Zero Punctuation: Metroid Prime Federation Force

[MCerberus]

I have an idea that will save Metroid's legacy.
A sarcastic twitter account!

...
It's better than nothing...

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Beardy, bald, hopeless Nintendo Fanboy with glasses, wearing a Mario shirt? I see what you did there, Yahtzee and I like it.

Moviebob reference I think? Although he hates Nintendo now when footage of the new Paper Mario game made a reference to the watergate scandal and he mistook it as a gamergate reference. XD

But Yahtzee, don't you dare call Prime 2 shit. It had it's moments of greatness too, not as much as Prime 1 but still! I haven't played Prime 3 in forever but I remember that being not shit too. Prime Hunters however, multiplayer was fun, solo mode was pure crud.

Beardy, bald, hopeless Nintendo Fanboy with glasses, wearing a Mario shirt? I see what you did there, Yahtzee and I like it.

1) ...Wait, seriously? He fell for it too? *facepalm* Appending "-gate" to scandal names has been a thing since watergate! Ugh!

2) From what I understand (I'm JUST NOW getting to prime 2), The first game has the best atmosphere and lore/storytelling, the second one is the best challenge-wise and has the most creative combat, and the third is just all around decent, but not exceptional.

So far I think I prefer 1 for the isolation/immersion/lore factor, but 2's alright so far too (It's my best friend's favourite one, since he thrives on challenge)

 

[darkrage6]

Regarding games that do not contain the usual protagonist:

How was Half Life: Opposing Force and Blue Shift received?

Blue Shift was a console exclusive alternate story for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life, and that was cancelled a month from release. So, how do you think it was received?

Also, I'm not sure about everyone else, but I've just given up on Nintendo. Half-way through last year, it seems like the company has been very insistent about making sure their customers feel like their money is better spent elsewhere.

I've given up on Nintendo as well, the fact that the NX is only six months away and we still barely know anything about it is not a good sign.

 

[darkrage6]

Regarding games that do not contain the usual protagonist:

How was Half Life: Opposing Force and Blue Shift received?

Blue Shift was a console exclusive alternate story for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life, and that was cancelled a month from release. So, how do you think it was received?

Also, I'm not sure about everyone else, but I've just given up on Nintendo. Half-way through last year, it seems like the company has been very insistent about making sure their customers feel like their money is better spent elsewhere.

I've given up on Nintendo as well, the fact that the NX is only six months away and we still barely know anything about it is not a good sign.

officially declare Other M as in-universe Space Pirate propaganda.

I like this idea. XD

You know, I'm still shocked at the people who defended Other M. Seriously, it was preposterous how much context they ignored, and how much actual proof/visuals/text they glossed over when declaring that Other M did a good job with Samus. >_>

Other M looks like a fucking masterpiece next to FF.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Is it just me, or is he talking faster and sounding more... British?

Yeah, something is definitely off with the tone in his voice. Maybe he's sick.

Maybe he has jet lag from moving continents. Doesn't sound like something that would cause you to speak faster though.

 

[Imp_Emissary]

And with Samus taking the piss out of her ship's AI, making fun of how shitty "Adam" was in Other M. like, I dunno, "Scans indicate some parts of this zone are exceedingly cold. Your Varia module is currently compromised. Be cautious" "At least this time you aren't forgetting to authorize me to use it, Adam. I mean, seriously." "Will you EVER let me live that down, Samus?" "Should I?".

Adam will never live that down.

Spoiler: Spoiler for Other M (Disclaimer: you shouldn't care. ;p)

Cause he's F@#king dead! >xD

The one good thing about that terrible story.

Ummm....

Spoiler: Spoilers for Metroid Fusion

Adam's mind was preserved as an AI template for military applications, and is actually the AI commanding officer on her ship for the duration of Metroid fusion.

Which actually makes Other M an even BIGGER kick in the nads (Fusion was made first, but Other M is a prequel). In Fusion, Samus tells us how Adam was the only person to call her lady and make it sound "dignified" instead of sarcastic and how "Any Objections, Lady?" was more a form of trust between them rather than actually asking for objections. Also, he was smart, taking Samus's reckless last-second plan, pointing out the flaw in it, and then going "Actually, there's a much safer way to do it, which ALSO ensures 100% success instead of just a partial one".

...And then Other M makes Samus have daddy issues with him, makes him calling her "lady" be almost a joke, makes the "Any objections, lady" into even more of a joke, has him and the rest of the squad treat her with kids gloves instead of the respect Fusion says she got, and makes Adam an idiot who waits until after Samus is THROUGH the fire area before going "ok, NOW activate Varia mode". ...Not to mention it turning Samus from a reckless one-woman-army into an emotional but barely emotive idiot who turns OFF her varia suit despite it not posing any threat to the station, and not ASKING for it to be authorized again when entering a hot area.

...Sorry about the blahblahblah. Fusion was my first game in the series, getting me into the rest of them, and seeing it get stomped on by Other M (which also nullified Prime 1, my favourite in the series) just really really irritated me. >_>

Dang Ageix. I didn't even know how bad it actually was. <-<

Thanks for the info.=w= b

 

[Xan Krieger]

So he compares them to people who play football when the game he is comparing the characters to is about soccer, alright Australia time for you to learn proper names.

 

[altdoom]

Seriously what the cocking shit is this game even about?

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

No Yahtzee, I don't believe any word that you say about this and I think you have no credibility when it comes to judging Nintendo. I'll judge it for myself when I get the chance.

By all means, please do, and keep us posted! Yatzee HAS been wrong before and if he's wrong here, that'd be nice.

What pisses me off the most is that people keep saying that Metroid Prime was declared non canon but, and I hate to use this childish argument but I think its justified here: Proof or it doesn't exist. For all I know you people just made that up.

I unfortunately don't have the article. Sorry. :s

Apparently it's rooted in one main line from Other M contradicting Prime 3's entire plot, though.

Honestly, Metroid can just die. We have a market already oversaturated with space themed shooters, we don't need another one to exist. Especially when the only reason it exists is for Nintendo to have a space shooter franchise for all of the phlebs that only buy those kinds games in the first place. That's why it only sells in America. How about Nintendo just makes a brand new IP to cater to the older crowd that isn't a generic space shooter instead?

Except Metroid is:
a) Originally not a shooter, it was a sidescrolling action-adventure-exploration game, and even when the prime games turned it into an FPS type game it remained a mostly atmospheric exploration game, just with an FPS twist. Most people like the series for it's "Explore a large hostile environment, peeling back the layers as new powerups become available, letting us access new places" gameplay which is something not served by anything in the shooter genre. The closest 3D equivalent is Dark Souls. It's NOT a generic space shooter. Compare it to virtually every other space shooter and you'll see clear differences in the experience it offers.

b) Even in the shooter sense, it's the ORIGINAL space shooter. That's like telling them to give up on Mario because Banjo Kazooie and Sonic and Shovel Knight exist.

c) Wait, we're still oversaturated with space shooters? Really? I thought the craze died waaay down after Halo 3, and we've gone through the Modern Military Over-saturation and into the "Sandbox Survival (probably with zombies)" over-saturation phase!

Honestly, Metroid doesn't need to "die". If the Metroid 2 fan remake is any indication, the original sidescrolling formula is still fantastic and could use a revisit.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

They could've just called it "Federation Force" without "Metroid" attached to it and it would've probably been much better received.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Thanatos2k]

I've said this before: I don't trust anyone who bad mouths this game because that's all that people have done with this since it was announced and I'm under the impression that all negative reviews on it are just exist to tell people what they want to hear.

As opposed to them saying what you want to hear? Dude, the game is not good. Accept it, and move on. Sometimes there's bad games in the world, and most of the time anyone can see them coming even before they're released.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

*Snippety*

My my, someone's bitter about something.

Perhaps you should check your cornflakes to see if someone pissed in them.

I guess I just can't relate to you at all. Then again, I'm one of those people who is still a fan of Sonic even after all the debacles and mediocre games that have come out, because there are still good games, and good reinventions of the formula to enjoy. That and...I mean, you wanna talk about immature gaming media, that series is poster boy for getting REAMED even when it's actually decent.

(PS, having played the original metroid 2 for the first time quite recently, the remake is miles better. A lot less fucking clunky and I don't have to run 2 miles away to resupply after each Omega fight makes it worth it on that alone.)

 

[Atratzu]

"There is a single player mode, but it's a trap." bahahahaha

Sounds like a winner of a game, and by winner I mean winner of the "I'm never going to play this game" award.

 

[Transdude1996]

Honestly, Metroid can just die. We have a market already oversaturated with space themed shooters, we don't need another one to exist. Especially when the only reason it exists is for Nintendo to have a space shooter franchise for all of the phlebs that only buy those kinds games in the first place. That's why it only sells in America. How about Nintendo just makes a brand new IP to cater to the older crowd that isn't a generic space shooter instead?

Except Metroid is:
a) Originally not a shooter, it was a sidescrolling action-adventure-exploration game, and even when the prime games turned it into an FPS type game it remained a mostly atmospheric exploration game, just with an FPS twist. Most people like the series for it's "Explore a large hostile environment, peeling back the layers as new powerups become available, letting us access new places" gameplay which is something not served by anything in the shooter genre. The closest 3D equivalent is Dark Souls. It's NOT a generic space shooter. Compare it to virtually every other space shooter and you'll see clear differences in the experience it offers.

b) Even in the shooter sense, it's the ORIGINAL space shooter. That's like telling them to give up on Mario because Banjo Kazooie and Sonic and Shovel Knight exist.

c) Wait, we're still oversaturated with space shooters? Really? I thought the craze died waaay down after Halo 3, and we've gone through the Modern Military Over-saturation and into the "Sandbox Survival (probably with zombies)" over-saturation phase!

Honestly, Metroid doesn't need to "die". If the Metroid 2 fan remake is any indication, the original sidescrolling formula is still fantastic and could use a revisit.

Ooh, that reminds of something I read a little while back. What happened was that back in the days of the GameCube, Nintendo's higher-ups had a meeting to discuss making a game that was a "Halo-killer". During the discussion, the heads of Nintendo's American division brought up Metroid Prime multiple times as being that game and emphasized that they should hype up Prime 2 to compete with Halo 2 (Both were released 5 days apart). Everyone else in the room dismissed this completely and they eventually settled on making Geist.

*Snippety*

My my, someone's bitter about something.

Perhaps you should check your cornflakes to see if someone pissed in them.

I guess I just can't relate to you at all. Then again, I'm one of those people who is still a fan of Sonic even after all the debacles and mediocre games that have come out, because there are still good games, and good reinventions of the formula to enjoy. That and...I mean, you wanna talk about immature gaming media, that series is poster boy for getting REAMED even when it's actually decent.

(PS, having played the original metroid 2 for the first time quite recently, the remake is miles better. A lot less fucking clunky and I don't have to run 2 miles away to resupply after each Omega fight makes it worth it on that alone.)

Yay, another self-aware Sonic fan exists here. I'm not alone.

 

[Saika Renegade]

Metroid is approaching that weird place where the series' actual official games end up ranging from bad to mediocre, but the additional material it inspires (whether official or fan-made) ends up as decent at the very least. Sonic's been doing this too.

I will admit to having a delayed, guilty laugh at the Korean take-out joke.

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

Please tell me more about how I'm a ***** for pointing out that the game looked like ass, resembled the second worst Metroid game to come out before then (Metroid Prime Hunters) that the gameplay looked shallow and that it spat in the face of everything that made Metroid great. I have to say, I haven't really been proven wrong in any of these fields. At best, the general reaction to this game is that it's average. And the story elements of it really piss me off.

Also, you do know that making a new IP is a lot harder than a remake for a game where you can borrow assets and gameplay from existing parts of the franchise? Also that was a game that badly needed remaking. Mainly because A. It honestly surprased the original Metroid 2 and B. People want good Metroid games, something Nintendo clearly doesn't care about.

Yeah well it does have staying power. People wouldn't be getting pissed at Nintendo if they didn't care about it.

Yeah, that little tangent doesn't prove anything. People thought the game looked bad. It was bad. Mediocre gameplay and laughable story. No ifs, ands or buts. And unlike Nintendo, what Sony showed off actually looked good.

 

[Hawki]

Y'know, I will admit, I've never really been put off by Federation Force. Honestly, the idea has some appeal - the universe doesn't revolve around Samus Aran. I'm sure the Federation actually gets stuff done. It's like saying that Aliens (the setting) can only function with Ripley as the protagonist (using this example as Samus was apparently inspired by her). Now, that doesn't preclude it from being bad on its own rights, but a game that explores a different aspect of the universe in a different way? I could get behind that.

Anyway:

Which is weird, considering that Super Metroid alone gives her a few traits before gameplay even starts.

Such as? It's true that she monologues, but that's about it. It's a summarization of previous events.

But FF does appear to set up something, and considering it's a game set just before Metroid II, I think they have plans for Samus.

Is it? The gap between Zero Mission and Return of Samus has become this nebulous blob of ambiguous time, since all the Prime games have been squeezed together in there. It's one of the few places in the timeline that such a thing can be done, unless you go back before Zero Mission or post-Fusion. Apart from that, only the Other M-Fusion gap is available for interquels.

Well there goes my good mood for today. I've said this before: I don't trust anyone who bad mouths this game because that's all that people have done with this since it was announced and I'm under the impression that all negative reviews on it are just exist to tell people what they want to hear. Throw in the fact that Yahtzee has bad mouthed actual good games by Nintendo for petty and bullcrap reasons in the past and I'm inclined he did this just to pander to those same people regardless of what he says. Hell he likely did this as a self indulgent excuse to badmouth Nintendo. Even the comparison to Aliens Colonial Marines backs this up.

Yahtzee badmouths pretty much any game. He has his obvious biases, but it's part of ZP's charm that he doesn't try to hide them (unlike, say, Movie Bob, who indulges in them).

Honestly, Metroid can just die. We have a market already oversaturated with space themed shooters, we don't need another one to exist. Especially when the only reason it exists is for Nintendo to have a space shooter franchise for all of the phlebs that only buy those kinds games in the first place. That's why it only sells in America. How about Nintendo just makes a brand new IP to cater to the older crowd that isn't a generic space shooter instead?

Metroid's never really been a 'shooter' franchise though. The Prime games have operated from the first person perspective, but it's interwoven more with exploration. Same thing with the 2D Metroids - you're shooting, but exploring as well.

Metroid Fusion came out way back in 2002 and we still haven't had a direct sequel to it.

Do we need one? I mean, Fusion is my favorite game in the series, and I've dabbled around with post-Fusion oneshots, and while it does leave it open to continuation, honestly, I felt that it works better as a series finale. Space Pirates are gone, Zebes and SR-388 are gone, the X and Metroids are (supposedly) gone, Samus is at peace with herself, etc. It doesn't preclude continuation, but there's many series that went beyond what felt like their natural ending point, and felt the worse for it narratively. I've never been that enamored with Metroid as a series, but right now, it does feel like it's reached its end point, and is filling the gaps with installments prior to said ending point. I can live with that.

Apparently it's rooted in one main line from Other M contradicting Prime 3's entire plot, though.

The line is that it's the first time Samus worked under a commander/left the Federation, which goes against Prime 3, as she takes orders from Admiral Dane.

That said, it's making a mountain out of a molehill. Does Prime 3 get invalidated because of a line, or is the line a gaff? This kind of thing happens in fiction, especially when creative control is shared/passed around.

c) Wait, we're still oversaturated with space shooters? Really? I thought the craze died waaay down after Halo 3, and we've gone through the Modern Military Over-saturation and into the "Sandbox Survival (probably with zombies)" over-saturation phase!

You can never have enough space shooters! Never! Never I say!

Well, okay, would have preferred it if Halo ended at Reach, but hey, Metroid fans get to hate Other M, I get to hate Halo 4. We can all hate together!

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Ooh, that reminds of something I read a little while back. What happened was that back in the days of the GameCube, Nintendo's higher-ups had a meeting to discuss making a game that was a "Halo-killer". During the discussion, the heads of Nintendo's American division brought up Metroid Prime multiple times as being that game and emphasized that they should hype up Prime 2 to compete with Halo 2 (Both were released 5 days apart). Everyone else in the room dismissed this completely and they eventually settled on making Geist.

Call me crazy, but I'm actually glad that happened. Geist was a blast, and I cannot TELL you how many hours my friends and I dropped on the multiplayer together. It's a classic for my close circle of pals. XD

Yay, another self-aware Sonic fan exists here. I'm not alone.

I'm not alone! There are other sane Sonic fans! PRAISE THE SUN! (/overdramatization)

Seriously, though, there are way too few of us. XD

 

[Erttheking]

Snip

......zing. Yeah, not really, very few games can deliver on the sheer quality of Metroid games, along with the exploration and silent worldbuilding Prime did. And you're dodging my point on how you called people bitches for pointing out that shit stinks and that Federation Force's story sucked.. But please, provide me some examples.

Oversimplification much? And insulting me, great. Why deconstruct my points when you can just do that instead?