Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch 2)

 

SAMUS! SAMUS! SAMUS!

Finally, a new Switch 2 game that I got on card for the console. Otherwise it has only been Switch 1 copies, and that's kinda interesting for a console where I prefer getting the older games. Apparently Nintendo as of writing in december 2025 is making some other game cards so that other companies actually put the f***ing game on the card to save on damn space. Hell I've ordered a Mario Kart physical copy just save in on 20 GB! Anyway, new Metroid Prime game. The remasters of 2 and 3 never appeared so wonder what happened to them. It clearly was a troubled production on this game so I wonder if they put all them to get this game out instead of giving us the other games on one console (or they thought it was better to use them on the GameCube Online thing in the future, who knows). Anyway again, back to the game.

Samus is sent to a research station that is under attack from the pirate leader Sylux that you encountered in Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS. They apparently found an ancient artifact and during the scuffle it activates teleporting Samus, some of the federation soldiers and equipment to an unknown planet, Viewrose. Traveling around you first rescue Mac, an engineer that helps you during the adventure with technical stuff. You also discovered that the planet used to hold an intelligent race of people that are no more due to the Great Tragedy, but they reward you with psychic powers to help you on your adventure.

During the adventure you meet more Federation soldiers, Sarge and Armstrong, the sniper Tokabi and a combat robot named V. They pretty much help you on each area and then they all come together for the final area where they seem to be lost until you finish up and it turns out they all survived. Your goal on the planet is to get 5 keys in order to open the central tower in the desert to get to a teleporter and get out. You also finds a motorbike to ride around in the desert collecting green crystals, finding upgrades and fight the same kind of enemies that roams the desert. After getting a mech for the robot to shatter the shield around the tower you head in and get attacked by Sylux... and here I got blasted away. I played it on normal until this fight, but I got blasted several times over... and it's not really me that get blasted. The Federation Troopers? They join you for this fight, but with that comes the fact that if they die, you lose.

And worst part is? Sylax have attacks that cover most of the arena at once, nuking them. You can heal them, but when 4 of the team is down and you can only heal one at a time and he nukes them again, you die. So I lowered difficulty to just get it over with. Of course that made me miss out on getting the hard mode, but I have a suspicion that I won't be playing that any time soon. Overall, it was a decent challenge up until the end. The only time I looked something up was where to find the final piece of the mech in the jungle and the treasure bots that makes the map show where upgrades are. Best new thing for the prime games ever. And I don't get why it took them this long since the 2D games with maps have had markers on it since the SNES. 

Apparently it's a bit of online chatter about this game, but I found it enjoyable enough. 

Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster (Switch)

 

Down with the Empire!

Another Doom-clone I got in a sale and a Star Wars game at that. Never played before, but I did play the sequel, Dark Forces II. My friend had a demo of it and we played it a lot, but we couldn't finish it and mostly due to not understanding what we were doing. Then my neighbor got the full version so I borrowed it and played a bit with it. Got all these cheat codes as well which enable me to actually play other parts than the first level. Got stuck in a level since I didn't understand what I was doing there either. 

Well, this game then. Basically like Doom, run around and shoot enemies and find keys to complete certain objectives. A bit more story focused than Doom and the objectives aren't just kill everything (but that helps a lot), sometimes it's place this tracker or place this explosive and so on. Story is that the Rebel Alliance is hiring Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial Officer turned mercenary to first grab the plans for the first Death Star (which now is contradicted by Rouge One if I recall correctly). After that one of their secret bases is destroyed by some unknown force... The DARK FORCES!!! Kyle and communication operative Jan Ors is sent out to discover the secret of this new enemy. 

During the adventure you rescue the spy Imperial officer that briefs the heroes in Return of the Jedi (oh and you get the mission by the lady rebel leader also from that movie), gets captured by Jabba the Hut, fights of Boba Fett and blows up some imperial bases. It's a fun distraction, but I wouldn't got around the game without using the cheats I found on the Internet to get past certain problems, mostly unlimited Ammo, Pogo and Invincibility. Started using them in the prison rescue since I couldn't figure out the elevator puzzle and short on ammo and I needed ammo to go between areas... I think this game might be a bit badly designed to be honest. On the other hand, I can actually jump and what a difference that make!

Still, it feels like Star Wars with the music, sounds and all the designs. Would love a remaster of the second game since there you have FMV and Jedi Powers... throw in Rebel Assault II... and Shadow of the Empire as well, but keep the Cutscenes from the N64 version. Might be a bit harder than I would like and some of the puzzles are hard to figure out I feel. Or I'm just stupid, but we now that can't be it!

Legend of Steel Empire (Switch)

 

Flying Through the Danger Zone!

The fourth outing of Steel Empire (or known by me as Empire of Steel), the steam punk shooter where you protect the Silver Head Republic against the evil Motorhead Empire and the evil Emperor Sauron... or Styron in this version. This is a port of the 3DS version I've written about here. Not much to add here, except there is no 3D effects and that might make the game worse in parts, especially when you have foregrounds like in the cave level. Another question is why they changed the name of the game?

Still enjoyable,  the re-playability lies in finishing the achievement picture and I recall that I only had 1 piece left on the 3DS (finishing the game without losing a life on very hard), might not do all that. Finished it on easy. The only negativity I might have on this version is that the translation seems a bit off to me this time around, especially in the story text, but also the achievement text due to me unlocking pieces which I shouldn't have (and pieces I should have gotten I didn't seem to get)? I thought I at least got over a million points, but I didn't get the piece.

Small nitpicking, still the best shooter I've ever played!

Splatoon

Paintball: The Game

As mentioned in this post I bought Splatoon as a tribute to Mr Iwata and now I can write about it. Took me 3 months you say? No, it actually it took 2 weeks to finish the single player campaign and since I want to avoid a drought or flood of post I have the system of letting these game post release every Wednesday. So it can fall out of sync, but I believe it is for the better in the long run for this blog, instead of the month long droughts I had at certain times and it also makes me less guilty in not writing with a 3 month back-up.

Well, back on track

So I played the game and it was fun. I haven't got the full experience since I haven't played any online matches or such or even attempted the amiibo challenges since I haven't got any of the Splatoon amiibos (or any amiibo at all). As stated I played the single-player campaign with its 29 missions and 5 boss battles to get a good grip on the controls and the mechanics of the game. The story of the single player is as absurd as many Nintendo games tend to be. These two races used to be at war with each others, the octarians and inklings. You play as an inkling and the great zap fish has disappeared that gives electricity to Inkopolis and Captain Cuttlefish recruits you to stop the octarians as agent 3, together with agent 1 and 2. It ends when you corner DJ Octavio that has kidnapped Cuttlefish together with the zap fish. After some intense shooter/platforming the DJ is overthrown and everything is restored to normal. 

The DJ is in the house!

That was basically it. Each mission trains you in certain aspects of the multiplayer. For example, dodging, hiding, stealth and striker. What I miss though is the usage of different weapons like the roller or the sniper (or whatever it gets called). You can train them in local co-op though which I played a bit with my sister and another sisters husband. Of course I won most of the matches and the only time I  really lost was trying out the other weapons since I was curios. I say it was good that I played a lot of Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3 as it gave me a huge advantage in the mechanics of a shooter. At least over my sister and sisters husband, neither of whom have played any modern shooters. A pity you only can play one mode and 1-on-1 matches. Otherwise they sell the whole turf war concept that you must colorise the stage to win, which is an interesting concept that I don't think have been done before. Other notes of interest is that in the campaign mode you can collect scrolls which builds on the lore of the game fleshing out some of the characters like the Squid sisters or Cuttlefish himself, but also a bit of the world itself. For example, the world is set on earth long after humans have disappeared, which sets the world in the same universe as Pikmin and Mario (and others that have a tangible setting to our world).

That could be me in 12 000 years.

Maybe I'm not the best to say if you would like it or not. It has charm and is rather unique compared to other shooters, both in visuals and gameplay since the focus isn't the best player, but the best team. It's colourful and the music is rather funky. I can't recommend any songs other than the final boss music since I don't know any names for the songs. But I'm not a huge shooter fan, the story felt to short for a single player experience and the scroll collecting was rather easy for more re-playability. Together with my lousy internet connection making it impossible to play online I definitely misses out and therefore it felt short and I honestly think Modern Warfare 2 gave a better introduction with gameplay mechanics and different weapons (on the other hand they introduced elements that wasn't part of the online game either). So it felt unfulfilled with only single player and local co-op, but if I had the opportunity I would play it for all it's worth, but at the moment it makes for a lousy review of the game. So try it and see if you like it.

Stay Fresh everyone!