While the gameplay disclosure of the Nintendo Switch 2 was home to a few very exciting entirely new experiences, one of the most intriguing in the showcase for my money was a well-known quantity: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
The available demo of Metroid Prime 4 felt even more known to a fan of the series like me then the last game, because it showed a part of the game that was quite bald of new things. If I had to guess, it is a series from the top of the game, before Samus is upgraded her power out with those telekinetic powers.
In the short segment in basic under-under-shit, Samus has access to her usual arm cannon, rockets, scanner, morph-ball and bombs-but that is it. These are all very well -known quantities. It gives Prime 4 the feeling as a very simple, iterative sequel to its three predecessors – but we already know from other images that there is more going on here, with new skills and mechanics in abundance. They were simply not available in this switch 2 hands-on.
However, it seems clear to me that Nintendo and developer Retro Studios have deliberately chosen this segment. It is fast and spicy to play, and by keeping things easy, one is not derived from what they are Real I wanted to present here -what the essential things of the Metroid Prime experience look and feel on the Switch 2 -hardware.
“This runs at 120 frames per second,” says the Nintendo representative who immediately tells my demo station manning while I sit down. In fact, it is the first thing they say, which is unusual – Nintendo usually never focuses on performance statistics. But here they do that – and you can see why.
And yes, Metroid Prime 4 Nintendo Switch 2 edition is ultimately a Switch 2 -upgrade of a game designed to work on hardware that, if you believe that the somewhat dubious statistics of Nvidia are ten times weaker. But it runs native with the full HD resolution (4K is also available, but will be 60 fps), and, yes, is absolutely silky smooth with 120 fps. It also looks better than the OG switch version, at least based on what I have seen on streams, because the original switch version was not there to see personally. However, the frame speed is the headline. Frank, it feels like the most on-nintho thing ever. And then you put down the controller …
Of course I don’t want to stop playing. I am talking about the mouse controls. As mentioned in my reporting on the console itself and the Curious Welcome Tour Mini-Game Collection, the largest new built-in gimmick on the Switch 2 is the possibility to place the Joy-Con side-down on a surface (this can be a surface as easy if you use thighs for some Muis, just like a mouse, as a kind of mouse). That lends itself well to allowing mouse controls to fall into games that fit.
Elsewhere at the Switch 2 Reveal event, there is the obvious example of Civilization 7, which exactly uses mouse controls as the inadequate but brilliant CIV 7 on PC. Metroid is of course the other obvious example, because while this is a metroidvania, or search, or whatever you want to call it – the prime games are also inherent first -person shooters.
However, the implementation of mouse controls in Metroid Prime 4 is downright absolute fascinating. The most brilliant touch is this: it is not a switch. That means that you can normally keep one Joy-Con 2 in any hand and use them as two halves of a normal controller. In this setup, Prime 4 plays almost the same way as the other titles in this series. But if you orientate that right-hand Joy-Con in the correct position and place it on a surface, the game automatically understands your intention and you will transfer to Mouselook. No menu fucking, no faffing about – it’s just there.
You all know how Mouselook should work and feel, and I will keep an eye on some exaggerated explanation to say: Prime 4 feels like a good mouse look game when it is played that way. It is Twitchy and responsive in the right ways. It just worksAnd that’s good. But the revelation, I think, is that back and forth.
Admittedly, the part of Prime 4 that I play is heavy on the fight and light-not-not-dollar on the enigmatic metroid is known for. But even in that segment, in the course of half an hour or so, I started to hit my pass. I have a controller -wagger on. I would keep the Joy-Con 2S as a controller when I was scanning, or doing things with the Morph ball and other such traversal. I would pop up the strange enemy with the recurring lock-on technician from Prime. But the moment the fight was heated, I would of course put that correct Joy-Con into the mous position and take over my PC playing instincts. It is, literally, The best of both worlds.
As soon as I hit a boss struggle, the action of the controller stopped completely. This colossal beast had classic pulsating and glowing weaknesses that were only temporarily vulnerable – and were able to use mouse controls to be deadly accurate, meant that I frightened the boss much more efficiently than some around me who played the game in a more traditional way.
Combine this with the smooth presentation of 120 fps, and it all felt a bit … wrong. To be honest, it felt like what I was doing should be illegal. This is the type of presentation and guide efficiency that was previously only available in a Nintendo game if you know, you know something illegal. It also deals with an important complaint about Switch 1 for me – namely that I think most switching games look good For a hybrid device, especially the first parties … but performance was often sad. When Metroid Prime 4 is a photo of the future, I look forward to all those improved packages – and even a series of new games that easily go on the graphic upgrades, but maximalistic about the performance boosters.
If it comes out later this year, there might be an original switch version of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – but if you can afford it with all the nonsense that is going on, there is now clear only one place to really play it: Switch 2. That is exactly what you want from the next generation -upgrade, really.