Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Discovers Promise Amidst a Failing Experiment
All hope seems lost for the Lamorn. By the time Samus Aran arrives on Viewros, a remote planet far from her own, the psychic alien race appears to be nearly extinct. There are no signs of life, and their desperate attempts to escape a catastrophic fate have failed. Their only hope lies in a final effort: the belief that a Chosen One will emerge to preserve their memories and share their legacy across the galaxy.
This somber backdrop sets the stage for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, a long-anticipated sci-fi sequel that has faced a tumultuous development journey. Initially announced in 2017, the project underwent a complete reboot in 2019, with Bandai Namco stepping away and Retro Studios stepping in to revive it. The story of the Lamorn mirrors the struggles of Metroid Prime 4 itself; it’s a battle between despair and hope, as the Lamorn can only trust that someone will come to complete the mission they could not.
In its own way, Metroid Prime 4 embodies this conflict, striving to piece together a fractured vision. The game oscillates between contemplative sci-fi and brash military fantasy, yet its moments of clarity allow Samus to explore one of the most captivating alien worlds in the series. It serves as a reminder that even those facing extinction are worth saving.
Unlike previous entries, Metroid Prime 4 kicks off at full throttle. An opening title card reveals that Sylux, a bounty-hunting antagonist teased for nearly two decades, has launched an assault on the Galactic Federation. Samus is thrust into a war zone, immediately engaging Space Pirates alongside soldiers. This strong introduction quickly reacquaints players with the series’ distinctive first-person gameplay. The lock-on shooting mechanic remains a clever innovation, enabling players to prioritize evasive maneuvers over precise aiming. Samus’ scanning visor returns, rewarding those who take the time to scan their surroundings with enemy lore and world-building insights. However, the most thrilling aspect of the intro is how it sets up a tense confrontation with a formidable and enigmatic nemesis.
Unfortunately, the anticipated payoff never materializes. Sylux is quickly sidelined as Samus is inadvertently transported to Viewros. The villain barely resurfaces, and when he does, his motives remain largely unexplored. He becomes a non-factor, much like the energy-draining Metroids he has captured from the Galactic Federation at the conclusion of Metroid Prime: Federation Force. (Metroid Prime 4 is, believe it or not, more of a direct sequel to that critically maligned Nintendo 3DS co-op title than to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.) This serves as the first indication that Prime 4 likely underwent significant rewrites after its reboot, leaving behind remnants of a lost narrative.
Retro Studios appears more invested in crafting a quieter story that resonates with the subtle tragedy of Metroid Prime. After being stranded on Viewros, Samus gains psychic abilities that allow her to uncover the history of the Lamorn race that once thrived there. The core of the narrative is found in lore logs and recorded messages from Lamorn priests. While her primary objective is to escape Viewros, Samus discovers a new purpose: to transfer the Lamorn’s legacy into the Memory Fruit (a vessel for memories) and disseminate their knowledge throughout the galaxy. This setup effectively echoes the Chozo extinction narrative from the first game. While there was no hope for the Chozo by the time Samus arrived, perhaps she can make a difference for the Lamorn.
The Lamorn take center stage in Prime 4, even if they only exist in scannable remnants. Viewros, divided into five biomes connected by a traversable desert hub known as Sol Valley, is entirely shaped by their culture. Fury Green, the first area players can explore, highlights the aliens’ spirituality and bond with nature, featuring a sacred temple nestled in a lush jungle teeming with wildlife. Scanning even the smallest creature provides a detailed breakdown of its role in the ecosystem. In contrast, Volt Forge is an industrial factory designed to produce motorcycles via an AI-driven assembly line, showcasing the Lamorn’s technological prowess during a time of turmoil. The game excels in environmental storytelling, offering a wealth of information about the Lamorn through its design.
What’s particularly impressive is how Retro Studios intertwines narrative elements with the classic biome theming that Metroid games are known for. Yes, there’s an ice area, but it’s not just a standard cold biome; it’s an abandoned Lamorn science lab frozen in time, transforming a typical elemental theme into a chilling horror setting. Volt Forge exemplifies this as well, with a factory powered by lightning from constant storms outside, allowing for a narratively justified electric area. This stands in stark contrast to other recent titles that throw players into gimmicky environments without much thought. The intent behind Viewros makes it the most memorable location I’ve explored in a Metroid game, bolstered by its stunning visuals, which are among the best seen on the Switch, thanks to meticulous art design and smooth performance.
It took me some time to fully appreciate this design philosophy. While Prime 4 looks and feels like its predecessors, it is the most linear entry in the series outside of Metroid Prime: Hunters. This can be disappointing for those expecting the usual Metroidvania progression that gradually opens up the world as players acquire new abilities. Most of a biome’s rooms are visible on the first pass, as players navigate tightly directed sequences that leave little room for exploration.
Metroid Prime 4 only clicked for me once I recognized its deeper design ethos.
At times, this linearity feels like another remnant of a lost draft. When I finally gain some freedom in Sol Valley, I’m told I can visit any of the three unexplored biomes to search for teleporter keys needed to power an ancient machine and escape the planet. It seems like an attempt to make Metroid more open-ended, but it’s an illusion. I encounter an insurmountable obstacle in the first area I choose, forcing me to seek an item in another biome. I can’t progress there either, leading me back to the first location. There’s only one correct path, despite hints of player choice.
Sol Valley itself is similarly constrained in its miniature open-world design. (It only takes a few minutes to traverse from one side to the other.) The desert area serves primarily as a passage for Samus to cross on her motorcycle, Vi-0-La, which handles well unless precise turns are required. While there are a few collectibles and Zelda-like puzzle shrines scattered throughout, there’s a strict order to the activities available. It mainly serves as a space for Samus to gather the green crystals needed to fill the Memory Fruit by the end of her journey, which can be collected by smashing into them with her bike. Combat in Sol Valley is limited to a small variety of enemies that appear sporadically and can be dispatched with Vi-0-La’s projectile weapon. It all feels like a remnant of a Breath of the Wild-style reinvention that never fully materialized.
Ironically, Metroid Prime 4 only resonated with me once I recognized its similarities to Zelda’s design philosophy. It doesn’t play like a traditional Metroid game; it resembles one of Link’s classic 3D adventures. Sol Valley functions more like Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time, a broad transport hub that adds scale to the world. The biomes feel more like intricate dungeons than open-ended spaces meant for exploration. They are meticulously crafted puzzle boxes that challenge players to find key items, allowing them to backtrack and unlock previously inaccessible paths. The gear-gating occurs not on a grand scale like other Metroid games, but rather at a more compact dungeon level.
This design opens the door for more satisfying item-hunting later on, as secrets are often hidden in plain sight rather than behind obvious barriers. Missile upgrades, energy tanks, and elemental ammo are tucked away in environmental puzzles that can be cleverly disguised. Spider webs that can be burned, crates that can be pulled with a psychic lasso, and seemingly ordinary vehicles that turn out to be puzzles all contribute to a wealth of ideas that enhance Samus’ toolkit, creating distinct morph ball and grapple challenges that lead to exceptional late-game collecting. All of this would be enough to position Metroid Prime 4 as one of the series’ stronger entries, despite some peculiar design choices.
That is, if it weren’t for the Galactic Federation.
The game’s preoccupation with the series’ ever-present space military faction is perhaps the clearest indication that Prime 4 is a patchwork project. Samus isn’t the only one stranded on Viewros; a handful of soldiers are there as well. This premise allows Retro Studios to revisit an idea it once proposed for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, having Samus rescue Galactic Federation members throughout her journey. This narrative choice is consistent, given that Prime 4 takes place before Samus’ later tensions with the group in 2D games, but it’s executed in a clumsy manner.
The issue isn’t with the soldiers themselves, who are mostly one-dimensional but harmless characters. There’s a tough sergeant, a detached sniper, and a quirky engineer who delivers nerdy quips. The latter, Myles MacKenzie, a character teased in previews and already disliked by fans, becomes Prime 4’s version of Zelda’s Navi, constantly interrupting Samus during her exploration of Sol Valley to direct her on where to go next. This is where the soldiers become problematic: they exist primarily to guide players.
Metroid Prime 4 seems to underestimate players’ intelligence. At one point, I’m navigating a room with only one entrance and exit. My companion rushes to the only other door and exclaims, “This must be the way!” Later, after blasting a machine while standing on a bridge, everything explodes, and the camera focuses on a morph ball-sized hole that appears in the chaos. The scene drags on long enough for a soldier to point at the hole and inform me that it’s the exit. At another moment, I receive map data for an area, and a pop-up reminds me to press the minus button to open it, while a companion chimes in, “Wanna check your map?”
I understand the intention. Metroid games can be daunting for mainstream audiences, and the series has historically struggled with commercial success. Having linear biomes and tighter direction helps ease new players into the experience. However, Retro Studios has already addressed this issue through cutscenes that indicate where to go, a scanning feature that provides boss strategies, and on-screen button prompts. The soldiers don’t replace these elements; they literally talk over them. Players receive multiple nudges at once when encountering obstacles. This is particularly frustrating in a major Nintendo franchise that isn’t primarily aimed at younger audiences.
The soldiers also serve to transform Metroid Prime into a more straightforward action game, another misstep that reveals the project’s flaws. The Prime format has always excelled at delivering engaging first-person adventures, but they aren’t traditional first-person shooters. Combat is straightforward, with Samus using beam shots and missiles to attack enemies. It leans more toward puzzle-solving, as different elemental beams are effective in specific situations. Prime 4 continues this tradition with its fire and ice upgrades, but it also leans heavily into combat scenarios where Samus must fend off waves of enemies and machines—sometimes while protecting soldiers who need reviving. (I’ll reiterate: Welcome back, Federation Force.) These moments stretch the combat system thin, even if the newly added mouse controls allow for more precise fighting.
Many overarching ideas feel like incomplete fragments. Take Samus’ psychic abilities, for example. Initially, it seems Retro Studios is using this twist to introduce new gameplay mechanics with her telekinetic powers. Her control beam stands out as a new skill that allows her to guide shots toward difficult targets. However, this creativity quickly wanes, as most of the psychic abilities she acquires afterward are just standard Metroid upgrades—albeit with a psychic twist!
These powers, the half-formed open desert, Sylux’s minimal presence, and a military narrative that clashes with a more compelling alien saga—all of these elements in their various states of execution draw me back to the Lamorn and their desperate struggle for survival. The more I explore, the more I uncover about the experiments they undertook before hoping for an unknown hero to save them. Their story is one of resilience in the face of disaster. When all hope seemed lost, they still found a way to try again. That’s why it’s crucial for Samus to carry their memory home and share their story across the galaxy. There’s so much wisdom to be gained from their struggle, so much knowledge in their forgotten victories.
In all its chaotic glory, I feel similarly about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Amid the failed attempts to revive a once-great series, there are sublime moments that honor its legacy. You can find hope in its remarkable level design, its evolved item-hunting mechanics, and its genre-blending action sequences that thrill, even when the companions can’t stop chattering through the tension. There is a future for Metroid Prime 4, as long as someone is brave enough to dig out the seed from the wreckage and replant it in fertile ground.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be released on December 4 for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
