Nintendo has, at long last, announced a brand new Metroid game, following the series’ dormancy in the wake of the controversial opinions surrounding 2010’s Metroid: Other M on Wii. Metroid Prime: Federation Force heads to 3DS in 2016, and serves as something of a spiritual follow-up to shooter-esque DS offshoot, Metroid Prime: Hunters.
Sure, it’s not a typical Metroid game, and it doesn’t star series protagonist, Samus Aran, but that’s better than a continued lack of developments for the series. What’s more is that the multiplayer-driven Metroid Prime: Federation Force looks to be an enjoyable shooter offering that players can easily play on the go with their friends, taking on lots of dangerous foes and satisfying challenges, from within the power suits of the Metroid universe’s Galactic Federation.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is being developed by Canadian outfit, Next Level Games, who previously worked with Nintendo on many new installments from Nintendo’s celebrated IP catalogue, including Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for 3DS, and the Punch Out!! reboot for Wii. Next Level Games previously worked on a prototype for a new Metroid game called Metroid Dread, which was rumoured for many years, and even referenced in 2007’s Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on Wii, though that game appears to have been quietly cancelled. Nintendo may have commissioned Metroid Prime: Federation Force from Next Level Games as a way to conserve assets made for Metroid Dread, even if the gameplay and premise is entirely changed, and Samus is now nowhere to be found.
On top of this, if you suspected that the showcase of Blast Ball as a World Premiere during this past Sunday’s Nintendo World Championships 2015 looked suspiciously like a Metroid game, turns out your suspicions were correct. Blast Ball is a featured minigame in Metroid Prime: Federation Force, which is something of a surprise twist, allowing you to take on your friends in 3-vs.-3 matches that have you launching a large and deadly ball into an ever-shrinking goal on your opponent’s side of the field.
Keep marching to Eggplante for all news and updates on the Metroid series.