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Retro Studios
[February 20,
2002]
First a brief
summary of the most controversial game maker of last year…
Back
in 1999 it was announced that Nintendo would fund the
up-and-coming new studio in Austin, Texas, Retro Studios,
who would soon be hailed as the “Rareware of America”.
The studio is located in one of the most advanced game
development facilities in the US with state-of-the-art motion
capture studios, sound studios and cutting edge graphics, all
funded by Nintendo, of course. During Space World 2000
Nintendo finally unveiled the mysterious next generation
hardware, codenamed “Dolphin”, to the public for the first
time eventually receiving its official name, the Nintendo
GameCube. During the show, several new GameCube games were
shown to the press, not the least of which was a new Metroid,
a turn of events that understandably shocked the gaming world.
It was soon revealed that none other than Retro Studios,
Nintendo’s newest second-party developer, was leading the
project. For almost a year silence fell over the development
of this hotly anticipated title and many Nintendo followers
were beginning to question the progress of the title. During
the period between August 2000 and May 2001 two Retro Studios
projects were canned, a football game and a car combat game,
which caused a major disturbance in the gaming community.
Rumors of Nintendo dumping Retro started to spread and
suddenly the excitement from the previous Space World looked
rather dismal. It wasn’t until E3 2001 that Retro Studios
gave pessimist something to drool over. A short clip of
Metroid Prime and their other project, Raven Blade, were
shown. Both titles generated a lot of buzz and once again
faith was rejuvenated, if only for a short time. At the
convention I asked Mr. Miyamoto myself about the progress of
Metroid Prime and he answered, “You will not be let down. It
will be worth the wait,” and this boosted the image of the
game tenfold. But, all good things come to an end and for
Raven Blade that couldn’t be truer. Shortly after E3 it was
announced that Retro Studios’ promising Action-RPG was
canned and all remaining team members (the ones who WEREN’T
fired) were reallocated to the Metroid Prime project to meet
the release date. In a single shot of unfortunate news Retro
Studios, was again, on the black list. It didn’t help
that Nintendo chose to not present a playable version of
Metroid at Space World 2001, an event that would supposedly
disband all negative rumors surrounding the game. This did not
happen. The few screen shot leaked from media showed poorly
rendered characters and horrid looking backgrounds. It looked
far from a polished product and this left a bitter taste in
many mouths across the nation. A few months after Space World
it was learned the lead programmer of Metroid Prime left the
Retro to work for another company- this particular news not
sitting well with journalist. It wasn’t until recently, when
Retro Studios next glimmer of hope would come to attract
gamers back, the January 2002 issue of Nintendo Power included
three pictures that showed one the most polished and
attractive games yet on the GameCube.
Back in 1996 when Super Mario 64 launched with the
Nintendo 64, it was known that several of the game’s
programmers quite game development altogether because of the
taxing nature of such an ambitious project. Yet, through all
the delays, blood, sweat and tears, when the game finally
released it was hailed as the best game in history. I think we
can look at Metroid Prime in the same light because, for one,
Shigeru Miyamoto is overseeing the project personally, and
two, Retro Studios still has the most talented team of
designers and programmers of
any studio this side of the western hemisphere.
When the switch to
first-person was announced the majority let out a unanimous
sigh and harked the game would never live up to its
predecessor. Firstly, why couldn’t it live up to its
predecessor? Is there a more efficient way of fussing precise
targeting for high intensity shooting situations? Remember,
Mario and Zelda are both very different games from the Metroid
series. Where Mario and Link rely on hand-to-hand combat,
Samus has a cannon strapped to her arm. 3rd-person
would make targeting quite awkward, even with a precise “Z-Targeting”.
In the Legend of Zelda: OoT what happened when Link tried to
aim an arrow or slingshot? The camera shifted to first-person
until he, a) manually targeted an enemy, or b) found the enemy
in his sights then locked on via Z-targeting. What does this
mean for Metroid Prime? Think of it as an “opposite”
combat system to that of Zelda. Instead of always being in 3rd-person
you’re in first and when the situation calls for it the
camera seamlessly shifts to 3rd. (Much like the
switch to first-person in Zelda) For those veteran Metroid
players out there you should well know a standard Mario-esque
3rd-person shooter would not work at. To fit Samus
into the realm of a 3D world the games mechanics must evolve
accordingly. The atmosphere can still remain “Metroid” but
the gameplay must change to serve a better purpose. Trust me
disbelievers this will pay off like you never expected.
When GoldenEye was
released many believed the first-person genre, although
exhilarating and entertaining, had reached its peak as far as
innovation. But time moved on and like every great art form
new candidates arose. Deus Ex, the first RPG-Adventure, cast
players in the role of a Metal Gear-style spy espionage plot
that rocked the gaming world. The first-person genre was
revitalized and now it seemed there were many more places it
could go. Halo is a testament to that with unparalleled game
design and ingenuity it single-handedly made the XBox worth
purchasing. Before these landmark games, many believed
first-person shooters to be for online frag fest or simply to
blow apart as many assailants as possible. Now, we can see
that the seeds have been planted and this seemingly linear
genre is now the garden for the best single player experiences
ever. Oops, did I mention Half-life?
Several designers
and programmers came from none other than Valve, the
development house behind the most infectious PC shooter of all
time, Half-life. To many, it is just the host to the uber
popular Counter-Strike, but to some it was its compelling
one-player storyline that engrossed fans to no end. Now, take
the mechanics of all these incredible games, Halo, Deus Ex, GoldenEye
and Half-life and carefully craft these elements
around the world of Metroid and what do you have? Possibly the
greatest game of 2002.
Take into account
the precise jumping and movements from previous Metroid games,
how will Retro identify these problems? While the answer is
not known, we can rest assured it will not be anything like
Turok or Half-life, were jumping from platform-to-platform was
as painful as giving your dead grandmother an upper thigh
massage. The 3rd-person feature I mentioned earlier
is integral to the game. Metroid Prime is truly a hybrid game
and a unique experience all its own. In the Legend of Zelda:
OoT what happened when Link approached a gap? He automatically
jumps it without any worry of precise jumping. This could be
the case with Metroid Prime but what about all those extremely
high jumps the game is so famous for? The latest pics of
Metroid Prime reveal something very intriguing- the “Combat
Visor”. This [Combat Visor] is most likely the standard
viewpoint but suggest different perspectives for certain
situations, i.e., “Thermal Visor”, “X-Ray Visor” or
“Navigation Mode”. The latter of which would be used for
large rooms with several platforms and enemies. One aspect of
previous Metroid titles was avoiding enemies on the almost
impossibly spaced platforms. A Navigation Mode would fix the
camera perspective in a given room for easy accessibility to
higher areas. Remember kids, this is only a theory and is not
fact as Nintendo has not revealed any gameplay features in
Metroid Prime.
Another nuance I’ve
seen debated in many forums is the games distinct heritage in
the 2D domain. Many believe it will be hard to implement all
the items from Super Metroid, such as the grappling beam,
screw attack, wall jump, light speed, bombs, morph ball and
space jump. But, if you read my last paragraph I may have
directly solved all these problems by observing the few
details revealed in Nintendo Power. The “Combat Visor”
would allow for X-Ray vision as well as the grappling beam
while the morph ball was shown in another picture via 3rd-person.
(This would suggest the use of
bombs and possibly the spider ball) The screw attack,
space jump and wall jump would be directed to my theory of the
“Navigation Mode”, or whatever Nintendo may call it. (I’m
basing this on the few 3rd-person screen shots we’ve
seen). You can see the editorial about that here.
Only certain rooms would call for precise jumping and in these
rooms the game would shift to a fixed position that would
adjust when Samus reaches higher platforms. (Think of Resident
Evil-style fixed camera with Mario 64 maneuverability.) You’ll
notice in the “swampy” picture given in Nintendo Power
that Samus is looking down on some platforms a good 50 feet
away, not a simple jump in first-person. (In fact it would be
quite hair pulling) One way of avoiding such a questionable
jump is an idea I’ve seen floating around the forums,
precision jumping. This unique attribute would grant Samus the
ease of targeting a platform (similar to targeting an enemy in
Zelda 64) and pressing the jump button, which would seamlessly
cast to the next ledge without worry. During the duration of
ascent and descent the player could have complete freedom over
aiming their cannon or morphing and dropping bombs. Precision
jumping could also be used on enemies only Samus would
recognize the threat and use a screw attack. A free form of
the screw attack in 3rd-person mode is entirely
possible given the screens from Space World 2001 and Nintendo
Power. Being in Navigation Mode would prevent Samus from using
her cannon but allow her to jump and morph freely, giving her
access to all her items.
One unique attribute
from Metroid is that the areas are divided into separate
rooms, separating the game, in terms of architecture, from
others in its genre. If we study the 3D map in the screens we’ll
notice this is the case as the rooms are indeed divided by
doors or hallways. I know what you’re thinking, “but ALL
FPS games have doors and such!” I agree but they do not
execute doors in the same manner as Metroid. Rooms in this
series are just that, giant rooms with no mini-sections but
linear structures featuring advance design to give them the
illusion of non-linear constructions. Each room is delicately
modeled for the purpose of navigation. Samus enters a room to
make it to the next room and repeats the process until she
stumbles upon a hidden item or boss, and her one mission is to
destroy the Metroid. The beauty of Metroid is its ability to
engross players in a world that transcends all worlds by
creating an intelligent design of areas that eventually leads
to an over-the-top finale. Each room in Super Metroid helped
build the overwhelming tone of the game by laying the
foundation of a world that was created by an ancient race but
destroyed by their own creations. Now, Samus is in those ruins
and can visibly see the scars left behind and players feel
that they are now in a place they can never escape.
Another interesting
feature, if true, is the ability to receive damage in the form
of visible impact. One picture may suggest that Samus’ visor
is heavily cracked down the center and to the side indicating
a new twist to damage control. Incurring damage could have
several affects on Samus if she doesn’t properly repair her
suit. A cracked visor could eventually impede her from using
her radar or on-screen map. It could also increase the amount
of damage she receives or simply obstruct her view. Of course
the crack in the screen shot could simple be vegetation
growing over the background. If it is a crack then it will be
for a substantial purpose, rather than aesthetic. Also, if you
notice the small targeting reticule icon in the bottom left
corner this may indicate the current choice of controls. An
alternate icon could show an eye, signifying different
controls for jumping and exploring. The other interesting note
is the one picture with two circles encompassing one of the
approaching creatures. It appears to be a targeting assistant,
similar in arcade gun games where a bombastic circle zeros in
on enemies around the room. Also notice the strange hand in
the bottom right corner of each screen, I have no clue what
this could be referring to but I’m sure we’ll find out
soon. Could it be the alternate icon I was mentioning? A “non-Combat”
mode perhaps?
Metroid Prime will
do more than transpose this tone from Super Metroid but, I
believe, will take it to the next level. Seeing the reflection
on her visor of creatures flanking Samus will immerse players
in this ambient world of forgotten fantasy. Retro Studios has
been working on this title for well over a year now
(eventually will add up to over two years) and has implemented
features never before seen in a FPS game, or at the very
least, never achieved so gracefully. Combat, exploration,
challenge and mood will have never been so well balanced.
Nintendo damn well realizes how imperative the Metroid
franchise is and how much potential it has to continue as a
hardcore-based series. Nintendo has cancelled projects before
when development takes a turn for the worse. Metroid Prime has
been in production for over a year, has been advertised along
side the GameCube at launch is to many the most anticipated
title in history. Retro Studios has the most advance game
studio in America, their entire team is devoted to a single
game and legendary father of Nintendo, Shigeru Miyamoto, is
overseeing the project himself- Life is beautiful.
For more on Metroid Prime's media controversy read the Metroid
Prime: Through the Visor editorial.
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