Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS)

Metroid Prime: Federation Force was a game primed to be received poorly. At the time of its release, the Metroid series had gone nearly ten years without a new game save for the contentious Metroid: Other M, and to many, the fate of the series in general seemed uncertain. So, when Nintendo announced the new Metroid title would feature faceless soldiers working together on missions rather than the typical solitary, exploration-focused adventures of bounty hunter Samus Aran, it really didn’t matter how good the game would turn out to be, it just wasn’t what Metroid fans wanted. However, public relations is a matter of marketing, and the true quality of Metroid Prime: Federation Force is independent of any of these expectations. Had it been released at a healthier time in the series, perhaps there would have even been a positive reception for the series exploring new ideas, but while history can’t be changed, we can at least take a calmer look at the game now to see if it truly deserved the venom directed towards it.

In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, you take on the role of one of four color-coded marines in the Galactic Federation’s military, other human players able to join you as one of the other three soldiers. Piloting giant mechs that admittedly look like they could have just been human-sized men in armor if they so wished, the soldiers of this four-man Federation Force are sent on missions in the Bermuda System’s collection of three planets. While initially beginning as a test run of the new mech suits the group is piloting, it is soon discovered that Samus’s old foes the alien Space Pirates are operating in the system and working on some new dangerous piece of technology as well as relying on familiar organic weapon options like the energy-draining Metroids. Story really isn’t at the forefront of the game’s priorities, with most of the consoles and other sources of lore in the game being very dry and not really fleshing out the world, but the game does at least remember to keep character sizes consistent, the Space Pirates needing special means to be as big as your mech and Samus Aran making appearances to help out the Force despite being much smaller than them. The game is all about working towards stopping the enemy’s new big toy, a simple plot thread that the game aims to hang interesting missions on rather than interesting world-building.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force borrows much of its combat mechanics from Metroid Prime. Through first-person aiming, you can lock-on to enemy targets and fire at them while strafing or jumping around to avoid their attacks.  Your basic power beam has a charge option, but before a mission you can set certain special weapon types with limited uses, some having extra effects like shots that can burn or freeze foes, explosive missiles and proximity mines, and more situational items like decoys to throw off enemies, area shields, and health kits. You can find some items in the field to refill your reserves, but other than setting which items are available for an upcoming mission, the game expects you to use them intelligently for overcoming hazards or difficult foes. You also get to pick some MODs before entering a mission, these being small chips you can find hidden in levels that will give you certain edges such as increasing your combat effectiveness, raising your defenses, or giving small bonuses or effects to your ammunition types. There’s also a MOD meant to help you on your own to make up for the fact the game is mostly designed to be a co-op experience. With even two players though the game manages to cover its bases pretty well, but a solo run gives you the option to increase your power as well as players being able to bring along little flying drones to replace the missing players. There are certainly missions where it will be more difficult on your own, but the enjoyment of the experience isn’t completely destroyed if you can’t find anyone to play with despite it being more interesting with friends.

The combat works well for what it is, often focusing more on foes with specific weak points or number advantages rather than being about quick and precise shooting. The different types of aliens you encounter allows it to keep changing how you approach combat, some creatures preferring to get in close to deal heavy damage to emphasize the importance of movement during combat, while other may strike from afar, usually to harass you while dealing with other enemies. There’s probably an overabundance of the basic hopper enemy type who doesn’t put up much of a fight, but Space Pirates are capable combatants in a gun fight, certain monsters might try to rush you down or pack a mean punch if you aren’t careful, and the bosses almost all have some gimmick to set them apart from each other. One is an absolutely enormous beetle that is more about preventing it from reaching a certain point than surviving the damage you take from it, some are machines that cycles of defending and attacking you need to work through, and others are pretty traditional battles with a big creature with unique attacks that grow more aggressive and dangerous as the battle wanes on. One thing about the bosses in this game though is almost all of them go on for quite a long time. A typical mission in Metroid Prime: Federation Force might take anywhere between 10 to 20 minutes, but a boss fight sometimes manages to fill that time by having three long phases with individual health bars, all while still putting up a good fight with each phase. You can equip MODs for free revives or have another marine resuscitate you if you fall during the battle, but it does lead to point penalization when it comes time to reward you with medal at the end of the level based on enemies killed, time taken, and optional objectives completed.

While the bosses may sometimes make you weary, Metroid Prime: Federation Force makes sure its general approach to mission design keeps throwing new concepts at you to avoid any stagnation.  The Federation Force will be sent on all kinds of missions in their quest to stop the Space Pirates, the most common type of mission being exploring certain areas on the three available planets, but the goals here can shift as well. Combat and brief puzzle-solving take turns in these stages, making for a rise and fall that fits the time spent in them well. Sometimes they may deviate into new ideas, boss fights cropping up to cap some off, but some of the ideas lightly touched on in these explorative levels get full-fledged mission versions later. Things like needing to defend an area while its under attack get a few goes with different ideas on how you’re expected to hold back the waves of enemies, and some levels will see you doing things like needing to push carts of valuable materials through dangerous storms, catching snow monsters, driving a mobile turret, and there are even missions that will force you out of your mechs, the vulnerable marines needing to rely on stealth and smart movement to make up for their lack of firepower. There’s a decent amount of restraint in using mission types, the game seeming to only pull out similar design ideas like leaving the mech if it has conceived of a new way to play in that mode. Every mission also includes secondary objectives to complete along the way, the extra goal playing into the medals you earn at the end of a mission while also fleshing out the stages a bit more and potentially making them worth revisiting when you can approach the secondary objective with proper knowledge of what you’re facing. Some missions, especially the early ones, are a bit straightforward still, but most of the game continues to change things around enough that you’ll find it interesting engage with despite your limited abilities.

Funnily enough, despite Metroid Prime: Federation Force’s main gameplay being the cooperative shooting missions, the game actually began as a futuristic version of soccer then named Blast Ball. The Metroid influence was heavily present in the early versions of the game, but even after it got turned into its current form, Blast Ball still came along for the ride, serving as an optional second mode to play that remains focused on being a sport. In Blast Ball, two teams of three compete in the same giant mechs featured in the main game with the same guns on their arms and everything, but the difference here is what those weapons are being used for. A giant ball will fall into the center of the field, both players needing to shoot it with their power shots to try and push it into their assigned goals. While the ball sometimes comes in different types and the players can pick up powers on the field to make them faster or mess with opponents, most of the focus is on shooting the ball into the goals, players damaged if they touch it and forced out of their mechs briefly if they take too much damage, making them useless for a bit. Like a game of soccer, players can try to defend the goal or be aggressive, but the fact you’re shooting the ball around can make things chaotic, no real passing existing and charge shots tending to send the ball flying around the field. One interesting feature that helps keeps things even though is the shrinking of the goals. After a team scores, the goal will condense down, making it harder for them to get the ball into the goal and allowing the opposition some time to even the odds and score on their wider target. Despite this feature making Blast Ball games less likely to be runaway wins for one team, the mode in general feels a little light on content. There are options for AI opponents to play against in tournaments and you can play against other humans, but had Blast Ball been the focus of this game, it likely would have been too shallow to really earn its asking price. However, as a side-event to the main mission mode, it’s certainly a different type of play from the main content but still a decent diversion with some unique ideas.

THE VERDICT: Metroid Prime: Federation Force doesn’t really live up to the enormous expectations the Metroid Prime name placed on it, but it sets out to do its own thing and does a good job of it. It’s a co-op shooter focused on completing segmented missions, and the objectives for those missions are diverse enough to keep putting the shooting mechanics to good work. Rather than a focus on accuracy, the player is asked to figure out a situation, be it a combat or a puzzle, and put their gun and extra weapons to work overcoming it, and with a friend or two along, it puts up a good fight in that regard. Solo play makes some of the cracks in the design more apparent like the length of boss fights and some simpler mission designs, but the experience doesn’t rest on any idea too long, keeping players moving through new situations right up to the end. Blast Ball’s presence doesn’t really make or break the game though, the sport an enjoyable but rather simple extra mode.

And so, I give Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS…

A GOOD Rating. Divorced of any expectations, Metroid Prime: Federation Force puts the Metroid Prime shooting mechanic style through a pack of missions that mostly give it plenty to engage with. A slow start and some grueling bosses don’t take away from the more interesting mission designs on offer, and the focus on being a world worth playing in rather than one filled with lore pays off with an enjoyable experience. It’s not what Metroid fans were looking for, and games certainly should consider how they’re marketed and presented, but it does use what it carries over from the series to make it interesting despite its spin-off nature. Perhaps some cold feet after the game reveal’s poor reception kept the developers from putting in the extra work to make solo play and Blast Ball a bit tighter, but once Metroid Prime: Federation Force does find its footing in the story, it continues to give you interesting objectives to complete.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force found itself in an odd spot. It was first a futuristic sports game, then it was a game in a series that earned it negative attention for not adhering to the series formula. Despite providing some enjoyable play, a more solid direction could have possibly won over the more vitriolic fans, but what it has right now makes for a good game that unfortunately couldn’t meet the high standards placed on it just because of the first half of its name.