Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Metroid Prime: Federation Force is an upcoming cooperative multiplayer action video game for Nintendo 3DS. Announced at E3 on June 16, 2015, it is being developed by Next Level Games. The game focuses on the Federation Marines rather than Samus Aran, and the gameplay has more of a focus on action and sports rather than exploration as in past Metroid games.

Plot
Following the eradication of Phazon at the end of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Galactic Federation deemed it necessary to begin work on Project Golem, an effort to create Mech suits. These armorsuits are based on the design of Samus Aran's Power Suit and are used by select Federation soldiers who have undergone extensive training. The game focuses on an archaeological survey mission into former Galactic Federation territory in the Bermuda System. The team dispatched to the Bermuda System find that has been overtaken by the Space Pirates. The game starts out with Blast Ball, an in-universe training exercise that produces a Marine of exceptional skill, which the player will take control of.

The Bermuda System contains three different planets with ten missions on each for a total of 30 missions in the game. The planets are Excelcion - a frozen planet with an abandoned Federation mining base containing a weapon the Pirates seek to exploit - Talvania, a gaseous planet with an unstable power station, and Bion, an unseen environment. One mission, C-3 Island, was seen at E3 2015, set in a desert environment, which may represent Bion. Kensuke Tanabe has also revealed that one mission will feature Metroids, and another features minecart-based gameplay. Samus Aran, who is not a playable character in this game, will appear, conducting her own investigation into the Bermuda System.

Tanabe has twice erroneously claimed that the game takes place between Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Metroid, "as the other Primes did". The Prime series is actually set between Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid II due to their inclusion of Metroids, which were exterminated in Metroid II. Super Metroid takes place only a few hours after Metroid II.

Gameplay
Federation Force can be played co-operatively or alone. It involves a team of Marines fighting their way through enemy bases and objective-based missions. The game also has a focus on multiplayer. Blast Ball is a 3v3 multiplayer mode that had been revealed days before at the Nintendo championships; viewers of the show noted its similar graphical style to Metroid Prime Hunters. Blast Ball is an in-universe soccer-like game where participants enter Mech suits and shoot balls into nets. Aiming in the game is done using the 3DS' gyroscope. Federation Force is the second title in the Metroid franchise to have a focus on multiplayer, after Metroid Prime Hunters, and the third to have it after Hunters and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

Before starting a mission, the players can equip various items in three categories: Support, Assist or Offense. This is similar to classes in an RPG title and can turn individual Marines into healers, soldiers or "wizards". Items include Repair Capsules, which is shot at a teammate to heal them, or Decoys, which deploy a model of Samus Aran to distract Space Pirates. Unlike the core Metroid Prime trilogy and Prime Hunters, there is no Scan Visor or similar mechanic in the game.

Development
Producer Kensuke Tanabe explained that he had ideas for an online co-op game for the Nintendo DSi, and work on a prototype began in 2009, but the project stalled as he felt that its hardware was not strong enough. The game's development was restarted with the announcement of the New Nintendo 3DS, thanks to its stronger hardware and C-Stick. Federation Force was intended as a launch title for the New Nintendo 3DS, but will now be available on all 3DS systems, using the gyro controls as an alternative to the second analog. A Wii U version was also considered, but it would have required too many resources and Tanabe felt that Next Level Games had more experience with handheld titles. Additionally, Tanabe has explained that due to the small low resolution screen of the 3DS, "stockier", chibi-esque characters would be easier to see compared to humanoid ones. He was afraid this style would look too comical but decided to continue with it after testing the game. The character design draws from the Galactic Federation soldiers seen in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but the game logo uses the Galactic Federation insignia from Metroid: Other M; Samus herself is also modeled after her Corruption look, albeit with an oversized head and pauldrons like the other characters in the game.

Tanabe has also mentioned that a potential continuation of the Prime sub-series beyond Corruption would involve the Galactic Federation, and Federation Force is meant to flesh out their role in the Prime universe before continuing the series. Responding to fan criticism of the absence of series protagonist Samus Aran, Tanabe said that she will appear in a non-playable capacity, and players will have the chance to see her from an outsider's perspective. The game can be played alone, with the option to have AI co-op partner "drones" fight alongside the player if they wish.

Next Level Games had previously been working on a prototype for a 3DS Metroid title featuring Samus, which was shelved in favor of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

It has been confirmed that the game's soundtrack will be created in part by Kenji Yamamoto, who composed all the games in the Metroid Prime Trilogy. Next Level Games' own musical staff will collaborate with Yamamoto in the creation of the soundtrack.

Regarding amiibo support and whether the game would support the figures of Samus and Zero Suit Samus, Tanabe said it was being considered, and liked the idea of a Mech amiibo. Boxart released shortly after the Nintendo Direct showed an amiibo symbol, indicating that the game will support amiibo. Exactly how it will do so is not currently known.

Pre-release
Federation Force is the first Metroid-related title since Metroid: Other M in 2010, and the first title related to the Metroid Prime series since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption in 2007. Because of this, the game has received heavy pre-release criticism by fans who were disappointed that Nintendo chose to release a spinoff/side story rather than a traditional Metroid game, more-so considering the game's launch window would coincide with the franchise's 30th anniversary. Fans were also critical of the graphics and the perceived lack of series protagonist Samus Aran or a single player mode. The reveal trailer on YouTube has received a 9:1 ratio of dislikes to likes, with over 83,000 dislikes and only 9,500 likes. A Change.org petition calling for the cancellation of the game was created shortly after the game's announcement, reaching 7,500 signatures in under 24 hours, having collected over 22,000 signatures at the end of July.

Nintendo's response
Responding to fan criticism, Nintendo of America's president Reggie Fils-Aime said: "What the fans at home saw was something in the Metroid Prime universe that they weren't expecting. The reaction has been negative. There's no sugar coating it." He stated that Nintendo was aware of the demand for a traditional Metroid game and defended Federation Force. "We believe that in order to propel the franchises forward, we have to be the ones to constantly challenge the paradigms, challenge the conventional wisdom, challenge what we thought was the essence of the particular franchise, and a particular form of gameplay", Shigeru Miyamoto would give a similar explanation about this and the other spinoff games announced at E3. In an interview with Kotaku, Reggie compared the game's reveal to that of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which featured a brand new art style that was heavily criticized but was later very acclaimed after release." Speaking with CGMagazine, producer Kensuke Tanabe stated that he was expecting negative impressions, but asked players to reserve judgment until they played the game, however, in an interview with USGamer he said that he was "quite surprised" by the backlash and said people were complaining too much about the game's graphics.

Nearly a year after the game's announcement, Tanabe revealed more information about the game in the March 3, 2016 Nintendo Direct and addressed fan criticism. Fan reception did not improve, as shortly after the release of the video, it started to receive thousands of dislikes like the previous trailer, prompting Nintendo to disable the like/dislike ratio.

Trivia

 * The four playable characters of the game are giant "mechs" piloted by humans, the latter of which are revealed to be much smaller in comparison to their suits. However, every Space Pirate seen in this game's footage is equal, if not bigger, in size than the Federation suits. No explanation has been revealed as of yet.
 * The standard Pirates in Federation Force seem to have their design based on those seen in Metroid Prime 2. However, the Pirates in the latter game were around the same height as Samus Aran, who is known to be as tall as most Federation soldiers encountered throughout the entire Metroid Prime Trilogy.