[PAX East 2016] Metroid Prime Federation Force preview: We got each other and that’s a lot

Here’s a surprise: Metroid Prime: Federation Force is actually pretty fun. I know, I know — it’s supposed to be horrible because it’s co-op and no Samus and 3DS and yada yada. But hear me out: the work they’ve done to the game over the last year has lead to a surprisingly solid experience, and my hands-on time with it at PAX East left me feeling much more confident.

The mission demo that was on hand at the expo was focused on 4-player co-op, asking us to destroy a generator in the center of space pirate base of operations. As the demo kicked off and we infiltrated the base, the opening sequence served as a sort of mini tutorial for motion and attacking. We very quickly learned to jump across disappearing platforms, turn quickly and fire. Much like past Prime games we can lock onto enemies to attack, and we even have the ability to adjust our lock with the c-stick or by moving the 3DS up and down. Motion controls may seem like a gimmick add-on, but I actually found them to be more precise than just using the c-stick for targeting, though movement and turning was much better with the traditional FPS controls.

One of the newer features to the series was the ability to change weapons and secondary weapons on the fly, allowing me to shift from a laser weapon to an electric to bombs in a quick button press. It seemed much more in tune with modern gaming needs.

Completing the first couple of rooms required defeating a few hordes of drones or space pirates and then making our way over to an elevator. There, all four of us needed to engage the elevator at the same time to activate it, which (I assume) was a way to teach us to work together as a team on certain puzzles.

The Generator Room battle that followed had the familiar Metroid Prime feel. As the generator turned and we fired at its weak points, we were bombarded by drones to slow us down. After a few good shots the generator began shooting out a poisonous gas, which prompted us to find higher ground via platforms strategically placed around its perimeter. At this point missiles would fire at us and flying drones attacked, and it was up to us to destroy them before they got to us. This wasn’t overly difficult, but it was the first time that one of my teammates was killed. When the gas receded I was able to run over to the other player, mash the B button a few times to repair them, and then send them on their way to go back to attacking the core. It’s a visible push by Nintendo to get us to interact as a team, since there didn’t seem to be individual classes of characters in this demo — just a generic space marine.

As we got deeper into the battle the platforms would start to disappear, forcing us to revive our comrades more often on the next go-around. I felt like this was Nintendo’s attempt to extend the battle time further, as the actual boss was fairly easy. I was punishing the core, and legit felt bad for my squadmates who weren’t keeping up with me, so I found myself being the one to revive them more often.

Defeating the core led to a hurried escape from the gas-filling base and victory for the team.

With all four 3DSes linked together and situated around each other at the demo station, communication was achieved by yelling to my teammates to get to specific points on the map or take on certain tasks. Without voice chat this would seem impossible, so it’ll be something to keep an eye on as to how players adapt to the online play. Regardless it was extremely smooth, and the dual screen set-up is nice for keeping an eye on the map below.

That’s all well, since the visuals themselves aren’t great. The 3DS’ aging hardware shows up here in some pretty nasty ways. Blocky designs are required since 4 players take up a lot of the graphics card. Smoke and gas effects are blurry. Lighting isn’t existent. Enemies aren’t usually legible from a distance.

The audio was good, but that’s neither here nor there in a crowd-filled expo center.

But that doesn’t much matter. Federation Force plays solidly, and the Metroid touches are clearly there, even without Samus. To be honest, I don’t think Samus would add anything to the game beyond being the series’ main protagonist. It’s a squad-based shooter in the Metroid universe, with adventure and action elements from the Prime formula and flavorings of a traditional FPS.

It’s a solid combo, and I’m fine with that. My interest is shifting up.