Title: Video Game Review: Metroid Prime: Federation Force - A Secondary Line Of Defense
Author: BiPolarBear
Recovered Author: BiPolarBear
Published Date: 2016-10-17
Original URL: https://geeknode.co.za/2016/10/video-game-review-metroid-prime-federation-force-secondary-line-defense
Wayback URL: https://web.archive.org/web/20170704185925id_/http://www.geeknode.co.za/2016/10/video-game-review-metroid-prime-federation-force-secondary-line-defense/
Recovery Confidence: high
Categories: Video Game Review
Tags: 3DS, featured, Federation Force, Games, Metroid, nintendo, Reviews

- Developer Next Level Games
- Publisher Nintendo
- Distributor Nintendo Distributor South Africa
- Where we got our copy Nintendo Distributor South Africa
- Genre FPS
- Game modes Single Player, Multiplayer, Co-op
- Players 1-4
- Reviewed on Nintendo 3DS

- BiPolarBear

- 9 months ago

- 0 0

The problem is that when you have some of the most beloved franchises in the world of gaming, any changes you may decide to make will come under a lot of scrutiny. When Metroid Prime: Federation Force was revealed, it definitely received its share of online hate. While the reception Federation Force received upon announcement is hardly justifiable, it’s easy to see where it came from. Nintendo’s fans are a passionate bunch and while they may be a little too emotional at times, we like to think it comes from a good place.

Unfortunately this means that Federation Force was always going to struggle to receive love from the general gaming community and in all honesty, it doesn’t seem to do all that much to win some favour with the fans. Metroid Prime: Federation Force is unfortunately only a Metroid game in name and a couple of aesthetic similarities. While it’s not exactly the Metroid game fans had hoped for, does that mean this co-op spin-off should be completely written off?

Metroid Prime: Federation Force feels like it was made with the best intentions, but is unfortunately unable to achieve anything noteworthy. This doesn’t mean that the game is inherently bad per se, but there’s nothing to make it stand out besides the fact that it is a co-op shooter on the 3DS. Federation Force will let you know, before you get in to it, that it is a Metroid game, but one can not come in to this expecting the Prime experience.

Players will not be able to explore as much as they have been able to in previous games, but this is a change that had to be made in order to accommodate the co-op driven gameplay. While the vital exploration aspect is missing, the actual gameplay still feels as solid as it did in Prime, which does a lot for Federation Force. Even if the game doesn’t manage to do much during the duration of its campaign, Federation Force still handles itself pretty well control wise. The lock-on mechanics of the Metroid Prime games translate incredibly well to the portable Federation Force making the game a pleasure to handle once you come to grips with it.

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Now, from the looks of it, one would say that Federation Force could just be an incredibly average experience. It’s got the Prime feel, it doesn’t feel like it’s actively trying to break your hands when you play it and it does some interesting things with its gameplay, yet it still doesn’t manage to be anything more than bland. It had everything at its disposal to be in some way an enjoyable experience, but it just falls flat. This isn’t for a lack of trying since I do think that the game has a pretty decent grounding and had all the potential to be an enjoyable experience.

The problem with Federation Force is that all it has to it, the only thing that really makes it a Metroid Prime game, is its general aesthetic. It felt like I was playing a Prime game, but I was unable to get the enjoyable Prime experience. I was running around and shooting things, but I was never satisfied with any of it which is a real pity. I felt absolutely no desire to progress in the game, even when I was playing co-operatively. Federation Force is unfortunately just a bland experience that doesn’t do itself any favours with its design.

So at the end of the day what do we have? I really didn’t want to Federation Force to fall into the “this game sucks” category that it was received with, but it was unfortunately only able to barely escape sucky status. Metroid Prime: Federation Force is an incredibly bland Metroid experience and not much better a video game experience either. If you’re desperately looking for something to play co-operatively on the 3DS, you can do a lot better and therefor it’s impossible to recommend this game unless you desperately want to play it.

The problem is that when you have some of the most beloved franchises in the world of gaming, any changes you may decide to make will come under a lot of scrutiny. When Metroid Prime: Federation Force was revealed, it definitely received its share of online hate. While the reception Federation Force received upon announcement is hardly justifiable, it's easy to see where it came from. Nintendo's fans are a passionate bunch and while they may be a little too emotional at times, we like to think it comes from a good place. Unfortunately this means that Federation Force was always going to struggle to receive love from the general gaming community and in all honesty, it doesn't seem to do all that much to win some favour with the fans. Metroid Prime: Federation Force is unfortunately only a Metroid game in name and a couple of aesthetic similarities. While it's not exactly the Metroid game fans had hoped for, does that mean this co-op spin-off should be completely written off? Metroid Prime: Federation Force feels like it was made with the best intentions, but is unfortunately unable to achieve anything noteworthy. This doesn't mean that the game is inherently bad per se, but there's nothing to make it stand out besides the fact that it is a co-op shooter on the 3DS. Federation Force will let you know, before you get in to it, that it is a Metroid game, but one can not come in to this expecting the Prime experience. Players will not be able to explore as much as they have been able to in previous games, but this is a change that had to be made in order to accommodate the co-op driven gameplay. While the vital exploration aspect is missing, the actual gameplay still feels as solid as it did in Prime, which does a lot for Federation Force. Even if the game doesn't manage to do much during the duration of its campaign, Federation Force still handles itself pretty well control wise. The lock-on mechanics of the Metroid Prime games translate incredibly well to the portable Federation Force making the game a pleasure to handle once you come to grips with it. Now, from the looks of it, one would say that Federation Force could just be an incredibly average experience. It's got the Prime feel, it doesn't feel like it's actively trying to break your hands when you play it and it does some interesting things with its gameplay, yet it still doesn't manage to be anything more than bland. It had everything at its disposal to be in some way an enjoyable experience, but it just falls flat. This isn't for a lack of trying since I do think that the game has a pretty decent grounding and had all the potential to be an enjoyable experience. The problem with Federation Force is that all it has to it, the only thing that really makes it a Metroid Prime game, is…

Video Game Review: Metroid Prime: Federation Force – A Secondary Line Of Defense

Video Game Review: Metroid Prime: Federation Force – A Secondary Line Of Defense

2016-10-17

BiPolarBear

Metroid Not-So-Prime

Score - 6

60
6

Total

An unfortunately bland experience. Metroid Prime: Federation Force has the grounding of what could be an incredible game, but suffers too many shortcomings for this to be realised. It is for this reason that,while the game is still serviceable, it is only recommended that you pick this up if you really feel the need to.

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BiPolarBear

Gaming Author at Geek Node

The best person to offer the worst opinion. Paul's interests include adding 100 hour JRPGs to his backlog and dark walks through dungeons. You'll probably find him rambling on about old man Nintendo or that crazy newfangled eSports thingy.

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Article Tags:
3DS · featured · Federation Force · Games · Metroid · nintendo · Reviews

Article Categories:
Video Game Review
