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Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review - A bold, beautiful and brutal Switch 2 gun game

18 years after the last installment in the series, Nintendo returns to the Metroid Prime franchise with a colourful and frantic first-person shooter with our hero bounty hunter Samus

Metroid is back and the makers of this bright and bombastic title deliver a great shooter game that feels like Switch 2s own Halo.

Its been some 18 years since the last mainline entry in this series and the clamour among fans to finally get their hands on the fast and frantic first-person shooter is huge.

The good news is, Nintendo have delivered again - with a classic gun game that combines plenty of firefights with a strong story and puzzle moments.

And this time, the gimmick is new psychic powers that our bounty hunter hero Samus Aran has acquired in her armoury.

The story goes that, after an unexpected accident during a clash with the enigmatic fellow hunter Sylux, Samus finds herself transported to a strange new planet.

Here she discovers an ancient race called the Lamorn, who grant her those psychic powers as their chosen one.

[The game gave us Halo vibes especially in the jungle areas]

The game gave us Halo vibes especially in the jungle areas

Youre then propelled through the hostile alien world, battling terrifying monster threats across lush jungles, a factory roaring with thunderous storms, a research lab frozen in ice and a facility nestled in a volcano.

Each massive area is a labyrinth of a map, with its own distinct and colourful backdrop that really brings out the excellent Switch 2 screens display abilities.

I felt that Xbox-style Halo vibe when playing this game, with lush backdrops and a pumping, constant soundtrack propelling you on in large sandbox fight areas.

And thats great as the Switch 2 slowly builds out its own distinct library of must-play games across genres.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is as much about exploration as shooting, and fans of past games will be familiar with gameplay that includes the Scan Visor, which pinpoints key parts of the map you can interact with.

That becomes ever more vital as you use your new psychic abilities to manipulate objects and interact with technology left behind by the Lamorn to solve puzzle points and progress through seemingly-locked doors.

Its a beautiful looking game, albeit not in the same class as the very best graphics in first-person shooters on other consoles.

[There's lots of colour on display in Metroid Prime 4]

There's lots of colour on display in Metroid Prime 4

Nintendo makes great use of colour in this game to compensate and a 120 frames per second refresh rate on TV to make gameplay silky smooth.

Metroid Prime 4 plays nicely as well in the joy cons, both in a classic dual stick mode or optional mouse control style using the new-look Switch 2 Joy Cons, which is nice for shooting accuracy.

Overall, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a much-needed bold and beautiful shooter game for the new Switch console.

Its familiar to players of the past titles in the series while also more modern thanks to the extra power under the hood of our fancy new machine.

While there are better FPS titles out there on other consoles, this is among the best on any iteration of the Switch.

VERDICT 4/5

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