Giant cage



A giant cage is a Galactic Federation research tool. They were created by the personnel of the Federation research station on Excelcion for the purposes of containing the ferocious Ice Titans for study. These creatures were powerful, and able to simply emerge within the Federation bases on Excelcion without any trouble or hinderance.

During M04: Containment in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, the Federation Force is sent to Excelcion to capture four Ice Titans for study. They are required to make use of these cages around the environment to trap the creatures. These giant cages can be opened by shooting a red switch above the cage bars, which will cause them to retract for a short period of time, allowing the Ice Titans to enter. A timer will be set when a cage is opened, and will close after approximately 12-13 seconds. It may be necessary for the Federation Force soldiers to step inside the cage in order to lure an Ice Titan into it, but should any of them be trapped in the cage, there is another red switch above the bars that they can shoot to escape. Of course, this will risk setting the Ice Titan free again.

For the mission's bonus objective, five or more Ice Titans need to be captured. To accomplish this, the soldiers are required to capture two Titans in one cage. A well-placed Decoy is capable of distracting and luring Ice Titans into the cage. When a specimen has been captured, the cage will completely shut and the bars will be covered by a blast shield, trapping the Ice Titan(s) inside.

There are four cages in all subdivisions of the map. The northern cage is guarded by Ice Hoppers, which are another nuisance. The eastern cage is blocked by large debris boulders, which can be destroyed with Charge Shots. The western cage is guarded by Pirate Troopers that may prove to be a distraction to the soldiers. When approaching the southern cage, a Dropship will appear, spawning Pirate Troopers again as a distraction.

There is a cage right at the beginning of the mission, with a large hole in the back side; thus, it functions more like a gate. Ice Shriekbats will ambush the soldiers inside.