Prime 4 lets you use the Joy-Con 2 on a flat surface, and while there’s no doubt it works, it feels cumbersome. That’s more down to the shape of the controllers than anything else, but I can’t see myself going back to it in the same way I can, say, Civilization 7, which requires fewer swift movements.

A further wrinkle for combat is elemental-type weapons that have different abilities, like a fire shot to melt foes, an ice one to freeze them, and a thunder one to zap them. It’s a fun way to mix things up, and the Morph Ball gets plenty of useful new gizmos.

Swing and a miss

The game feels so much like Metroid Prime despite the addition of these new features, but it’s in the wider structure that Nintendo has taken some swings that don’t quite land.

Vi-O-La is a fun way to get around and lets you tackle enemies in the connective tissue of the overworld, but there’s not really a great deal to do in what is essentially a pretty barren space with crystals to smash and a few Breath of the Wild-esque shrines to explore.

Metroid has always been about the feeling of inhabiting Samus as a character, not just a hunk of metal, and part of that fantasy has been the fact that she flies predominantly solo. Exploring Viewros is less of an isolated experience because there’s a genuine attempt to make side characters more memorable, but they fall mostly in the MCU-lite category of wisecracks. They’re not bad, they’re not good, but they do actively detract from the lone explorer notion that the Prime series has stuck to so well. There’s nothing quite like exploring off the beaten path, only for Myles to radio in and remind you where you should be going.

In short, the bike is fun to ride, but it’s never quite as much fun as just being Samus herself.

Thankfully, those nitpicks don’t take away from the fact that Metroid Prime 4 understands what makes the original trilogy so revered. While its new steps in a fresh direction don’t quite pan out, there’s no denying this is a fitting next chapter for Samus’ first-person adventures. Here’s hoping we don’t need to wait another 18 years for another one.