All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'core, GameCube, FPS' on The Great Games Experiment All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'core, GameCube, FPS' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'core, GameCube, FPS' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Metroid Prime Article source: Nintendo Power

Open season on Metroids has begun -- It's Prime time.

Metroid Prime is a first-person adventure game. Players control a bounty hunter named Samus Aran who must unravel a mystery behind the ruined walls scattered across Tallon IV.

The game opens just as Samus' spaceship docks on a Space Pirate vessel orbiting the planet. Immediately, the beautiful graphics slap you across the face. Trust us, it's a firm slap. A silky-smooth framerate accommodates razor-sharp visuals of efficient machinery and foreign architecture. Meanwhile, a cinematic soundtrack sets the mood and eerie sound effects thicken the alien atmosphere.

By far, the most effective visual effect is that everything you see is viewed through Samus's visor. The entire screen has a convex look, and a digital display provides information ranging from current energy levels to ammunition data. The most effective ideas are sometimes the most simple, and the visor view in Metroid Prime makes a huge leap forward in immersing players in the first-person perspective.

Samus uses a Power Beam to shoot a series of locked switches, and eventually enters a cylindrical corridor very similar to the passageways found in the original Metroid titles. When Samus strides by broken pipes spewing steam, the visor becomes smeared with condensation. Later in the demo, the visor is splattered with the internal juices of ruptured enemy carcasses. Yes, life within Samus' gravity suit is a beautiful thing.

Weapon effects are equally pleasing. Hold the A Button to juice up the Charge Beam, and you see the corridor glow and warp as the blast travels through space. Enemy animation is delightfully disgusting, whether it's a giant parasite queen squirming from the ceiling or a swarm of blood-thirsty critters gushing from a dark hole. Take note: the word "swarm" has been misused in video game reviews for years. With Metroid Prime, we can use the word "swarm" and feel perfectly justified. The screen fills -- FILLS -- with baddies, and the framerate doesn't even blink.

In the Gravity Suit

Of course, graphics are just the glossing on the gravity suit. No matter how good a game looks, it won't get fired up more than once without solid game design and user-friendly play control. In Metroid Prime, both are spot-on.

How do you know if play control is good? If you don't think about it, it's perfect. Once you get a feel for the Controller configuration in Metroid Prime, you spend 100% of your time worrying about blasting enemies -- not thinking about the play control.

The Control Stick moves Samus around, the A Button fires weapons and the B Button makes Samus jump. Press and hold the R Button to enter an aiming mode which allows you to freely look around the environment. The L Button activates an automatic lock-on feature, which makes for easy strafing while firing at a targeted enemy.

Changing weapons is as easy as moving the C-Stick. By pressing different directions on the D-Pad, you can activate the different features of Samus' visor. A variety of visor modes are available including Combat, Scan, Thermal and more. Combat is the normal view, and Scan produces a slightly magnified rectangular viewing strip in the middle of the visor. By pressing and holding the L Button, Samus can scan various items in the environment. Sometimes a scan simply provides additional information, and other times scanning an environmental element can activate a switch or identify and enemy's weak spot.

Pressing the Y Button activates Samus's missiles, and the X Button engages the Morph Ball. The game switches to a third-person perspective while Samus is in Morph Ball form. In Morph Ball form, Samus can roll through tight quarters, place bombs, activate switches and much more.

Exploration is Key

When Samus lands on Tallon IV to begin her investigation of Space Pirate activity, the bounty hunter is stripped of most power-ups. It's up to you to explore the world and recover the many power-ups and weapons which gradually open more and more gameplay areas.

Although this is a first-person game with plenty of shooting action, the heart of the experience is highly exploratory and adventurous. Enemies abound, but there are just as many elaborate puzzles to solve as there are bad guys to blast.

For an immersive adventure unlike anything you've played before, get behind the visor and see what's it like to be Samus Aran in Metroid Prime.
]]> 28 Jan 2007 09:47:07 Metroid prime 2: Echoes Article source: Nintendo Power

In this highly anticipated sequel to Metroid Prime, become the bounty hunter behind the visor once more and travel to a planet torn into light and darkness.


Retro Studios, producers of the wildly popular Metroid Prime, take Samus Aran on a terrifying journey.

Galactic Federation Trooper Squad Bravo is missing; their last transmission-- a distress call from a rogue planet called Aether, located in the Dasha region.

Enter legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran. Her mission: Locate the Federation troopers and render assistance. But what begins as a search and rescue mission becomes an intense, haunting sojourn to save a species from total genocide in a world caught in the maelstrom between dimensions of light and darkness.

Light Aether is the domain of the Luminoth, gentle beings with a unique and highly developed civilization. But when a great cataclysm tore the fabric of space and time, the Ing Horde were unleashed from Dark Aether, a dimensional echo of Light Aether. Now the Luminoth are under siege. The Ing send armies into Light Aether, absorb its lands into the clutches of Dark Aether, and possess the Luminoth's warriors. Only the Luminoth's four gigantic energy generators keep the Light World from collapsing. If the Ing seize control of the generators, the Light World will be extinguished forever. Samus embarks on her mission to defeat the Ing and restore peace to Aether.

But, as Samus will soon learn, an ominous shadow lurks in the darkness, a shadow which stealthily hunts the hunter...

Features

  • New Beam Weapons: The Dark Beam and the Light Beam wield powerful ordinance to crush the Ing, solve puzzles, and open doors

  • New Suits: As Samus traverses the depths of Light and Dark Aether she can don powerful new suits to protect her against the planets myriad enemies.

  • Screw Attack: The famous attack from Metroid games of the past makes its triumphant debut on the Nintendo GameCube

  • Power Ups: The space jump and the grapple beam are just some of the power-ups you'll find

  • Multiplayer Metroid: For the first time in the history of the franchise, up to four players can battle each other as they search for weapons, grapple across ceilings and turn into Morph Balls to make their escape

    • Bottom Line

    Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is one of those rare games that exceeds its predecessor in quality. The game expertly weaves themes of light and darkness in every element, from plot, to characters, weapons, power-ups, even the music. The action is engaging and intense (you'll love to hate the Ing Horde), the levels brilliantly designed, and the puzzles intelligent but approachable. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes is a fantastic installment in one of the Nintendo GameCube's most exciting franchises.
    ]]>     28 Jan 2007 10:25:51     Metal Arms: Glitch in the System From the Game Box: Blast your way to victory as Glitch, the gunslinging, half-ton fearless bot of Droid City. Found as scrap metal, but transformed into destructive machinery, Glitch is determined to free his people from the evil clutches of General Corrosive and his maniacal army of Mil bots. Unleash a world of pain as your annihilate the General's sinister plan to dominate the world, and salvage the robot race!

    Metal Arms is a third-person shooter based on a planet populated by robots. This game is fun, fast-paced, and humorous along the way. The audio/dialogue of the game is superb, and the game mechanics are generally good, as well. This game doesn't feature the best graphics of its' generation of games, but you hardly notice thanks to the overall enjoyability of the game.
    ]]>     19 Dec 2006 10:17:09     TOMB RAIDER: LEGEND In a race against time, Lara must travel across the globe to unearth history's greatest weapon. A legendary artifact of such immense power it could threaten humanity's very existence.

    Take Lara back to the tombs with totally new moves and hi-tech gadgetry in her most explosive adventure ever.
    ]]>     02 Feb 2007 08:42:09     Geist Released August 15th 2005, 2 years later then orginal forecast, Geist serves as a reminder of how important inovation is but at the same time how important it is to balance inovation with entertainment.

    You play as John Raimi a biochemist who after being captured during a high risk mission with friend Thomas Bryson has your spirit ejected forcefully from your body. Gaining the ability to possess objects and people you attempt to put a stop to demons taking control of the world and get your body back with help from a fellow ghost Gigi Volks.

    Possession is the order of the day and results in a unique if occasionally flawed FPS experience (much like Messiah but far less of a dissapointment). Possession is fun as are the puzzles but there's just rarely enough action (or too much) or freedom of movement.

    The game also has a multiplayer mode for up to 4 players (and support for up to 7 bots). Possession is present in multiplayer and makes some exciting changes to a somewhat stale genre.
    ]]>     07 Mar 2007 07:27:58     XIII XIII is the first FPS to utilize cel-shaded graphics to create a visually stunning effect unique within the action genre. The next-generation animation and Unreal Engine technology combine to illustrate XIII's complex and immersive story. XIII features a conspiracy of epic proportions, and players will unravel clues behind the story's compelling and mysterious events through the game's unique flashback visuals. Are you a special-forces super soldier or just another psychopath with a gun? If you could only just remember. Feel lucky?
    ]]>     02 Feb 2007 12:01:02