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. Prior to the game's release, Metroid Prime: Blast Ball has been made available on the European and American Nintendo 3DS eShop as a free demo of the game's Blast Ball game mode.

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 so that their soldiers will be better equipped to destroy the Space Pirates. 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. They are known as the Federation Force. 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 22 missions across each of the planets. 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, a desert environment. 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 and providing intel to the Federation Force members.

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 depends on the 3DS model the player owns. For the 3DS and 3DS XL players have a choice of using the 3DS's built-in gyroscope or if connected a Circle Pad Pro extension for aiming. If the player owns a New 3DS model, they may use the C-Stick connected to the system or, if preferred, the built-in gyroscope for aiming. 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 AUX ammo 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. . The game switches to a third-person perspective for certain "suitless" sequences where Marines remove their Mechs to enter smaller areas. During these segments, they are presumably more vulnerable and must rely on stealth to stay alive. Marines can also send each other voiced messages.

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 Combat 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.

Amiibo support
Regarding amiibo 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. The full extent of amiibo support was revealed by Nintendo of America on their Twitter account on June 20, 2016. Certain amiibo of Mario characters, such as Mario or Bowser, will unlock relevant Mech Paint Jobs for use in Blast Ball, and use of either Samus amiibo will also unlock new skins for Mech suits, as well as extra AUX ammo.

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 game rather than a traditional Metroid game, especially considering the game's launch window would coincide with the franchise's 30th anniversary. Fans were also critical of the chibi art style and seemingly low quality graphics for the system's capabilities, and the initially believed lack of series protagonist Samus Aran and a single player mode. The reveal trailer on YouTube has received a 9:1 ratio of dislikes to likes, with over 87,000 dislikes and only 10,000 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 a total of 24,141 signatures by the petition's closure. It was clarified through the next days at E3 that Samus was present in the game and that a single player mode would be featured.

Nintendo's response
Responding to fan criticism, 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, but defended Federation Force, saying "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 prior to the game's release but has gone onto becoming one of the best games of the Nintendo GameCube, and among the most acclaimed of the Zelda series. Speaking with CGMagazine, 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 fired back at criticism of the 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, explaining the development history of the game, showing a more in-depth view of the story mode, and offering a glimpse of Samus's role in the game. Some people believed this segment of the Direct showed that Nintendo was doing "damage control" for the game after the criticism it received at its' reveal. Fan reception did not improve, as shortly after the release of the video, it started to receive thousands of dislikes like the first trailer, prompting Nintendo to disable the like/dislike ratio.

Lack of coverage
Shortly after the Direct, Nintendo would update the launch date of the game for all regions with little to no press coverage. With only two months left for its release, the game was absent during the 3-day Treehouse live stream Nintendo held at E3 2016, where the company showcased a number of upcoming known and new games, and was never mentioned in the official documents distributed before and after the event.

Blast Ball demo
On July 21, 2016, Metroid Prime: Blast Ball was released through the Nintendo 3DS eShop for free, with no prior announcement. New gameplay footage was also released, which can be viewed here:

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. Geemers and Hoppers, which have appeared in several trailers, are also massive in comparison to the humans in-game. Footage has been seen of third-person stealth sequences with the Marines outside of their suits . No explanation has been revealed as of yet.
 * The standard Pirates in Federation Force share the same design as those featured in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. However, the Pirates in the latter games 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.
 * Kensuke Tanabe has said that this game will serve the purpose of expanding the role of the Galactic Federation in the Metroid series, as they would play a role in a potential fourth Prime game that addresses the Special Ending of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, where Samus was pursued by Sylux, a rival Bounty Hunter she previously encountered in Metroid Prime Hunters.
 * 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.
 * While the game takes place after Corruption, the European website suggests it takes place in the in-universe year 20X6, "several years" after the events of Corruption. This is an obvious error as Zero Mission takes place in Year 20X5, and Prime takes place three years after that.