- Release Date: 4th December 2025
- Developer: Retro Studios
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Platforms: Switch, Switch 2
- Version Played: Switch
18 years after the previous game, it’s finally time for another. And it was a long development, with Retro Studios taking over after the first version was effectively cancelled. It’s finally here, set a bit later in the timeline than the previous games, and with the Space Pirates being controlled by Silux, who was a bounty hunter from other Prime games – he’s not exactly introduced all that well in Metroid Prime 4.
The game does start out with a very cinematic section with Space Pirates attacking a Galactic Federation base, Samus has been sent to help as there’s a mysterious artifact that needs to be recovered. This section introduces the main movement and combat. When I played Metroid Prime Remastered, I really wished I could turn with the right analogue stick but augmented with motion MP4 fulfils this wish as locking on to a target will let you aim with motion controls.
And it works extremely well, and still feels like Metroid Prime’s unique form of combat, just more evolved. Enemies also take advantage of this, particularly bosses, as you’ll often have to shoot away from the lock-on point, and enemies with shields will have you shoot around. I even found myself shooting enemies that I wasn’t targeting when spotting they were preparing for an attack. It all feels great.
After this opening section, the artifact transports Samus to a far off planet. The civilisation that lived there is extinct, but there hopes to regrow, with the help of Samus. I really enjoyed discovering more about this society via scanning for logs and for all the visual clues across the world, a tragic tale of how they caused their own demise. These aliens also equip Samus with psychic powers.
This augments the scan visor to allow Samus to activate hidden parts of the world or move objects across set paths. There’s no gravity-defying physics engine gameplay, but it is used for some neat puzzles, even if most of the time it’s just a fancy way to unlock a door. This also comes with a new charge beam which slows down time and lets you fly it around to hit specific targets, it’s used for some really fun boss fights and a few puzzles.
Once you start exploring the new world, you get hit with the absolutely stunning views of the first area, an alien jungle setting. You can even see areas up ahead that you’ll reach in later parts of the level. With the beautiful views and calming music, I found myself just stopping and staring for around ten minutes. The next three areas also have some really stunning sections that I just had to pause just to take it all in.
These sections play wonderfully, each room being a delight to explore and further tell the story of the Lamorn, it’s as delightful as the first Metroid Prime. However, this isn’t all there is to Metroid Prime 4. Connecting these areas is a large desert, and one of the locations has you restoring a power to give Samus access to a motorbike to traverse this desert.
With the bike, the desert doesn’t feel that big and, other than a few shrines dotted about, there isn’t all that much there. Despite this, I found it to be quite a calming break between each section. You do have to smash through green crystals, which felt a bit pointless to me, but if you just grab them on the way to places, you’ll have enough to finish the game.
Unfortunately, the second half of the game brings it down a bit. Through the initial areas, Samus meets up with Federation soldiers who also got stranded, they don’t get in the way too much and are surprisingly charming, which doesn’t help when Samus just stares at them (she doesn’t talk and you can’t see her expression). Once you’ve completed the initial four areas, there’s a much more scripted cave section where they all join you. After this, you have to collect deserts in the object then it’s on to the final battle.
This also extends to the items. The start kits you out with the psychic visor and fly-by charge beam, but most of what you encounter later on are abilities from previous games, so it feels a lot like retreading old ground. You do get a new type of weapon which initially feels like elemental rockets (you swap between them and missiles), but you eventually upgrade your ammo to a large amount that you’ll use them just like a beam weapon, with their own multi layered charge feature. It’s a nice change to the system and means you can access both these and your regular beam weapon at the same time.
Luckily, I left the hunt for all the bonus items – missiles, ammo storage, energy tanks – towards the end of the game. Exploring the areas again with all the equipment was great, as well as working out how to access the hidden collectables. Each area has a hidden drone which gives you the rough location of the items so you don’t have to resort to using a guide. It created a wonderful bookend to the game. The final boss was also an enjoyable fight (almost all the bosses were great), but the ending itself seemed a bit unwarranted.
Ultimately, despite a few drawbacks, this is still a wonderful game and feels like a full sequel to the first Metroid Prime – more so than the second game. I loved my time with it and there’s plenty of surprising and interesting moments throughout. It just needed another environment to explore near the end.
Great
