Official Off-Topic Thread

[Dusty]

Well, you already said it yourself, it's the point humans are in the game, not voice-acting.
I'm sure the game will not feel any less isolated, and will probably keep the Metroid feel regardless.

[.TakaM]

I think the inclusion of other humans will only emphasize the feeling of isolation.
you see everyone around you die? can't get more alone than that.

[Faceless]

.TakaM stole the words right out of my mouth.
They die in the opening sequence, how can they possibly ruin the game?

[AdamAtomic]

because!!     

The classic metroid games hardly even acknowledge the existence of other humans...to me there is a big difference between live humans greeting you and giving you instructions, versus finding some dead scientists in a lab...

[Helm]

Speaking as a person who has both designed and mainly enjoys games where isolation is a key mood, I don't think having some guys talk to you in the beginning of the game will hurt anything, as long as it doesn't happen again. Once you're back to roaming alone in a huge gameworld, with good music, it's all back to the awesome. Alone forevermore.

[robalan]

Super Metroid (the only Metroid game I've really played) had lots of humans in the opening sequence.  Admittedly they were pictures rather than animated models and were largely flashback, but they were humans nonetheless, and they were shown talking with Samus.  I don't see how actually having people talk to Samus for a few minutes then get blown up will be any different than having pictures of people talking to Samus and then implied getting blown up.

[huZba]

As much as i agree with everything else, the blowing up people in the beginning might work better for disconnecting you from a comfortable world and leaving you all alone, dont'cha think?

I just checked out the developer walkthrough video on gametrailers.com, and it seems they've again found something quite interesting to present in the art department. The steampunk-ish cloudworld alone gave the familiar metroid feeling of unfamiliarity and interest in traversing a new world. Wii controls will surely work in favor of suiting you in the varia suit. Really looking forward to this game.

[AdamAtomic]

well, i hope it works!  But I disagree that it could work any better than just showing you photos and corpses.

I just don't have a lot of faith in their ability to capture that "metroid" atmosphere anymore, after Echoes.  The human presence was part of a bunch of bad choices that made it hard to invest yourself in Samus's mission I think.  Required item hunting, a more sterile, less biological world, the always-the-same-palette dark world, huge quantity of mechanical enemies, increasingly linear, shooter-oriented level design, the cut-and-dry weapons system, etc.  On the micro level they got a lot of gameplay done very nicely, some of the enemy attack patterns and morph ball puzzles were pretty fantastic, and the level of detail was very impressive...but the macro picture didn't hold up.  I always felt like I was just going down a checklist, rather than actually getting to explore.  And I do think that the human-filled game introduction played a part in that; seeing similar choices being made for Prime 3 gives me some concern, that's all.  I hope that blowin everybody up sells the idea of being isolated on this bizarre, hostile, life-filled planet...but the only areas they've yet shown are steampunky, or hightech in some other way.  I guess I just have to wait and see...but Fusion, Zero Mission, and Echoes have all been a bit of a disappointment to me...I like Fusion in its own way, but Zero Mission and Echoes were too formulaic and checklisty to inspire the same feelings as the "classics".

But then, i mean game developers shouldn't be forced to remake the same game over and over, obviously...I just love that sensation of exploring this bizarre, very-much-alive world with just a layer of metal between you and whatever strange things you come across.  And its not to be found in very many games...so when I buy something in the hopes that it might be there, and I find that it isn't, well then I go on internet rants about tiny pointless details in the hopes that somehow it will magically replace this missing ingredient in the next release.

Logical, right?

[Faceless]

They aren't getting blown up... they're getting sucked into space through a breach in their ship's hull. I'm hoping you'll be able to see them floating around outside as you make your escape. The Devs and the people who have played the game say it feels more like Metroid Prime 1 did. I haven't liked the Prime series so far, but this game has me interested.

[.TakaM]

I don't think there's anything to worry about Adam, in an interview (can't remember if I read or saw it)
one of the retro reps was talking about a lot of the "mistakes" they made with echoes, and that they've constantly been referring to a lot of fan feedback.
he even specifically mentioned the back tracking in echoes ended up making little sense and wasn't necessary.