First-person adventure



A first-person adventure is a genre term for an action-adventure game set in a first-person perspective. The majority of the Prime Series constitutes as first-person adventures.

Prior to its release, Metroid Prime was derided as a likely flop by the series fanbase, as it was being developed by an inexperienced second-party developer rather than an internal Nintendo team, and there was general consensus it would be nothing more than a poor first-person shooter. To counteract this criticism, Retro Studios and Nintendo referred to Prime exclusively as a "first-person adventure", highlighting that the traditional isolated, exploration-based Metroidvania gameplay of the first three titles would still take precedence over first-person shooting combat. Prime would be set mostly from a first-person perspective, apart from Morph Ball mode, which is viewed from a third-person perspective. Some versions of the game's boxart market it as Metroid Prime: First Person Adventure.

The game was ultimately released to universal acclaim, and a sub-franchise was born from it. The game's two sequels, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, remained first-person adventures, and the upcoming Metroid Prime 4 will be one as well. Reggie Fils-Aime actually referred to Corruption as a first-person shooter at the Nintendo Media Summit on May 21, 2007, saying that the new control scheme of the game "will reinvent the control scheme for a first-person shooter."

The two spinoffs of the series, Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid Prime: Federation Force, feature more aspects of a traditional first-person shooter than the core quadrilogy. These include playable characters other than Samus Aran, multiplayer modes, co-operative gameplay, score, objectives and replayable missions. Echoes featured a multiplayer mode as well, although Retro Studios sought to craft it in such a way that it would appeal to veteran Metroid fans rather than fans of first-person shooters.

Metroid Prime 2: Dark Echoes Q&A
QUESTION : Hello, my name is Kou. I have been playing Metroid games since the Famicom. My question is, will Metroid Prime 2 be like Metroid Prime 1 in that you are only playing from Samus’ point of view (with the exception of morphball)? Prime 1 was definitely fun, but in terms of playing with this kind of [Samus’] point of view, I couldn’t really do it. I would really like to know. Thank you so much.

ANSWER : The prime series is a first person focused game called an FPA (first person adventure). However, I’m certain there will be another Metroid game that will meet your wishes.