Metroid Prime Federation Force Announced (Next Level, 3DS, 4 Player, Mission Based)

Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland wasn't the first Zelda game to be released after a 6 year drought of any game bearing the name.
If I find out Retro isn't working on a mainline Metroid game I'll join you guys and grab a pitchfork. Until then I'm not going to get upset about a harmless spin-off, regardless of how long it's been since the last great Metroid game. Hell, at least they are acknowledging the series' existence.

I get why people are upset but it's not like Next Level Games was going to make the next "real" Metroid anyway.
 
If I find out Retro isn't working on a mainline Metroid game I'll join you guys and grab a pitchfork. Until then I'm not going to get upset about a harmless spin-off, regardless of how long it's been since the last great Metroid game. Hell, at least they are acknowledging the series' existence.

I get why people are upset but it's not like Next Level Games was going to make the next "real" Metroid anyway.

Tanabe (who worked with Retro on every Prime game) has already said there isn't one in active development.

Sakamoto might be doing something, but...well, yeah.
 
Well, of course he is not going to announce that there is Metroid game in development is Nintendo didn't announce it big time in the Digital Event. -_-

Not saying that one is being developed but at least from last year we know they have been toying with the idea of FPS for home console and Classic for Portable... then again this is nothing like classic Metroid =P
 
This has all probably already been stated before, but here's why I'm disappointed with this game being announced.

To me, Metroid has always been a dark, moody franchise, focused on exploration more so than combat. Even the Metroid game with the lightest tone, Zero Mission, still felt serious and oppressive in its atmosphere. The last Metroid game that we got, I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of fans felt that it was a disappointment at best. That means that the last, 'proper' Metroid game that we got was Metroid Prime 3, which is a long time ago at this stage. Releasing a multiplayer shooter with a cartoony art style and a bizarre, wacky football mode is not something that we were expecting.

You might bring up Zelda as an argument - for example, when the series went from Ocarina of Time to Wind Waker, and how everyone said that the art style was too 'kiddy'.Surely Metroid has a right to re-invention of the same sort? Well, the difference between these two series is that Zelda has always had elements of humour and comedy in it, there were parts that were lighthearted, unlike Metroid. Regardless of whether or not you want to do a reboot, certain core tendencies of a franchise should stay the same, in my opinion. This game seems to completely ignore all of this. It's like making a kart racer based on The Last of Us.

I really dislike the art style and overall aesthetics, including what we've heard of the soundtrack, but that's just me. Although who knows, maybe the next Metroid game that is being worked on will have a similar dramatic effect on the franchise as Metroid Prime did. That's what I'm hoping for in any case.
 
Well, of course he is not going to announce that there is Metroid game in development is Nintendo didn't announce it big time in the Digital Event. -_-

Not saying that one is being developed but at least from last year we know they have been toying with the idea of FPS for home console and Classic for Portable... then again this is nothing like classic Metroid =P

One does not equal the other. In the past Nintendo sometimes dropped hints about titles being in development without adding anything. Pikmin 3 being in development was confirmed at E3 2008, 4 years before it was shown for the first time. Skyward Sword was mentioned in 2008, first artwork shown at E3 2009 and we only saw it at E3 2010. Hints at new 3D Mario being in development at EAD Tokyo were dropped earlier last year.

If Tanabe says there isn't a Metroid Prime game in active development, well.
 
Well, the difference between these two series is that Zelda has always had elements of humour and comedy in it, there were parts that were lighthearted, unlike Metroid. Regardless of whether or not you want to do a reboot, certain core tendencies of a franchise should stay the same, in my opinion.

The Prime games' sense of humour was actually fairly present - think of the Space Pirate anecdotes about failed morph ball experiments, keeping Metroids as pets, turning traitorous troops into rations, or expressing despair at the existence of a second Samus. The problem here - even disregarding the incredibly unfortunate circumstances of its announcement and the gameplay's separation from everything Metroid represents - is that instead of building on the existing elements of the franchise to create something cute and endearing (in this case, the Space Pirates and Metroids themselves), they've chosen to focus on the terminally dull Federation, with a soulless chibi makeover.
 
Why should they? It's clearly a spin-off, I am still failing to see the issue here. You want them to acknowledge that there is something wrong with a Metroid spin-off but they clearly think nothing is. Neither do I.

I'm not saying we are going to get another amazing Metroid one day. I honestly don't know if it will happen and I can certainly understand some skepticism. That said, I don't think this game hurts that possibility at all, and if anything it helps it by simply keeping the Metroid name in use.

Personally, assuming another mainline Metroid game will happen, I don't want it to be on 3DS or Wii U. I'd be much happier if it was a major launch title for whatever's NeXt. ;)

I mean if the fans are really that unhappy with it then that's reason enough. These are the people they're trying to sell games to.
 
As I said, it was probably easier for Tanabe to convince Nintendo to pony up the money and resources on this low-cost 3DS game than to fund a AAA HD Metroid game.

I hate to say it as the biggest Prime fanboy, but they didn't sell that well, infuriatingly enough. Prime 1 may have sold over 2 Million units but a good portion of that was through the Gamecube Bundles. Prime 2 only sold a little over 1 Million units, and Prime 3 about 1.5 Million or more despite being on the Wii and its huge userbase.

By contrast Donkey Kong Country Returns has sold more than 7-8 Million or more on both the Wii and 3DS. So of course that's why Nintendo is hesitant to greenlight a new HD Prime Metroid game.

And I doubt they would have been doubly hesitant especially given the current state of the Wii U and how Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was so abysmal compared to the original despite being the better game.

So yeah, Tanabe probably was able to sell this to Nintendo as it wouldn't require that much dev resources and time put into it compared to a typical "Prime" game.
 
Tanabe (who worked with Retro on every Prime game) has already said there isn't one in active development.

Sakamoto might be doing something, but...well, yeah.

Yeah, I actually read that today (I know I'm late on that news). It hurts a lot. Metroid is my absolute favorite franchise of all time. As stupid as it may sound, I actually bought my Wii U mostly on hopes of one happening eventually. Sure, I played a few games on it aside from that (Bayonetta 2 and Hyrule Warriors were good), but hearing that news kind of made me throw in the towel. Selling the Wii U because honestly not enough stuff down the line interests me, and I'm clearly not getting a Metroid game on it. May as well get out now while I can still get a decent amount for the console. Next time I'll wait for the game announcement before buying the console. That was my mistake.
 
As I said, it was probably easier for Tanabe to convince Nintendo to pony up the money and resources on this low-cost 3DS game than to fund a AAA HD Metroid game.

I hate to say it as the biggest Prime fanboy, but they didn't sell that well, infuriatingly enough. Prime 1 may have sold over 2 Million units but a good portion of that was through the Gamecube Bundles. Prime 2 only sold a little over 1 Million units, and Prime 3 about 1.5 Million or more despite being on the Wii and its huge userbase.

By contrast Donkey Kong Country Returns has sold more than 7-8 Million or more on both the Wii and 3DS. So of course that's why Nintendo is hesitant to greenlight a new HD Prime Metroid game.

And I doubt they would have been doubly hesitant especially given the current state of the Wii U and how Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was so abysmal compared to the original despite being the better game.

So yeah, Tanabe probably was able to sell this to Nintendo as it wouldn't require that much dev resources and time put into it compared to a typical "Prime" game.

The Wii install base was not that large when Prime 3 came out.
 
As I said, it was probably easier for Tanabe to convince Nintendo to pony up the money and resources on this low-cost 3DS game than to fund a AAA HD Metroid game.

I hate to say it as the biggest Prime fanboy, but they didn't sell that well, infuriatingly enough. Prime 1 may have sold over 2 Million units but a good portion of that was through the Gamecube Bundles. Prime 2 only sold a little over 1 Million units, and Prime 3 about 1.5 Million or more despite being on the Wii and its huge userbase.

By contrast Donkey Kong Country Returns has sold more than 7-8 Million or more on both the Wii and 3DS. So of course that's why Nintendo is hesitant to greenlight a new HD Prime Metroid game.

And I doubt they would have been doubly hesitant especially given the current state of the Wii U and how Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze was so abysmal compared to the original despite being the better game.

So yeah, Tanabe probably was able to sell this to Nintendo as it wouldn't require that much dev resources and time put into it compared to a typical "Prime" game.

I would be surprised if it would have been cheaper to produce assets for a Metroid Maker type of game. Something that would probably be more broadly accepted and would probably cost less to design and produce.

edit: It probably would have been more fun too. It's as though Gabe came out at the PC Show and unveiled Half Life Rebels, a 3v3 game on Android.
 
The Wii install base was not that large when Prime 3 came out.
Not to mention that the marketing for the game was, by all standards, disastrous. The first ads only appeared two weeks from the game's release. There was no live demonstration at E3 2006 and at E3 2007, it only got what? Three minutes of gameplay on stage. That for a flagship title being released in a few months.

Metroid Prime 3 was victim of an horrible hype machine. That it actually managed to carve up 1.5 million in sales was very impressing. DK by contrast had a very solid hype machine.
 
Apparently a NLG developer has leaked some info on 4chan about another Metroid game for the 3DS, here's the reddit thread: Rumour: Metroid leak

Apparently the leaker was identified by 4chan and soon thereafter his LinkedIn profile was shut down and he does work for NLG.

I'd usually say fake but they're saying he was giving info about federation force before it was officially given. I really want to believe this because it's the reality I want to live in.
 
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I am one of the few that likes the game since I've been wanting a game featuring the Federation Marines since MP2.

However I should admit that there are some things that I do not like including the art style. Not so much because it is "chibi" but because IMO it lacks some visual identity with the Metroid prime universe. I had so much to say about the topic that I created a quick image to better express my opinion. Please note that I post this with all respect for the designers at NLG and it is just a quick job I did as a fan and somewhat noob game director.

Hope you guys like it, I apologize in advance for the typos, small font, etc. if I get some more time I will try to finish it.

nb94KGtBrR97lXH4


nStpSI6dVFzGHoSa


 
I couldn't watch any videos in that week so I thought that the game was in some colorful anime style, but this looks actually better than I imagined. It could be a nice side game.
Now given that Retro Games doesn't waste their talent for Metroid Prime (because common, we already have three of them, I don't want them to become a Metroid factory)I really wonder what they have now.
 
Sakamoto made some incredible 2D games- Super Metroid, Fusion, and Zero Mission. No one should object to him directing another one.
I want somebody else to take over as 2D Metroid guy, but if Sakamoto is still in charge of that department then I guess there isn't much that any of us can do about it.

However I think it's ridiculous to assume that the guy is itching to make Other M 2. I don't care how many George Lucas comparisons people make, there's just no way that he can look at that kind of backlash and take nothing away from it.
 
I want somebody else to take over as 2D Metroid guy, but if Sakamoto is still in charge of that department then I guess there isn't much that any of us can do about it.

However I think it's ridiculous to assume that the guy is itching to make Other M 2. I don't care how many George Lucas comparisons people make, there's just no way that he can look at that kind of backlash and take nothing away from it.

I think he's recognized that he tried to do something different than previous Metroid games, what with the much higher story emphasis and overt characterization and such. He wanted to give people a look into Samus' mind and history more than what we usually see...and people didn't like what they found in there. However, Sakamoto was also the person who made the decision to not use any dialogue in Super Metroid outside of the opening monologue, and I think even the few speaking roles in Fusion were handled decently well.

The problem is, that team still hasn't made a three-dimensional Metroid game on their own, let alone making one in HD. It took them splitting the franchise and handing it to a different team to make a 3-D Metroid in the first place, and turned to two other companies to facilitate development of Other M. If Sakamoto even wants to make another new Metroid project, they'd almost have to bring in another developer that has the staff numbers and experience to help make it happen.

Hmmm...
we aren't sure what EAD Tokyo has been up to for a couple years aside from Captain Toad, and we know they can handle HD...
 
I was about to come here reply the same thing lol.

Are people actually trying to find the good parts in it to force themselves to enjoy it????

You mad people if its the case, very mad!!! ;)

A lot of people liked how it played on the Treehouse stream. In fact, some of the bitter people who hate the Metroid being attached to the game feel it looks fun and would be fine if it was a different IP.
 
A lot of people liked how it played on the Treehouse stream. In fact, some of the bitter people who hate the Metroid being attached to the game feel it looks fun and would be fine if it was a different IP.

Well if people found good thing in it its fine, but because Nintendo decide to slap the Metroid name on it thinking it will sell more, its a no go for me. Nope. Nintendo wont get my money for this game. Give me Metroid Prime, not this thing...
 
Well if people found good thing in it its fine, but because Nintendo decide to slap the Metroid name on it thinking it will sell more, its a no go for me. Nope. Nintendo wont get my money for this game. Give me Metroid Prime, not this thing...

I think you've probably got it the other way around. I don't think the Metroid brand is supposed to help this game so much as this game is supposed to help the Metroid brand. MP3 didn't set the world on fire, Other M sold poorly, and there's a saturated market of budget-priced Metroid-style games from indie developers.

Put those conditions together with the vast majority of Nintendo's recent commercial successes being multiplayer-centric, and you get what we have here.
 
If Metroid Prime: Hunters was instead called Space Corps: Hunters with the needed lore/characters swap but the same game engine and gameplay you wouldn't have notice any difference. What was in Hunters multiplayer that justified the Metroid title, apart from the setting/lore?

My point is that every single thing Metroid has that makes it different than other shooters and gives its identity, can't really work in a multiplayer game so they are not used. Only the shooting part is used (and the lore/graphics/characters). You enjoying it doesn't have anything to do with what i'm trying to say. If it was a different ip you would still enjoy it the same.

The morph ball made the multiplayer gameplay fun and using Metroid arm cannon weapons as opposed to normal bullets.
 
I get why people are upset but it's not like Next Level Games was going to make the next "real" Metroid anyway.

They *were*, but Nintendo made them cancel it in favor of Luigi's Mansion 2.

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They could have easily gone back to it after wrapping up LM2... but Nintendo decided to have them do this, instead.

Terrible Samus design or no, we would have enjoyed that 2.5D 3DS Metroid game.
 
They *were*, but Nintendo made them cancel it in favor of Luigi's Mansion 2.

2646840-metroid.jpg


They could have easily gone back to it after wrapping up LM2... but Nintendo decided to have them do this, instead.

Terrible Samus design or no, we would have enjoyed that 2.5D 3DS Metroid game.

Them heels, tho.

That really is an awful design but I could see myself playing a Metroid game looking at that design from the side. I can't see myself play co-op chibi soldier though.
 
Not to mention that the marketing for the game was, by all standards, disastrous. The first ads only appeared two weeks from the game's release. There was no live demonstration at E3 2006 and at E3 2007, it only got what? Three minutes of gameplay on stage. That for a flagship title being released in a few months.

Metroid Prime 3 was victim of an horrible hype machine. That it actually managed to carve up 1.5 million in sales was very impressing. DK by contrast had a very solid hype machine.

People keep forgetting this whenever they bring up the sales of New Super Mario Bros Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Those games benefited from the install base games like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Twilight Princess (a launch game along side Wii Sports), Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and to a lesser extent Metroid Prime 3 (which still contend have sold even more had it actually had online or some kind of multiplayer (even if it ended up hacked to death) like every other shooter coming out and after Prime 2 got left in the dust by Halo 2 a few years earlier). Those games sold witha smaller install basis and many of them increased it dramatically. As said the Prime 3's advertising and push was almost not there. The biggest thing I can remember is the Prime 3 channel on the Wii. Compared to what they did for Galaxy, Mario Kart, DKCR, and Wii Fit it's lucky the game sold as much as it did. This was a HUGE complaint back then. That Nintendo simply refused to advertise many of it's games it published unless it had Mario or Wii in the title or when it finally did with something like Sin and Punishment it was after midnight when no one would see it on channels that didn't have any demographic that would buy or already have a Wii.
 
People keep forgetting this whenever they bring up the sales of New Super Mario Bros Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns. Those games benefited from the install base games like Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Twilight Princess (a launch game along side Wii Sports), Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and to a lesser extent Metroid Prime 3 (which would have sold even more had it actually had online like every other shooter coming out and after Prime 2 got left in the dust by Halo 2 a few years earlier). Those games sold with smaller install basis. As said the Prime 3's advertising and push was almost not there. The biggest thing I can remember is the Prime 3 channel on the Wii. Compared to what they did for Galaxy, Mario Kart, and Wii Fit it's lucky the game sold as much as it did.

Metroid Prime 3's TV commercial in the US was AWFUL, completely aimed at casuals who had no idea what the hell Metroid was. Beyond that you couldn't find the game on shelves 6-8 months later.
 
They *were*, but Nintendo made them cancel it in favor of Luigi's Mansion 2.

2646840-metroid.jpg


They could have easily gone back to it after wrapping up LM2... but Nintendo decided to have them do this, instead.

Terrible Samus design or no, we would have enjoyed that 2.5D 3DS Metroid game.

That's concept art in any case. No telling whether Samus would have resembled that in the final game.
 
It's be hilarious if the Federation Force trooper managed to be the first playable non-Samus Metroid character in Smash.

Still better than Adam.
That's concept art in any case. No telling whether Samus would have resembled that in the final game.
Yeah, people need to remember that concept art rarely looks like the finished product.
 
I am going to say this. I don't for a second believe the reason the game looks the way it does is because of the system. I can't bring myself to believe that that all. There are to many games on the 3DS that don't have this look to make me believe the system is incapable showing a more realistic or natural looking human bodies. I think it looks the way it does because they want to make the IP more appealing to the Japanese market. I also think Nintendo in Japan doesn't give a damn if it alienates western audiences either. Especially if it does well in Japan. Nearly every decision they make as a company is based on what will be successful with the Japanese market first and foremost. It explains a LOT of the decisions they make with their games feature and hardware overall.
 
I am going to say this. I don't for a second believe the reason the game looks the way it does is because of the system. I can't bring myself to believe that that all. There are to many games on the 3DS that don't have this look to make me believe the system is incapable showing a more realistic or natural looking human bodies. I think it looks the way it does because they want to make the IP more appealing to the Japanese market. I also think Nintendo in Japan doesn't give a damn if it alienates western audiences either. Especially if it does well in Japan. Nearly every decision they make as a company is based on what will be successful with the Japanese market first and foremost. It explains a LOT of the decisions they make with their games feature and hardware overall.

It's already first person and that doesn't appeal to Japanese gamers at all, either. They failed to attract that market with Other M, and I can't imagine them trying to do so again and failing so hard with that one. It's the definition of insanity if they're doing that.
 
Why on Earth do people think the art style for a Canadian-made first-person shooter installment of a series that's traditionally been very unpopular in Japan was chosen to appeal to Japanese audiences?

This game was primarily made to appeal to the western Metroid fanbase. It was just a colossal miscalculation of what the western Metroid fanbase wants.
 
Why on Earth do people think the art style for a Canadian-made first-person shooter installment of a series that's traditionally been very unpopular in Japan was chosen to appeal to Japanese audiences?

This game was primarily made to appeal to the western Metroid fanbase. It was just a colossal miscalculation of what the western Metroid fanbase wants.

Nintendo is a Japanese company, and very Japanese focused with their IP's.

It wouldn't be the last they time they tried to make Metroid appeal to the Japanese audience, and it certainly won't be the last. The problem? Metroid hasn't cracked 100k in sales in A LONG TIME in Japan. We're talking at least Fusion, and maybe Super Metroid was the last one to crack that number in Japan. None of the Primes did, Zero Mission didn't and Other M sure as hell didn't.
 
Why on Earth do people think the art style for a Canadian-made first-person shooter installment of a series that's traditionally been very unpopular in Japan was chosen to appeal to Japanese audiences?

This game was primarily made to appeal to the western Metroid fanbase. It was just a colossal miscalculation of what the western Metroid fanbase wants.

I have to agree with, the game is aimed at the Western Metroid Prime audience !
There's nothing Jap art design in it.
 
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