Pas le temps pour la traduction désolé
[/img]IGN a écrit : May 11, 2004 - Before E3 2004 had a chance to kick off, Nintendo invited us up to its Seattle-based headquarters for a sneak peak at Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. We were told we could look, but not touch. So, we received an early, first look at the sequel to Metroid Prime. Fully entitled Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, it comes complete with a whole new story. It is connected to Metroid Prime in that the new planet that Samus will be exploring is called "Aether," and it was struck by a Phazon meteor. The crash created a dimensional rift of light and dark and this sets the stage for an entirely new type of gameplay for the series. Echoes takes place after Metroid, making it a true sequel.
Samus will have to manage between dark and light weaponry, fighting enemies on both sides of the rift. Dark enemies will be harmed more by Samus' light-type ammo and light enemies vice versa. A Nintendo representative showed us a demonstration of this, starting with the light gun, which when charged will produce a shotgun-like burst of light flak. Switching over to the dark gun, we were shown that when it is charged it will actually freeze enemies in place. The catch, however, is that each beam comes with limited ammo; players will have to be extremely careful not to deplete their reserves carelessly. More ammo can be acquired by defeating enemies, which will drop dark and light matter.
The fighting mechanics are still identical to the original Metroid Prime as far as we can tell. Producer Jeff Miller said, "The lock on system is still here and as strong as ever."
The big change in the gameplay as you may guess is centered on the dimensional rift on Aether. Samus will be forced to travel between light and Dark Worlds. Miller noted, "There are things modified between the worlds, but they are parallel."
Couple all this information with the fact that Nintendo says there will be a "dark" entity hunting Samus, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize you'll be facing of with a Dark Samus, a concept no doubt borrowed from Game Boy Advance's Metroid Fusion. The experience in Echoes is sure to be quite different, however.
The level we were shown was the Agon Wastes level, which we first saw in the Light World. It reminded us of the Phazon Mines from the previous game, it being largely industrial in nature and very gritty. Don't be misled though, the landscape looked entirely different, featuring far more browns and muted tones.
Miller then skipped over to the Dark World by creating a rift via the Dark Beam and Missle combo, which was reserved for tricks like the flamethrower or Super Missiles in the first Prime. The Dark World was a lot like it sounds: a blackness hung on the air and it was a lot like walking through a cave. The air in Dark World is poisonous and Miller demonstrated that Light Beam activated hemispheres had to be created by locating staffs sporadically placed around the world. Players will have to steer Samus from one hemisphere to the next -- at least at first, perhaps until they get a Dark-proof suit -- or they will lose healthy by stepping into the raw Dark air.
Unfortunately, Miller said they would not be disclosing more detail until maybe the start of E3 2004. When we asked about visor modes, he gave us the bad news: "We're not talking about visors just yet." In fact, all the questions we asked were basically shot down in this early demo session. The goal was just to give us a first good look.
However, we did learn one important fact: the screw attack has returned! Yes, it's true and we saw it with our own eyes. Miller briefly demonstrated it, jumping out off a cliff edge. The camera pulls out to third-person and from what we saw shows Samus from behind during this maneuver -- so it's not from the side like you might think. It looks like it will be used to cross big gaps that Samus could otherwise not cross. Whether or not we can still kill enemies with it is unknown.
Multiplayer
We saw a two-player demo only, not the four player, but we learned a few things indeed. Miller, still demonstrating at this point, said "Retro Studios wanted to make it distinct like it was a Metroid product. The use of morph ball was critical to bring a Metroid-like experience to life.
We saw a level that looked much like the previous space station in Prime. Jeff and another representative from NOA ran around, locking on to each other and battling. The lock-on battle system is interesting because it's not classic first-persons shooter deathmatch. Because there is a lock-on, players must think differently. This is where the morph ball comes in to play, and players will often want to evade opponents when caught in the open. There are a lot of power-ups that come in to play; there's the "Death Ball," invulnerability, a Power Bomb item, unlimited beam ammo item, and a massive damage item that will increase the power of your beam.
In the midst of all this there are other ways to get away and sneak around. The levels are multi-tiered and morph ball canons can be used to shoot players up onto another level, or across an entire level. Likewise, the grapple beam is able to be used during multiplayer.
This was the only mode we saw and Miller again turned down our questions, "There will be other modes, but I can't go into the specifics of that."
So, our impressions of multiplayer are more wait and see. It's something that has to be played before we can even begin to judge it. So look for more details on that soon.
As for the single player game, it features graphical upgrades -- not major ones -- like more detailed textures and a better modeling engine for Samus and enemies. The Dark World enemies we were shown are globs of dark goo that form together to create spidery black creatures with thick pieces of antennas that mock the look of hair. The goo effect was very impressive. How often do we have a chance to say that about any game? We still need to see more, though, as this was just a small sampling of what's available.
Overall, Echoes is looking to be a feature-packed and truly different sequel. With this new dark and light dynamic, and multiplayer, it won't be more of the same. We hope to go hands on with it soon so we can report back with more detailed information.
Stay tuned until then and we'll have the first videos online very soon.
