Topic: Anyone playing Metroid Prime Federation Force?

Astounding. IDK how you could go this long without hearing/knowing the abbreviation IMO, it's so prevalent on the internet.

What does, IDK means?

headdesk Please tell me this is a joke.

Guys, if you don't know what an abbreviation means, just Google it. It's not rocket science.

Okay.

I think the game is very fun and recommend playing it if you have the option. It is like a portable version of the gamecube and Wii Metroid games with a different protagonist.

Yeah bringing back this one Federation Force thread because, and I'd been meaning to do this for a while but kept forgetting, I do want to actually be able to play this game. And from what I understand Federation Force is kinda like Triforce Heroes in that its really not worth playing in single player, and thus I'm curious if anyone is around who'd be interested in playing it online with me.

I don't necessarily expect someone to answer this 3DS thread in 2024 to play arguably the most forgotten official Metroid game, but I figure its worth a shot.

@kkslider5552000 I think I've heard the solo mode is a bit more worthwhile than in Tri Force Heroes at least. But I do own Federation Force and haven't played it outside of Blast Ball, and the online isn't region locked unlike Tri Force Heroes, so I'd be happy to give it a go with you. I'm at uni right now and don't have the game with me but I'll be home on the 24th, so that gives us two weeks before 3DS online shuts down.

@Dogorilla I'll be around every day after the 24th, EST, so I'd be down for that. Have plenty of time on my hand, generally speaking, so hope we can make that work.

@kkslider5552000 Cool, we'll arrange something nearer the time (feel free to @ me if I forget)

Well what a coincidence. I got Federation Force some days ago. Posted about it in the 3DS recommendation thread. I was initially gonna buy 3 copies to play with my son and a friend, but reviews seem to really recommend not 2 or 3, but 4 players for the later missions. They should've scaled the mission difficulty and objectives better according to player count.

I have so far played the first 6 missions (mission 7 has a bit of a difficulty spike I heard). They have been quite brief and simple. Nothing special, though I can see the appeal in playing with multiple people and needing to coordinate and work together. That's where the real appeal for this game lies imo.

The 'dual stick' controls are ok. The little C nub on the new 3DS is a bit strange but it works. I would expect playing with a circle pad pro on a regular 3DS to outclass it though. I can manage with the gyro controls. A bit more tank controly than twin sticks though, so I prefer the latter, even though gyro perhaps works better for small aiming adjustments. For me it's still a massive downgrade from Hunters' controls, which is why for a long time I avoided Federation Force on principle.

Yeah, it didn't the deserve the harsh response it got. Imo.

@Bolt_Strike For me, Metroid is the franchise out of the older existing Nintendo franchises, that really suites first person shooter spin offs. It has that darker, more serious setting and it has shooting. Hunters was quite amazing and unique, with its excellent controls and the Hunters' unique capabilities and alternative forms. I get it may not appeal to the traditional, Metroid and Nintendo fan, since gameplay is quite different from metroidvania. You saw that with the initial scepticism towards Prime as well, though that was quickly overcome through the game's excellence and it turning out to be a faitful recreation of the traditional gameplay into 3D.

I think probably part of the of the problem is that handhelds are quite a niche platform for FPS games. The genre originates from 90's PC gaming. You know the PC master race cliché. I think that section of gamers would've not likely gotten into underpowered handheld gaming, though Hunters was totally worth it. I really hoped Nintendo would've come up with an ambitious online FPS during the Wii/ Wii U days since it had that fluid control scheme. To draw in more serious gamers, and compete with similar offerings on platforms which Nintendo consoles were lacking.

It's strange to me, the N64 revolutionized console FPS (I believe GoldenEye was its third best selling game). Nintendo somehow did not follow up on that. Xbox then took that space with Halo. They make some strange decisions at times. Still a Japanese company I guess in the end, grounded in an Eastern gaming market and tastes. For all the backlash Federation Force got for its look and gameplay, since there hadn't been a traditional Metroid game for quite some years at that point, I'm a bit shocked to see Samus Returns only sold 500k.

@kkslider5552000 I'm at CET, 6 hours ahead of you (so 12 pm for you is 6 pm for me). Do you play certain times of day? Do you connect through Discord or use friend codes or something? How does this work. Man, official Wii U and 3DS online functionality ending in 2 weeks.

@F-ZeroX Thing is that Federation Force DOESN'T have a darker and more serious setting, or at least in terms of artstyle. The chibi looking aesthetic makes it look more lighthearted and kiddie, I've seen some comparisons to Fisher Price thrown around. I think that kind of dissonance between the IP wanting to come off as darker and serious, and the game having a much more kiddie tone left it without much of an audience. And again, the gameplay being the polar opposite of a typical Metroid game in every way except being an FPS sure didn't help either. That's why I say that this was likely an attempt to sell a kiddie co-op shooter and just slapped the Metroid label on because they thought it would sell better than a new IP. There's no way that anyone that understands the Metroid brand would've designed this game from scratch to be a Metroid game. Really if they're interested in kiddie co-op shooters, at this point it's better to just make it a Splatoon game. This kind of concept fits Splatoon far more than Metroid and that fanbase would be far more interested in this style of play. But I can get why they didn't do that because it was a mere year after Splatoon first debuted and they weren't sure it would be as successful it ended up being. Still though, anyone that truly understands Metroid could tell that the Metroid branding was the wrong choice for this game. Metroid fans don't want a kiddie arena co-op shooter. Metroid fans want a serious, atmospheric exploration game where you navigate hostile environments and mazes of narrow corridors. Federation Force had none of that, and Metroid hadn't sold well enough for gambling on a new audience to be a smart move. So even the very concept felt like it had a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding. There's some spinoff ideas that could work for Metroid. But kiddie arena co-op shooter is not one of them.

I honestly don't remember what we would have to exchange on 3DS tbh, I don't think I've played multiplayer with friends on 3DS once since the Switch came out tbh. But I do use Discord.

And I'm usually around anywhere from 3 PM to midnight.

@Bolt_Strike Yeah that kiddie look sure killed the game. Personally I like both, FPS and the the classic Metroid atmospheric puzzle exploration. I got interested in Federation Force because of the cooperative gameplay. As awesome as Hunters was to me, I get burnt out on intense and highly competitive games. Coop can be a bit more relaxed and rewarding in its own way.

@kkslider5552000 Cool, maybe I'll drop by on Discord one of these days. See who's up for a game. Have fun man.