Metroid Prime 4: Everything we know so far about the return of Samus
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Metroid Prime 4 is definitely still happening, with a surprise trailer establishing a 2025 release window after years of relative silence from Nintendo. It's coming up to five years since the game was totally restarted mid-process, with developer Retro Studios now spearheading the project. It's good news for any classic Metroid Prime fans to see the game back in the hands of the original studio, making Metroid Prime 4 one of our most anticipated upcoming Switch games set to release in the next 12 months and counting.
We were expecting to see the Nintendo Switch 2 drop before Metroid Prime 4, but following an announcement at June's Nintendo Direct, who's to say the title won't be among the new console's very first cohort of games? There's a lot to unpack from the latest trailer, so here's all the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond news and info you could possibly want as we await even more.
Metroid Prime 4 release window
Nintendo has set Metroid Prime 4 for a release window in 2025. The news came as a massive relief to MP fans, especially given the game's trying developmental process over recent years.
After the development of Metroid Prime 4 wasn’t meeting the standards Nintendo was hoping for, Shinya Takahashi confirmed it was being scrapped and restarted back in 2019. In the video, Takahashi said: “it will be a long road until the next time we will be able to update you on the development progress, and the development time will be extensive.” The keyword here is “extensive”, which spelled a long wait to finally see Samus land onto the Switch. Thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer, as the game has been slated to launch sometime in 2025 under the newly unveiled title Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Metroid Prime 4 trailer
The latest Metroid Prime 4 trailer made its debut during June 2024's Nintendo Direct, making it a standout moment in the showcase. Our first look at Samus as she emerges from a spacecraft, leaps through the air, and lands effortlessly on the ground before us is a powerful one, setting the tone for the rest of the trailer. We occupy a first-person perspective as Samus navigates hostile environs, bringing back the FPS stylings of Metroid Prime 3 as she guns down enemies, scans the corpses of space pirates, and rolls through vents as a sentient pinball. The new Metroid Prime game is looking exactly what we've been hoping for: a rollicking sci-fi shooter romp.
Metroid Prime 3 developer
Original trilogy developer Retro Studios is back on board for Metroid Prime 4. Retro took over proceedings back in 2019, when Nintendo announced that MP4 had officially restarted development following a series of setbacks at Bandai Namco, where it reportedly started off its life.
Retro studios were behind the stellar Metroid Prime trilogy on the Gamecube and Wii, so this is really Retro’s home turf. Having this studio steer the ship for the next game in the series just makes sense. If anyone will do Samus justice, it’s Retro.
Metroid Prime story
As for the Metroid Prime 4 story, it's too soon to tell what it could involve just yet. What we can do is speculate off of the back of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, although that still doesn't really give us much to go on. The third instalment in the trilogy had multiple endings that were determined by the percentage of items you found by the end of the game. Each ending varied slightly, but they were all quite open-ended, and whatever the end outcome, Dark Samus and the Phazon were defeated. So really, the Metroid Prime 4 story could go in any direction now. The galaxy is Samus' oyster. Well, until new baddies or corruptible entities show up to cause another ruckus.
Metroid Prime 4 gameplay
From the recent gameplay shown in the reveal trailer, we now know that Metroid Prime 4 will playout largely from a first-person perspective. These FPS combat moments look set to be interspersed with zoomed-out third-person gameplay, too, as we see Samus transform into a compact metal pinball to navigate the intricate passageways of a ventilation system.
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