User Rating: 7.5 | Metroid Prime GC
Beautiful, but one of the most frustrating games I have ever played. If you were to look up the phrase 'back and forth' in a dictionary, it would probably say 'See Metroid Prime'. While this game is gorgeous, it has got to be one of the most tedious and monotonous games I've ever played, as well as frustrating. There is so much running back and forth between zones that you start to get lost in the huge, expansive world. Taking a wrong turn can lead you to an extra 20 minutes to a half hour of trying to find the right path to go on. Some of the enemies in this game are FAR too powerful for their own good. Some regular enemies will blast you to pieces in an endless string of fire and missiles and explosions. No matter how strong you get, with life bar expansions and weapons and whatnot, the enemies you face will only become stronger. And enemies constantly respawn...if you leave the room for one minute and come back, all the enemies you just killed will be back. And since it takes the better part of 5 minutes to kill some enemies, this adds up for a boring experience. When you first encounter battles like this its entertaining. But as the game progressed, I just started running by enemies. I got utterly sick of the fighting. And come near the end of the game, I just wanted the game to end. The boss fights have got to be some of the most frustrating boss fights ever in the long history of annoying boss fights. I won't even get into how frustrating some of them are, but just know that if you have limited patience, you'll probably turn off the game out of anger. I personally shelved the game for 4 months because I got so sick of trial and error. Some of the puzzles are your basic 'jump on the platform, fall, start over, get to the top, fall, start over'. Yes...your basic platform jumping puzzles that get so infuriating you'll just put the game down. The end of the game also has a gigantic chamber that must asced the top of, yet along the way there are completely invincible metroids you must fight...since they can't be killed, you have to avoid them, and since there are so many, they swarm you and knock you all the way down, forcing you to start again. I just beat the game, and I must say that I was impressed with the graphics, the gigantic world, the detail and attention that went into the puzzles and acquiring of weapons and expansions, but overall this game does NOT live up to its hype. It may be the Gamecube's 'killer app' but i've played better games. If you have alot of patience and you're looking for an amazing game, Metroid Prime should sustain you. If you have limited patience and get frustrated easily, then avoid Metroid Prime. It is not as fantastic as everyone made it out to be.
