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It's the little things that count
The amount of detail put into Metroid Prime is visible before you even start the game. The graphics are stunning, but the menu alone grabs your attention, and is arguably the best game menu ever created. Your choices are listed within the fully animated nucleus of a Metroid, and each option navigates you to a different cell; basically turning your TV into some kind of wicked microscope.
The benefit of playing in first person is you see the world through Samus's eyes, and there are enough little touches to show you the level of detail that went into this game. Take out an enemy in close enough proximity, and their entrails splatter onto your visor. Drops of water speckle your visor as you look up in the rain, and if you pass a pipe letting off some steam, condensation will line the outside of your helmet. Under the right conditions, you can even catch a glimpse of Samus's face reflected in her visor.
You may not realize it at first, but soon enough the lack of load times will slap you in the face. Everything runs so smoothly you're never taken out of character. Not even during the occasional cut-scene. If this game were a shirt, you wouldn't find a single stitch.
When Metroid Prime was announced as a first person shooter several eye brows were raised. How do put such a big spin on one of the longest running franchises? Well it's really quite simple. Make the graphics rival any game out there, add the most complimentary soundtrack the series has ever had, and roll the dice by showing gamers what it's really like to be Samus Aran. Every GameCube owner should have this in their essentials collection, because Metroid Prime is like that perfect gift you didn't ask for, or even know you wanted.
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