With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally around the corner, I’ve been reflecting on what it is about Retro Studios’ series that has stuck with me for over two decades now. The first Metroid Prime is an especially memorable game, full of music, biomes, and bosses that I can recall at a moment’s notice perfectly. I can also remember every single piece of Samus’ toolset, from her double jump all the way to her optional weapon upgrades like the Wavebuster. Each one deepens the exploration and opens up the unique shooter combat in ways that felt revelatory at the time.
But all these years later, one of Samus’ skills sticks with me more than the rest: her scan visor. The gadget didn’t just provide her with yet another puzzle-solving tool; it completely changed the way we thought about first-person video games and what they could be beyond vehicles for shootouts.
The scan visor may feel fairly run-of-the-mill today, but it was a revelation back in 2002. At that time, Metroid Prime was a very strange game for Nintendo. It launched amid a growing first-person shooter trend on consoles and felt positioned as Nintendo’s answer to Halo. So it was strange to discover that it was hardly a traditional shooter at all. Instead, it was a full-throated platformer that retained all the exploration hooks that the 2D Metroid series was known for, morphball and all.
Image: Nintendo via Polygon
It took some adjusting to, but the scan visor was the puzzle piece that made the game’s vision clear. Players are introduced to the tool right at the start, during the opening sequence aboard an abandoned frigate. With the press of a button, Samus dons a visor that can scan things in her surroundings. It can unlock doors, give her details on the enemies of the world, and even give her clues as to what pieces of the environment can be destroyed with her upgrades. It is positioned as a tool that is equally important as her arm cannon; the second thing you do in the game after shooting a door open is scan a computer terminal to light up targets on the next door.
At the time, I had never seen a tool quite like the scan visor in a game — especially in what looked like a first-person shooter on its surface. It still required me to flex the basic skills of a shooter (seeking out a target and aiming at it), but not as a means to get through propulsive gunfights. Instead, using it slowed things down, with the action coming to a halt so I could read whatever data I’d just acquired. It immediately rewired my brain, which was so used to rushing through shooters to get to the next high-octane battle. Knowledge was presented as a weapon, and that’s what gave Metroid Prime its wholly unique feel at the time.
I can still remember the moment when that idea hit hardest for me. Metroid Prime features several collectibles, like missile expansions and energy tanks, but its most interesting one is Chozo Lore. By scanning certain surfaces, Samus unlocks scattered pieces of backstory that explain what happened on Tallon IV, the planet she’s exploring. You can go through the entire game without grabbing a single one and be none the wiser for it. Samus can just be a bounty hunter there to do a job. But reading the lore reveals details of an environmental disaster that killed the Chozo people on the planet and attracted a wave of Space Pirates who were eager to mine the planet’s misfortune for weapons.
Image: Nintendo via Polygon
As soon as I found a piece of lore and discovered that thread, scanning became the entire game. I accepted my role as an archeologist trying to piece together the lost history of a dead race. Cataloging the critters of the world became an act of preservation, making sure that someone had a record of what life was like on Tallon IV. (I still shot all of those creatures once I’d scanned them, so I wasn’t totally altruistic here.) I was no longer associating a first-person perspective with shooters, instead seeing Metroid Prime as something more akin to Riven. So much of that comes from that one simple skill.
I’m thinking about that now as I prepare for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The smallest tool can change the entire feel and tone of a game. Will Samus’ snazzy new motorcycle be that power for Beyond? Or will it be shaped by one of her mysterious psychic powers that Nintendo has kept relatively close to its chest? Those abilities won’t just give us a fun new way to interact with the world through Samus’ suit; they’ll define who Samus is in her fourth 3D adventure. The things you actually do in a game matter, and nothing proves that more than this handy visor.
