echoes of the holidays

After a deep post and the holiday shuffle its time to sit back and relax a little bit. And what better way to do so than with a good game?

For me, that game is currently Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. The original Prime is easily my favorite console game from this generation, so much so that its sequel was the only game on my holiday wishlist. After some solid play time, I can say that my initial impressions are very positive.

It is an immediately familiar game, but it is obvious that Retro Studios has tried to make this "Metroid" with a twist. Samus moves and controls the same, but her arsenal has been tweaked in order to fit the game's new light/dark motif. Story-wise, rather than being an (epic?) quest for survival like the rest of the series, Echoes plays out like a horror/mystery story, with Samus at the head of the investigation. Its is also one of the most painstakingly detailed games I've seen. Halo 2 and Doom 3 might push more polys, but the subtle detail found in Prime 2's every room makes it feel more believeable, and much more interesting.

It seems that Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is very similar to Zelda: Majora's Mask. It is the sequel to the best game on its platform, it was developed in a curiously short amount of time, and yet it manages to equal its predecessor in every way without being a carbon copy. My only question is if Prime 2 will finish the same as Majora, which was arguably more fun than Ocarina of Time, but far less grandiose and much shorter (thus preventing it from surpassing OOT overall).