- The latest Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer appeared at yesterday’s Nintendo Direct
- The trailer introduces psychic abilities for Samus as well as a new suit upgrade
- The game is still on track for a ‘2025’ release window
We got a fresh trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond at the latest Nintendo Direct presentation, and I think it’s shaping up to be a worthy follow-up to the original Prime trilogy.
In the latest trailer, protagonist Samus Aran lands on a strange planet called Viewros, inhabited by hostile alien creatures as well as a race that seems versed in psychic powers. Said powers are also bestowed unto Samus, allowing her to interact with the environment and combat enemies in various new ways.
We see Samus use her new psychic abilities to transport orbs into mechanisms to power devices and open doors. But more importantly (and awesomely), she can use these powers to slow time and manually guide her beam shots through enemies. Does it look overpowered? Sure, but perhaps not on the level Hypermode was in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
These psychic abilities seem like they’ll be the primary gimmick in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, following Prime 3’s Phazon power and Prime 2’s light and dark mechanics. We only really got a brief glimpse of them in the trailer, so I’m hoping they’ll be useful for more than just opening doors and entering a bullet-time-esque state.
Enjoying the Viewros
One thing that’s clear, though, is that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond appears to be pushing the Switch hardware to its limits. Environments are looking gorgeous with impressive detail and glorious skyboxes. It does look to be holding a pretty steady 60fps too, which has been a crucial performance factor in all Prime games to date.
I have to give a shoutout to the soundtrack, too, which is definitely capturing that feeling of isolation the Prime games have always been excellent at. Combat music is also wild and chaotic, creating an intentionally jarring sensation when you’re pulled out of smelling the roses and into hectic battle.
Lastly, the trailer ends with a glimpse at one of Samus’s new suit upgrades. Her Varia suit takes on a sleek red and black aesthetic with purple accents. It’s a very striking look, but it’s unclear what abilities this suit will enable for her. Presumably, it’ll help bolster her new psychic powers or provide ways to better traverse through dangerous environments.
Still no solid release date for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond as of yet, though. But the trailer confirms the game is still on track for a 2025 release. Hopefully, it’ll end up being a launch title for Nintendo Switch 2 as many are speculating.
