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March 8th, 2006, 18:02 Posted By: wraggster
News from Lik Sang
For once, Samus won't need to lift her helmet to reveal gorgeous blond locks in order to provide a Metroid title with a surprise. Metroid Prime: Hunters for Nintendo DS is so full of innovation and splendid gameplay neatness, first party developers NST could easily shift the focus from the expected main hero a bit to include a bunch of other deadly bounty hunters. Based on the successful GameCube line of Metroid Prime games storywise and visually, the most interesting part about this incredible game is that players will be able to hop online via Nintendo Wi-Fi connectivity and blast each other good, while using the VoIP and the DS' built-in microphone to chat in the pre- and post-game lobbies. Offline, you'll be treated to a full-fledged single player game, which is close to earlier GameCube versions in length! It's everything for everyone and more: awesome Sci-Fi Action Adventure and Online Deathmatch Arena with a myriad of stats (e.g. profile, wins/losses, suicides, head shots etc.) available. Plainly, if this short description does stir your gamer's adrenaline at all, then you definitely shouldn't miss Metroid Prime: Hunters for NDS, which is due for a release on March 20th.
As the Nintendo DS is region free for games worldwide, this long awaited title will certainly play perfectly on any system, no matter its origin. Definitely everything gamers can wish for, due in just about two weeks from now, Metroid Prime: Hunters is also eligible for our Free Shipping Worldwide promotion (as are all import games on Lik Sang).
Story Timeline and Basic Gameplay
Basically, Metroid: Prime Hunters is an original First Person Shooter. Mission file 791019 takes place in the time period between Metroid Prime and its sequel, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which both appeared on GameCube before. Therefore, Samus sports the Varia Suit from Echoes, but she's piloting the ship from Prime 1 (a little trivia never hurt nobody!). Anyone who was lucky to get an early Nintendo DS may have played the title in its demo form, called Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Be aware of the fact, that the full game now bears only little resemblance to that brief sample. The touch screen is used to look around, as well as offering a radar display of enemies. Plus, there are several controls to be found on the touch panel as well: swap the active blaster to missiles here, or trigger morph ball form and scan visor usage. Much appreciated comes the option to choose from left and right handed touch screen play and being able to switch between stylus and D-pad maneuvering. You can even adjust the sensitivity of the touch controls, similar to tuning your mouse when playing a FPS on a computer.
 
Spot on Single & Multi Player
Deathmatch multiplayer action is only half of what this ambitious NDS title has to offer. The presentation was heavily influenced by Retro Studios, the team that brought us Metroid Prime for GameCube. Developers NST credit that at boot-up with a special thanks going their way. The enormous single player game features Samus in the lead role and offers lots of puzzles, platform navigating, shooting foes, scanning items and will require you to use morph ball appearance as well. What's new to Hunters is, that this time she starts with all special abilities and weapon arsenal right from the beginning. Players will need to focus more on finding certain artifacts to progress storywise and to be able to explore different locations, than on powering up your character constantly.
The one-gigabit cartridge is chock full with impressive video cutscenes that are shown across both screen displays. The story profits immensely here due to the cool film presentation. In-game, the 3D engine provides realtime scenes that highlight particular items, areas or enemies in your view. Much like the GameCube titles, Metroid Prime: Hunters features a 3D map that can be rotated and zoomed via the touch screen. It's also the first game that supports full voice chat functionality, utilizing the NDS' micro, speakers and internet connection. A single cartridge sample mode got included, where players fight it out on a generic map using differently colored Samus characters. As soon as everyone gets a cart in their system, the network multiplayer really shines. There are several modes available: Survival, Bounty, Defender, Capture, Prime Hunter and Nodes. Apart from Samus, you are free to choose from six unique bounty hunter characters, each wielding their own weapons, abilities and an individual secondary form.
Engage in four-player Deathmatches in over 20 exciting arenas, either through local network Wi-Fi or online! Aside from LAN network play, Metroid Prime: Hunters fully supports Nintendo's worldwide internet connection service. Play any of your friends anywhere in the world, just trade your mate's codes ahead of time or secure their Hunters License via the Rival Radar option. The license - sort of an unique profile - keeps track of your in-game stats (wins, losses, all sorts of data) and by setting your NDS in a sleep mode-enabled transfer mode (Rival Radar), you can trade these profiles with other players. Similar to Mario Kart DS, the game features a game match-up mechanic for random player challenges. All of the statistics will be recorded by the NintendoWiFi.com server so everyone can easily check how one's doing against the rest of the world, but this option can also be turned off for privacy reasons. Talk smack via Voice chat (or type your message via a PictoChat-like virtual keyboard) before and after engaging in battle and back that up with firepower until the air burns... Metroid Prime: Hunters is bound to bring handheld FPS to a new level!
For more information and downloads, click here!
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