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. A spinoff of the Metroid entries, it focuses on the Federation Marines rather than Samus Aran, and the gameplay has more of a focus on action and sports rather than the traditional exploration-based gameplay of Metroid.

Plot
Very little is currently known about the game's plot, apart from the setting being three different planets, with ten missions on each for a total of 30 missions in the game. According to Kensuke Tanabe, the game takes place between Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Metroid, "as the other Primes did". This may be an error on the part of Tanabe or the translator, as the Prime series has previously been stated to take place between Metroid: Zero Mission and 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 and features Blast Ball, a 3v3 multiplayer mode that had been revealed days before. 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 3 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.

Development
Producer Kensuke Tanabe explained that he had ideas for an online co-op game for the Nintendo DSi, but its hardware was not strong enough. The game was originally conceived as a launch title for the New 3DS, but will now be available on all 3DS systems. A Wii U version was also considered, but it would have required too many resources. 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 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, but the game logo uses the Galactic Federation insignia from Metroid: Other M.

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.

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.

Reception
Federation Force is the first Metroid-related title since Metroid: Other M in 2010. As such, the game has received heavy early criticism from fans who were disappointed that Nintendo chose to release a spinoff rather than a traditional Metroid game. They were also critical of the graphics, Samus' absence and the perceived lack of a single player mode. The reveal trailer on YouTube has received over 50,000 dislikes (far more than likes), and 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. Kensuke Tanabe later clarified that Metroids and Samus will still make appearances, and there is a single-player mode.