Nerd Mentality

Metroid Prime: Hunters Multiplayer

Posted May 20th 2006 by Curtis Brunet.

In May of 2004, Reggie Fils-Aime took to the stage at Nintendo's pre-E3 show, and told us that Nintendo DS represented a "brand new way for players to relate to their games, and to each other." He promised us that with Nintendo DS, we would be "driving down a new round to places we've never seen before." When he spoke the words, almost two minutes later "and here's a brand new Metroid game playing on Nintendo DS," along with video footage, the crowd went into a frenzy. The cheering, the clapping, the whooping and the hollering were all good signs that Nintendo had more up it's sleeves then a port of an eight year-old game. At the end of it all, Reggie had told us that Metroid Prime: Hunters would be "just awesome."

However, it wasn't until nearly next year's E3 that the best news of all came about. Reggie began slowly, after speaking of proprietary local wireless, "But what if your friend is more then a few feet away, say a few time zones away?" At this point, a hush falls over the crowd, and an "Oh God damn!" could be heard among the murmurs. Reggie continued: "No problem..." The slideshow then changes to reveal that Nintendo DS is Wi-Fi compatible, and from that point on, Metroid Prime: Hunters became every fraggers dream game. Finally, on a console, gamers could enjoy the freedom of a PC First-Person Shooter's control, with online capabilities, and without the need for a $3000 top-of-the-line computer.

The cheers went on. It was beyond online, it was no line.

Almost two years later, with delays and rumors of no Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo finally gave us gaming fans and PC FPS fans the game experience we've always wanted, and right now, I just want to say really quickly, it is indeed amazing.

However, I also want to say that there is a reason why I am not reviewing the single player, there are some very large and glaring problems with the single player of Metroid Prime: Hunters, but once the multiplayer is powered on, these problems seem to disappear.

Stepping into the multiplayer of Hunters, you have several different modes of play, single-card play, multi-card play, and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. In single-card play, the host DS can serve for up to three other players (having a total of four). The host player can then choose the arena and the hunter they wish to use; the guest players only have an option to choose Samus in single card play. Finally, in single-card play, only the ‘Battle' game mode is available to play from. In multi-card play, the host DS can again serve for up to three other players, however, in multi-card play, the host player can now choose from several different game modes which will be talked about a bit later. Once the map is chosen, the game is open to local players, who can then join the game on their own Nintendo DS system. Also, the host can add ‘bots' (computer controlled characters) at this time, or simply wait until enough users join the game. The final mode is playing over Nintendo's online system, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (hereto referred as NiWiFi) is Nintendo's online solution. Is it Xbox Live? No, no it's not. Is it free? Yes, yes it is. Using either your own wireless router or Nintendo's Wi-Fi USB Connector, you can receive a wireless signal to your DS that lets you communicate with people all over the world; unfortunately, you have to do it under Nintendo's rule. Why can't I add gamers to friend list when I play them randomly? Why can't I talk to other players? Why do I have to use a ‘friend code' just to find my friends online? Basically, when you log into NiWiFi, you have the option of looking at your friends list to see if they have a game accepting players, or connect to a random game based on the other users region (local or worldwide) and/or based on your ranking. Once you connect to a game with a user(s), you then get to choose your Bounty Hunter (based on the game mode), and vote for a map.

But the map that always gets picked is Combat Hall, I don't know why. I vote against it, and I think I've only NOT played in that map like three times, I swear.

After your random battle with these random people, you are asked if you want to play again, and can either have another match or go find another game. Nowhere can you ask for information on the other gamer, such as, if they want to be friends. Sure, you can become a rival, but this is just a stripped down friend, and nobody wants to see their friends stripped.

Moving on, the only game you can really start and set your own rules for is friend games, and this gets back to the difficulty of finding said friends to play with, and inputting complicated codes simultaneously to connect the two. All I'm saying is this is a problem that Nintendo needs to resolve if they expect NiWiFi to be a hit on the Revolution. I'm sorry Nintendo fans, but it's no Xbox Live. It's not even Yahoo! Games.

When you do get to choose the modes of play, you get several different game modes to choose from. First off, there's the classic Battle mode, which pits bounty hunter against bounty hunter in the ever invigorating death match. Choosing either the length of time or the point total, players choose the arena and then battle it out till a winner. This is the only option for both single-cart play, and NiWiFi play. Survival mode is much like Battle mode. The difference is that each hunter receives a certain amount of lives, every time the player dies, it reduces that number. Much like capture-the-flag, Bounty mode pits player against player or team against team in a battle to recover the Octolith (flag) and return it to the specified location (base). Defender, on the other hand, is one of the more original modes. Secure a designated are, and earn time while being the only hunter occupying it. Hit the designated time and you win. Prime Hunter gives one user the title of "Prime Hunter," while the other players must kill that hunter to gain the title themselves. Have the title for the designated time goal and you win. Capture is a extension of the Bounty mode. Each player or team gets an area filled with Octoliths. The players must then go to another users area, capture an Octolith, and return it to their own unique territory. The final game mode, Nodes, is also a gem. Set a point limit and time limit and jump in. Standing on nodes for 10 seconds uncontested gives you control over that node and points. Killing your enemies and collecting items also gives you points. Hit the point total or have more points then your opponents at the end of the time limit wins you the game. A few of these modes come off well, others can seem more slapped together, but all in all there are plenty of game modes to choose from to keep everyone happy.

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