Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Hands-On Preview
After getting to play an all-to-brief build of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond at the Nintendo Switch 2 Preview Event in Mebourne back in May I was both impressed by the game and frustrated by how little I was able to play of it. The public demo at a public expo conditions meant that players were being churned through the booth, and I didn’t come close to besting the boss a the demos end because I wanted to do the Metroid thing of poking at the seams of the level to see what could be found. Fortunately, Nintendo invited me in to check a much larger build of the game out, and having spent in excess of 90 minutes playing the game, I’m feeling supremely confident in the direction that Retro Studios is taking their long-awaited fourth Prime entry in.
After getting to finish what I started, by having the chance to replay and finish the previous demo, which seems to potentially be an extract of the games’ prologue. The encounter with the dangerous Aberax is a great encounter that provides players with the opportunity to tinker with the standard controls, embrace motion controls, and even try out the mouse functionality in a much higer stakes encounter. All three play styles feel great, and it really does seem that personal preference is all that will be what determines which way you choose to play.
So that takes us to the newest build. I had more than an hour to explore this segment which was largely set in a location known as ‘Fury Green’, a large explorable environment that really started to evoke the beloved Metroid Prime formula. It had been so long since playing a game in the sub-franchise that I admittedly fell for the trap that we’ve all fallen for at many points of not utilising the scan functionality. After emerging on Fury Green, for narrative reasons that I won’t be spoiling on you, series protagonist Samus Aran has lost all of her iconic powers and must rebuild. The difference in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, is that Samus is imbued with psychic powers, which are only enhanced as you begin to recover lost equipment ,such as the Psychic Glove, and more than will become available the further you progress through the game. These psychic powers allow Samus to manipulate the environment, moving objects around to solve puzzles, and even to slow down time for special types of shots from your arm cannon. Though I was unable to interact with them at the time (Metroidvania’s amiright?!), I noticed a series of platforms that I wanted to climb before the game indicated I’d only be able to climb them once I had gravity boots. So there’s more to come, and I’m excited to see what Retro Studios has in store in this respect.
Throughout my time playing the game there were numerous environmental puzzles, some more obvious than others, than I needed to solve to pass through, but as I first discovered missiles or re-acquired the ability to drop morph ball bombs, more and more options would unlock for me beyond the more novel new additions connected to the psychic abilities. I will note that Vi-O-La, the motorbike that we’ve seen in recent trailers was not playable in this vertical slice of the game, I’m most eager to see how that element shapes up as Samus can later use it to travel from one part of the map to others.
Then that takes us to the plot. While there’s a lot that Nintendo wants to keep hidden at this stage (and honestly, I do too), we get to learn little parts about the antagonists in the mix, Sylux, and the mysterious Lamorn species, who are putting Samus to work whilst Samus’ own objective is being worked through. We were also introduced to Myles MacKenzie, a Galactic Federation engineer whom Samus finds stranded while exploring Fury Green, and after saving his life seems determined to tag along and “help”. In my time playing, Myles would only be a piece of combative dead weight, and his voice grated at me too, leading to a few frustrated missiles being shot at his face (unfortunately having no effect other than to make my Nintendo rep laugh). One of the biggest concerns that fans have had with the Metroid franchise over the years (in particular Other M) has been with overly chatty party members, and I do worry that Myles might become that, so if, before too long, some dangerous, and overly tentacled monstrosity wishes to eat him, I won’t be objecting too greatly.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming up swimmingly. The combat feels fantastic to engage with, the puzzles, combined with the new systems for us to toy with, are great, and brimming with further potential, while the game’s plotline is looking complicated, especially for those with little to no experience, but not excessively so. Retro is balancing old and new, and so far seems on track to pull it off. The Metroid Prime games of the past cast a large shadow and I hope this 2025 release can meet those lofty standards.
Time Until Launch (December 4, 2025)
