Artaria

Artaria (アルタリア^?) is the first location within the depths of the planet ZDR in Metroid Dread.

Description[]

Artaria is the deepest part of the planet and the furthest from the surface, being far enough down that contacting ADAM without a Network Station was impossible; despite this, there were still some light sources. The terrain is rocky and sandy, featuring several bodies of water and waterfalls. Samus Aran is able to break blocks to drain pools of water into adjacent places, as well as pump water to fill up pools and lift buoyant platforms to progress. Some areas of Artaria receive lava pumped in from Cataris, resulting in extreme heat; without this thermal power, Artaria would freeze due to being located so deep in the planet.

Artaria connects to Cataris and Dairon via elevators, and Burenia via shuttle. It also has red and blue Teleportals connected to Cataris, and a yellow Teleportal to Dairon.

Upon first arriving in Artaria via elevator, Samus encounters Raven Beak and is ultimately beaten to such an extent that she loses all of her upgrades. Left with only her basic Power Suit, Power Beam, and Missile Launcher, Samus begins her journey back to her Gunship in Hanubia. At the start of their battle, Raven Beak destroys the elevator and the bridge leading to it, thereby forcing Samus to traverse the entire planet in order to return to the surface.

Artaria's E.M.M.I. Zone is patrolled by E.M.M.I.-02SM. Artaria is also the location of E.M.M.I.-01P, although its rooms lack the E.M.M.I. Zone's distinctive doors and visual filters; since E.M.M.I.-01P is damaged and its Central Unit is nonfunctional, Samus can easily defeat it. This makes Artaria the only area with multiple E.M.M.I.

At various points while Samus explores Artaria, an invisible Corpius can be glimpsed in the background, stalking prey such as Deer. Samus eventually fights and defeats Corpius and obtains the Phantom Cloak, an Aeion ability.

Samus later returns to Artaria to acquire the Varia Suit and Grapple Beam upgrades. While searching a facility for the Varia Suit, Samus uses a machine that causes the facility to overheat and collapse, forcing her to run for safety.

After the X Parasites are released from Elun, one of them eventually copies Experiment No. Z-57 and blocks the thermal power from Cataris. This causes large portions of Artaria to freeze over, turning water into solid ice and making the air extremely cold. Numerous doors are frozen shut by the low temperatures. Samus must navigate the altered map to make her way back to Cataris and thaw the planet's depths. Once the areas are thawed, Samus is free to revisit Artaria and obtain the Screw Attack.

Inhabitants[]

Autclast
Autool
Butterfly (non hostile)
Caterzilla
Central Unit (first one deceased, second one alive)
Central Unit Cannon
Chozo Soldier (boss)
Corpius (boss)
Deer (non hostile)
Dizzean
Dropter
E.M.M.I.-01P
E.M.M.I.-02SM
Enky
Gobbler
Goliath
Grub (non hostile)
Hecathon
Iceflea
Infester
Klaida
Kreep
Muzby
Nailugger
Obsydomithon
Ply
Raven Beak (cutscene)
Reptile (non-hostile)
Rinka
Rock Diver
Rod (non-hostile)
Spitclawk
Sunnap
Takumaku

Power Ups[]

Main article: Artaria/Items

Metroid Dread[]

Music[]

Most of Artaria features variations of a single theme. An ambient version plays at the start of the game; it is replaced by a melodic version after the first encounter with E.M.M.I.-02SM. Two other variants of the theme play for extreme heat and extreme cold, respectively. A simple theme plays in E.M.M.I.-02SM's Zone after the robot's destruction, and Cave Thermaldevice is used for the event where Samus must escape an overheating facility.

Official data[]

Metroid Dread Report Volume 8[]

Artaria: "Samus awakens in the cavernous Artaria after being attacked by a mysterious and powerful Chozo figure. This area is located in the deepest part of ZDR and has low-temperature environments. The upper portion of Artaria contains vast amounts of magma, which is used as the primary source of energy on the planet."

~Transmission from the Dev Team~: "Artaria is where Samus begins her exploration of the planet. It’s a relatively large area but has many doors that she cannot open at the start of the game. You can revisit this area after making more progress through the game and acquiring additional abilities, so it may be a good idea to mark those spots on the map. You can also take screenshots using the Capture Button on your controller to keep a record."

Trivia[]

The name of this area is similar to Crateria, the surface area of Zebes in Metroid: Zero Mission and Super Metroid. Since ZDR and Zebes were both populated by the Chozo, it is possible that Crateria and Artaria's names share linguistic roots.
The name of Artaria may be a pun on artery, referring to the magma that is pumped through the area to keep it from freezing, not unlike blood throughout a body. Otherwise it may be derived from "Start Area".