Samus finally gets unleashed on Wii, originally a launch title fans of Metroid have been drooling almost a year longer than expected. Corruption is billed as the final part of the Metroid Prime trilogy and somewhat carries on from the previous two games, but don't worry if you haven't played these, it shouldn't put you off.

Phazon has suddenly corrupted the entire federation's network of AU computers and its upto you to travel the galaxy freeing each system from the virus and locating the identity of the enemy. Samus' suit has also been corrupted with Phazon. The federation try to control this by installing a PED, aka Phazon Enhanced Device.

Much like other FPS games including the previous two titles, you're eased into the game by completing the first "training" area. This section of the game is primarily designed to introduce you to all the controls, characters and the story. Corruption does this beautifully and you're soon comfortable with the controls and surroundings. This all takes place aboard a medium sized space craft.

Now, I'm sure most of you only really want to know about one thing: the controls. It's no myth that this game was the whole reason the Nunchuck was added to the Wii control system. So, does it work as well as expected? Yes, it does. The control system in Corruption is, in my opinion, the best console control system for FPS games. For those unfamiliar, you use the Wiimote to aim/look and the analogue stick on your Nunchuck to move forward/back/left/right.

This system has already been employed by games such as Red Steel and Far Cry but none of them come anyway near to the perfection of Prime 3. The key to its success is the target/view locking. Holding down the Z button allows you to lock your view or, if aimed correctly, allows you to lock onto a target. Players of the previous games should understand how this works. For those that aren't well versed, its very similar to Zelda's Z-Targeting system. One key difference over the previous games is that when locked onto a target you are still required to aim with the Wiimote, it simply locks your view on that target.

The targeting/aiming system works brilliantly: it raises the difficulty level over the originals. Retro Studios have proved that FPS games can work, and work well, on the Wii. Hopefully other developers will take note of this control system. They've also offered a few control options, such as flipping the jump/shoot controls and aiming sensitivity. "Standard" mode will have a dead area on-screen which helps keep your view centered, "Advanced" mode, my preferred setting, gets rid of that dead zone and offers even more precise movement for hardcore gamers.

The control system is not the only area of the game that's been refined and changed since the previous two titles. Corruption only has 3 visors to choose from; Scanner, X-Ray and Ship. Samus' ship plays a much larger role in this final game hence the use of the Ship control visor. Gone is the beam selector, this time you simply get to upgrade your standard beam as you progress through the game. The new PED suit allows you to enter "Hypermode" which is activated by inserting one of your energy tanks into Phazon which allows you to become ultra powerful for a brief period at the cost of the energy tank.

It wouldn't be a Wii game without some kind of gesture system. Corruption employs a handful of different interaction elements when accessing doors and control panels. These usually involve pulling, pushing or twisting the Wiimote as if you were opening locks. Morph ball is of course back, with some old features and a few new ones.. including the "Screw Attack" which allows you to jump up two vertical walls. Samus' grapple beam has also been upgraded, a lot more gestures have been used. The grapple beam can now be used to wrench panels off walls, connect to sky rails and rip shields off of enemies.

The game unfolds over numerous planets and space crafts, leaving you to use your ship to fly around the entire galaxy. The mapping system is excellent, always showing you where you need to be and what areas you need to check. The difficultly level is perfect, you never feel too "lost" and always have a good idea of what you should be doing next. Later in the game you can get access to detailed maps showing you where all the possible upgrades are, very useful for the hardcore Metroid fans.

Not only have Retro Studios excelled with the control system, the level design and attention to detail is simply amazing. It really has to be experienced first hand to experience the level of care and effort that has gone into creating this game. The first couple of planets are lush with wild vegetation coupled with fiery and ice areas. This is followed by the metallic and robotic floating sky town of Elysia: the sky rails are great fun! After that comes the jaw droppingly provocative red glow of the Pirate Homeworld. Finally you find yourself on the incredibly bizarre Phazon source planet simply named Phazee.

Whilst of course we would of loved to see this game in glorious 720p, it still looks pretty smart in the fluid 480p. Wii fans will certainly be impressed by this effort; a souped up Gamecube game but boy it looks pretty. It's proof that artist concept always outweighs the resolution of your screen.

There are very few flaws in the game; it's something Retro have been refining for almost 7 years now. The story flows nicely and never overloads you with information. Its a good balance of action, adventure and cut scenes. The only thing that slightly annoyed me is the somewhat tedious energy cell hunting later on in the game. This requires a lot of backtracking over previous worlds locating required energy cells to reach the final stage.

Conclusion

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is an excellent game in all departments. It reigns supreme at the top of the Adventure/FPS genre its predecessor started with Metroid Prime. Blending classic FPS action on beautifully visualised foreign worlds with innovative controls, Retro Studios have done Nintendo and Samus proud. There aren't any reasons why this game shouldn't make it into your growing Wii collection.