Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Switch 2 Review
"I really hope we don’t have to wait another 18 years for a masterpiece like this!"
18 years, 18 long years we’ve been waiting for this! Where I live in the UK, some people have been born and can now legally drink alcohol in the time between Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond seeing their first releases. Yes, Samus is finally back; of course we’ve had some spin-offs and the like since, but this is big news. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has certainly been one of the holy trinity of long-awaited sequels over recent years, alongside Hollow Knight: Silksong and Grand Theft Auto 6. Well, two out of three ain’t bad; I’ll drink to that!
We played Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on the Nintendo Switch 2, by the way, and it’s great to see another Nintendo mascot arrive on their shiny new console!
The Good
I’m not sure quite how else to say this, but Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is certainly the fourth entry in the Metroid Prime series. By that I mean Retro Studios have resisted the temptation to do anything wacky with the gameplay formula and have effectively made a fourth Metroid Prime game for us all to enjoy. I was incredibly nervous it would be unrecognisable to fans, having inevitably evolved so much through its development cycle, but if you’re a fan of the series already, you will not be disappointed at all. The controls are as silky-smooth as ever, and the quick transformation from first-person Samus into morph ball mode and back into Samus is as thrilling as ever. It was a technical achievement back in the early 2000s and still feels like that now! The combat is a perfect balance of relentlessness and pragmatism, and playing other major first-person shooters in the intervening years since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (for example, say Doom Eternal) made me realise just how much the Metroid Prime series has influenced the genre. Furthermore, the introduction of the new ‘psychic’ powers significantly contributes to the puzzle-solving and lore of the game and dovetails nicely with the combat.
With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond being so long in development, I did my best to keep my head in the sand in regard to trailers and screenshots, as I wanted the experience to feel as fresh as possible. I largely succeeded in that and therefore was pleasantly surprised to discover that the main gameplay twist of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was… Samus on a bike! Yes, the new introduction to this entry is the rather sleek-looking Vi-O-La, which is basically a fancy motorbike. Gained early on in the story as a power-up, you can get on Vi-O-La at pretty much any time (a bit like transforming into the morphball at any time), and then it all gets a bit Road Rash. It’s really cool! I won’t lie, it felt a bit gimmicky at first but then the various puzzles and traversal challenges that open up once the bike is obtained are challenging, varied and above all fun. Welcome to the party, Vi-O-La; I hope you’re here to stay!
The other major ‘twist’ that goes hand-in-hand with Vi-O-La is the fact that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond introduces a hub world – Sol Valley – which acts as a kind of Hyrule Field space which ties together the various worlds and biomes. I was a little worried at first that this would mean the gameplay would move away too much from its metroidvania roots, but Retro Studios still does a great job of keeping the metroidvania hallmarks that made the series so pivotal while also adapting them to a more Legend of Zelda-like structure. I, for one, absolutely loved it and hunting down those secrets and collectibles to get 100% never felt so fun.
TL;DR
- Classic smooth Metroid Prime gameplay
- The introduction of Vi-O-La feels brave and original
- Metroidvania meets hub-world gameplay, which is fun for completionists
The Bad
I have been a bit nervous over how Metroid Prime 4: Beyond would look graphically, because when you have such a high-fidelity game spanning various development teams (and presumably game engines), it can be tricky. I played Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on the Nintendo Switch 2 and it is an absolutely beautiful game, especially in the natural biomes. Every blade of grass and every leaf feels alive and the use of light in the perfectly sculpted spaces makes it feel like you’re walking through the planet yourself. Having said that… The hard-surface biomes (laboratories, space stations, etc.) all felt a bit PlayStation 4 to me. That might sound harsh but many of the surfaces felt a bit samey and uninspired. Fortunately you tend to spend more time out than in but it was certainly noticeable.
Other than that there really isn’t too much to grumble about in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. There is a very irritating wise-cracking character that crops up early on in the game who just felt out of place in the Metroid universe (think Joey from Friends meets Sheldon from Big Bang Theory), but luckily he doesn’t linger for too long. Otherwise the tone and story generally feel spot on throughout.
TL;DR
- Hard surface biomes are a bit underwhelming
- Some annoying and off-kilter character placement
Final Score: 9/10
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is everything I hoped it would be; the introduction of Sol Valley is a brave and masterful touch, and the balletic combat and fun exploration are still front and centre in the experience. I really hope we don’t have to wait another 18 years for a masterpiece like this!
Thank you for checking out our Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Switch review, thank you to Nintendo AU for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:
- Andrew Caluzzi (Inca Studios / Camped Out)
- Bel Cubitt
- Bobby Jack
- Jack Caven
- Nintendo Maniacs
- RedHero