Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a Wii video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo. It is the third installment of the Prime trilogy (not counting Metroid Prime Hunters and Metroid Prime Pinball) and the tenth game in the Metroid series. The game takes place shortly after the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and is currently set for release on August 27, 2007 in North America, October 26 in Europe, and November 8 in Australia.

Gameplay
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a 3-D first-person shooter. Using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, you will point the gun with the Wii Remote pointer and use the grappling beam by moving the Nunchuk. The A button is used to fire and the directional pad for selecting weapons.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will have a stackable beam system, unlike the other games in the Prime series. You will progressively obtain upgrades for beams, missiles, and grapples, just like in Super Metroid. The game also features various visors, including the new Command Visor, which remotely controls Samus' gunship to clear obstacles or assist in combat.

The X-Ray Visor from Metroid Prime makes a reappearance and can be used along with a brand new beam with the ability to fire through walls. The Scan Visor is also in the game. Visors can be switched easily by holding the minus button and flicking in a direction with the Wii Remote. Another new feature is stacked upgrades for the Grapple Beam, and the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes variation of the Screw Attack will also be returning.

This game's focus is to maintain non-linearity and the other aspects of the Metroid series. According to the game's developers, the more intuitive control will cause Corruption to be less difficult and faster-paced than Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. The developers also said scanning will be easier to perform. Unfortunately for many fans, despite many rumours that Corruption will feature online play, Nintendo has confirmed that there will be no online play in.

Plot
The following is from the E3 2006 demo of the game:


 * Base Sector Zero, a Galactic Federation military installation, is under attack by Space Pirates. The Galactic Federation's computer network, Aurora Unit, is frozen by a computer virus (it has not been confirmed whether this was the Space Pirates' doing or not). Samus sets out to reactivate a generator that powers the base's anti-orbital cannon, where she encounters Ridley. He knocks her down into a shaft, and the player engages him in a free-falling battle. Upon defeating Ridley, Samus is pulled from the shaft by Rundus, while Ridley seemingly falls to his death. However, in the opening scene of the game, Samus can be seen fighting Ridley once again, except she is in morphball form with 14 energy tanks.

However, in the conferences Nintendo held to announce the price and release date for the Wii, a new level was seen, evidently preceding the E3 level, where Samus is on a Federation ship. Samus appears in a save station, and she makes her way to the bridge. Upon the bridge, the captain tells her to get to the planet surface, when the GF ships are struck by Space Pirate fire. She gets to a generator room, where a party of Space Pirates take the energy cell and attempt to make off with it. Samus defeats them and returns the power cell, but hundreds of small insects start to crawl from the ceiling. Samus escapes via her morph ball (and whilst in a tunnel, the camera shows Rundus freezing and shattering a Space Pirate) into an airlock chamber, and accidentally sets off the airlock cycle, sucking her into space. She manages to climb back onboard, and gets to her ship. However, as she approaches, a gigantic creature (it has the same color scheme as a Space Pirate, but with one eye and a huge mouth) jumps down and walks towards her, swinging its claws. Samus taps on her arm cannon, and her gunship flies away, leaving her to do battle with the beast. Play Magazine describes a similar level to this in the July 2007 issue of the magazine as the first level of the game, ending with a fight with Ridley. The second level is described as a planet with a mysterious floating city.

Six months have passed since the events on the planet Aether. The Galactic Federation’s network computer, Aurora Unit, is suddenly and completely corrupted with something like a virus. The Federation believes Space Pirates may be behind the problem and, beginning with Samus, starts to contact bounty hunters. As they explain the situation to the assembled hunters, the Federation is attacked by the pirates. Samus and the other hunters leap to the defense of the Federation capital, only to find that the enemy the hunters face is the presumed-dead Dark Samus. Dark Samus is armed with immense power that no one can withstand. It soon becomes obvious that the forces controlling Dark Samus and the terror of the contaminated Phazon are a dire threat that could corrupt the entire universe.

Additionally, Nintendo says that many new hunters will make an appearance, in addition to Rundus. He is said to be "eager to assist Samus" Other hunters may include a mysterious purple, ghostly woman. This character seems to be capable of transforming into a Space Pirate, possibly among other forms as well. Additionally, what may be a large rock hunter (somewhat resembling Spire). Also a large robotic hunter, with what seems to be a small levitating head is present in the opening cut-scene of the demo.

Phazon and its role
The mysterious material, Phazon, will again play an integral role in the adventure, possibly even more so than in Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. In an IGN interview with the game's director, Mark Pacini, Pacini stated: The idea behind the title is that in Prime 1 and Prime 2 we used Phazon as a way to explain what was happening on each planet. In Prime 1, the planet was corrupted by Phazon. In Prime 2, the Phazon caused the world to split into two on Aether. In Metroid Prime 3, we're trying to explain what the origins of Phazon were and it's the culmination of what this is all about. It's not only a story element - the Phazon and corruption which happen on a planetary scale - but it also happens in a gameplay sense as well. Samus herself gets corrupted by Phazon and actually begins to develop abilities based on that Phazon. So that's kind of why the game is titled "Corruption". You yourself are becoming corrupted. In the game, Samus and the other hunters will become infected with Phazon by Dark Samus. This infection will become increasingly apparent through the game. During the time that Samus is in "Hyper-mode" (as Retro refers to it), the graphics will be altered. A short demo video at Gameinformer.com has revealed one attack, taking place in the Morph Ball mode, that will send out many tendrils of Phazon to attack nearby enemies. In this same video, an attack from Samus' arm cannon can be seen in the first few frames recorded (after the three seconds of black with the overlaying GameInformer name). While in Hyper-mode, you will have two meters: A "Corruption" meter, displayed by the text "Hyper-mode Corruption" and a two-digit & one decimal percent, and a green "Phazon" meter, displayed by a simple bar. The Corruption meter rises and when it reaches the maximum, Samus will perish. Samus cannot enter hyper-mode until the Phazon meter is full and it lowers as you use Phazon attacks. Samus can die from misuse of this ability. Pacini also made references to a unique Phazon ability set that can be built upon and added to as one plays through the game.

Development
When Corruption was last shown at E3 2006, it looked similar in appearance to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. However, according to Retro Studios, the game's graphics will be different than Echoes. Corruption is also supposed to have much larger environments than Echoes and will be targeted to run at 60 frames per second in the finalized version. The developers have also indicated interest in using the WiiConnect24 feature to provide additional content. In a GamePro article in which members of the team were allowed to come to Retro Studios, comments on the game noted that, "The controls feel solid and precise," and that, "The graphics have had a huge overhaul since E3 -- vastly better than games like Halo 2".

Voice acting is also featured in Corruption, although previous games in the series used limited voice acting to varying degrees. It is currently unspecified whether or not Nintendo will use voice acting for Samus herself.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime stated in a 2007 interview that the game was "not going to ship by June" and set it at a summer 2007 release date at the earliest. Later he hinted, "when we release it, it will be perfect. And if that's a little later than folks would have liked, I'm hoping they're going to be happy." Some of the first gameplay footage to be shown of the game was seen at Nintendo's Media Release at E3 2006, and it has been confirmed by Retro that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will be the last in the Prime trilogy.

In late April, 2007, IGN editor Matt Cassamassina revealed that the game would be shown in detail during May of that year. He later reported that this event would take place the week of May 20th. The publication also announced that the title will be released on August 20 2007 in the United States. Nintendo of America later officially announced a North American release date  of August 27 2007.

At the Media Summit held by Nintendo during the week of May 21 2007, Reggie Fils-Aime said players will find Corruption a much different game than the rest in the Metroid series. He also noted that Nintendo employees who had seen the game in action claimed that it "will reinvent the control scheme for a first-person shooter", and that the game is the closest a console title can get to PC control, breaking through the lens of how the game is played.

Nintendo released a preview channel for Corruption on August 10, 2007. The content, which can be downloaded for free from the Wii Shop Channel for free, currently features a game play video and trailer for the game. The preview channel also includes two additional trailers are available, though they will only be viewable on August 13.