Topic: Metroid Prime Federation Force (and Blast Ball)

I watched the Japanese direct, and there were a couple of scenes that looked like they could have been from a single player mode.

First, a segment where the player was guiding a little ball (by shooting it) along a narrow path, while making sure it avoids obstacles (this wasn't Blast Ball, either).

Secondly, what looked like some sort of stealth section, where the player wasn't in their power armor, and had to avoid being noticed by space pirates.

In both those clips, there weren't signs of any other players, from what I noticed.

Also, N3DS & Circle Pad Pro owners will be able to use dual stick control, while vanilla 3DS owners will be able to aim via the gyroscope, while moving with the nub.

Also, I think they confirmed online play, at least for Blast Ball.

Show me more levels like this and you have got yourself a sale. Sure looks like Metroid gameplay to me, just not traditional Metroidvania gameplay.

I like that Federation Force seems to be inspired by Metroid Prime in terms of its weaponry, as I think Metroid Prime had the best combat of the Metroid Prime Trilogy. There is the "Shock Shot" and "Freeze Shot" which correspond with the Wave and Ice Beam respectively. We've already seen plenty of a Power Beam-like weapon (with a Charge Beam) used as the standard fire power for the Federation Force. The only major beam missing from Federation Force would be a Plasma Beam equivalent. Not to mention, the game has Missiles and Super Missiles, so I think combat-wise Federation Force is really shaping up to be pretty engaging.

I can't help but watch footage of MP:FF and think it's the Nerf edition of Metroid. The game's atmosphere is trying to be all serious and menacing but yet I can't do anything but lol. Graphics look really goofy. Doesn't look remotely anything close to next-gen...if that's what a metroid game on the New Nintendo 3DS is supposed to be.

^Alot could be said about the graphic style being too chibi-Metroid but it not being a next gen looking game on a portable console seems reasonable enough to me.

Yeah, but we're past the DS days. At this point chibi 3D graphics just count as 'not trying.'

Seriously, when was the last time visuals were not important in a Metroid game? Fusion??

Federation Force looks a lot better than Hunters and is probably pushing the 3DS to its limits. I think the art style of Federation Force allows them to make Federation Force look as impressive as it does.

Hunters' art style was so much better, though. Because it is what you expected from a Metroid game. The fact that they accomplished that on a DS of all consoles just makes this chibi art style even more disappointing.

It has been a long time since I have played hunters, so I might be wrong about some of this.

Hunters had you travel through the same areas multiple times and fight the same bosses over and over to save on space and extend content. Federation Force looks like it will have a lot more and it will all be playable in 4 player co-op.

I think the art style was used to make it easier to develop and easier for the Player to see what is going on in the middle of the 4 Player co-op. Also wasn't it said that the development was started on the DS? Where they probably had even more restrictions and they probably didn't want to re-create a ton of assets for 3DS.

Art style is different from level design, though. Hunters definitely had its drawbacks, but it was mostly meant to be played for the online multiplayer, so it's no surprise the single player content was rather light. But just the character models and the actual designs of the game itself, from the other hunters to the enemies, in my opinion, is superior to Federation Force. I'm more convinced the chibi art style is to appeal to japanese sensibilities more than it is just to make things "look" clearer.

Metroid Prime Hunters has four major settings that need to be revisited: Celestial Archives, Alinos, Vesper Defense Outpost and Arcterra. If you want to paint revisiting those settings as a con, I think it's only fair to do the same for the likes of Prime and Super for settings like Magmoor Caverns, Chozo Ruins, Phendrana Drifts, Tallon Overworld, Brinstar, Norfair and Crateria. Hunters does have eight boss encounters involving slightly different iterations of the Cretaphid and Slench; however, repetition that was done there definitely is not indicative of the game's feel as a whole.

Metroid Prime Federation Force will have the Federation Force visiting three planets: Excelcion, Talvania and Bion, up to 10 times on separate missions. If you really have an issue with doing two visits in most of the settings of Metroid Prime Hunters, then Federation Force's mission structure should bother you somewhat as well. I'm all for defending MP:FF and giving the game a chance, but there are just some comparisons being made that are absurd to me.

I'm not hating on this game, but I really don't expect good sales from this title. It's still a major FU to long time Metroid fans who been waiting for a new title in ages.

I agree, and considering that 3D World doesn't have any 3D effect like 3D Land does, they never should've put "3D" in the title. I get that they were trying to point out the similarities in gameplay-style, but the way they did it is more confusing and ironic than it is helpful. They should've just called it something like Super Mario Land U.

Here's footage of an entire mission.

Looks cool

We've already seen this mission before.

And yet, you quoted the whole post so everyone can view it a third time...

It still looks pretty bad.

That footage does not have me feeling very optimistic — I don't think the graphics are as bad as everyone says (3DS games, as a rule, look terrible in inflated YouTube videos and screenshots), but it seemed rather empty and dull. To be fair, though, everyone in that video was playing like a nitwit.

The biggest problem I have with this game is that Zelda: Tri Force Heroes showed me that 3DS games that require online play do not work well. I had hard time finding players who would not quit if their chosen level/mission did not get picked, and connection issues happened every fourth game I played. My connection is pretty good but it does not really help if the other players have a bad connection.

Since Federation Force features a four player co-op instead of Tri Force Heroes' three, I'm afraid that the connections will get ever poorer and people are quitting more often. Nintendo has not convinced me that this won't be the case.

I really don't care what the game looks like, and I do not care that it's a Metroid game that does not feature Samus as the playable character (okay, that is a lie). The biggest problem for me is the fact that it's online heavy when Nintendo already failed with the online part in another co-op game.