There's something rather familiar about these AI drones, though. With their insectoid design and glowing mechanical seams, they feel like they've stepped directly out of Retro Studio's Metroid Prime series. But hey, big deal, right? Prime was hardly the first sci-fi work to employ that black-and-glowing-amber visual style. I was willing to concede the possibility of mere coincidence... until the Chief switched to a special scan visor mode that revealed a host of previously invisible enemies. Samus Aran is not amused.

But let's not use such crass terms as "rip-off" or "theft." Inspiration comes in more nuanced forms than that. You'd have a tough time arguing that Halo 4 doesn't draw some ideas and aesthetics from Metroid Prime, but why not? In many ways, Metroid Prime 3 felt like Nintendo's answer to Halo. Just as Tomb Raider and Prjnce of Persia/Assassin's Creed appear to be caught in a perpetual game of one-upmanship, maybe Metroid and Halo are destined to spend the next decade jockeying to outdo the other -- assuming Nintendo remembers the Metroid series exists, that is. We haven't seen a new Prime since 2007. If Nintendo's not going to use that rich history of design, someone might as well get some use out of it. Besides, the echoes of Prime (if you'll pardon the expression) seem like only a single element of Halo 4's new sandbox. The new enemies juke and dodge in surprising ways, and even the Covenant behaved a little differently than in the old days.

Click to expand...

Time said:

The company launched with clearly Xbox 360-quality footage of Halo 4, as Master Chief witnessed something crash, something else fly off into the distance, then poked around in a jungle, initially taking out familiar Covenant aliens. And then the obligatory new aliens we’ve been expecting since Halo 4 was first announced appeared: “…some kind of defense A.I. — definitely not Convenant,” said series sidekick Cortana, as a flaming skull-faced variant pounced like Ghost Rider’s head on the body of one of Metroid Prime‘s enemies. Cue creepy insect-like robots swarming tree limbs and a spoiler that the series may turn Cortana into a villain. So far, so still-very-much-Halo (would we have it any other way?).

Click to expand...

Joystiq said:

The demo was impressive, looking like it mixed the styles of Halo and Metroid Prime. Halo 4 launches on November 6, 2012.

Click to expand...

Examiner said:

The show kicked off with a “Halo 4” reveal. Showing a mix of live action and in-game sequences, we got a glimpse of what to expect from the Master Chiefs new experience. The clip starts off in an unknown world showing a very lavish jungle world and a quick interaction with the good ol’ covenant, but quickly turns into a fight against unknown hostile “Defense AI.” An intense battle ensued portraying some awesome new “forerunner” weaponry as well as the ability to sprint, aim-down site, and multiple visor configurations similar to “Metroid Prime.” To round out the demo, it seems Master Chiefs side kick “Cortana” is loosing her mind while an “ancient evil” is awakened.

Click to expand...

Flesh Eating Zipper said:

In its thunderous open, Microsoft showed off just one of the many fruits of 343 Studios’ work on Halo 4 with a brief introduction to the single-player campaign during their E3 2012 press onference. As we covered in our live blog, the jungle level they had shown seemed awfully reminiscent of Retro’s first-person reboot of the Metroid series. From the more complete visor, to the glowing bug-like enemies and an alien super soldier with a small avatar/chopper in its back. All the time I watched this, I was having flashbacks to Metroid Prime’s exploratory levels.

After the show, I met briefly with a few 343 guys, including content producer David Ellis where they acknowledged they’d heard the reference.

Click to expand...

In many ways, Metroid Prime 3 felt like Nintendo's answer to Halo.

Click to expand...

Glass Rebel said:

Name me one way.

Click to expand...

TL4E said:

What? Metroid Prime 3 was Nintendo's answer to Halo? No, it was completely based on the previous Primes, with the original coming out around the time of Halo 1. Metroid Prime was Nintendo's answer to bringing Metroid into a modern, 3D environment, and nothing else.

Besides, Metroid Prime 3 is on a whole different level compared to Halo. The only major similarity is that both are in first person.

I'm not trying to be harsh. I think it's great that Halo 4 is metroid prime-ish in some ways.

Click to expand...

Glass Rebel said:

I agree, Halo 4 looked fantastic. But...



Name me one way.

Click to expand...

Crunched said:

Metroid Prime 3 was a huge departure from the previous two games and did its damnedest to kill any sense of user exploration or cohesiveness. Fuck it I hated that game. I don't know if it was Nintendo's response to Halo, but it was Nintendo's response to something, and it was terrible.

/rant

Click to expand...

TL4E said:

I didn't get that feel. It was more linear compared to the other Metroid Primes, but it felt like a Prime game nonetheless.

Click to expand...

Mama Robotnik said:

I remember during the E3 conference, saying out loud ".... it looks like Metroid Prime!" in complete surprise.

This is a good thing. Metroid Prime was the best game of the last generation, and frankly not enough devs learned from it.

Click to expand...

Mama Robotnik said:

This is a good thing. Metroid Prime was the best game of the last generation, and frankly not enough devs learned from it.

Click to expand...

Vulcano's assistant said:

I will gladly welcome two years of fps copying Metroid Prime after Halo 4 success. Crysis 4: metroid, Killzone 4: metroid, and Doom 4: metroid.

Click to expand...

Raide said:

Maybe it will drag over Nintendo fans and they can play a real shooter.

Spoiler

JOKING!!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Crunched said:

The Saturday morning cartoon cast of characters, constant "go here!" messages, linear hallway after hallway with ship segments breaking up bite-sized levels, the "win button" corruption mode, the fact that all but one or two power ups the entire game are placed directly in your path, the massive glowing weak spots and bounce back attacks and shockwaves of almost every single boss, the terrible VAs... few games have as consistently disappointed me the way MP3 did.

I enjoyed the derelict ship. I can give it that. And the short Metroid lab segment was cool.

Click to expand...

Crunched said:

I liked Metroid Prime because it wasn't a shooter. Prime 3 changed that, which is one of the major reasons I did not like it.

I think Halo 4 looks great! And I can see the influence, but I think it is being overstated.

Click to expand...

Guevara said:

While I agree with your points, Corruption was the only Prime game I played start to finish in a single weekend. For the other games, I took my time and played in 2 hour chunks over a few weeks. Part of that was because 3 was streamlined, shorter and easier. I never really got stuck on a puzzle or boss (Quadraxis). But I also really liked the general pacing and Wii controls.

Click to expand...

Smokey said:

Aren't there some members of the team from Retro?

Click to expand...

Struct09 said:

I can see the similarity in the HUD, and it's definitely not a bad game to draw comparisons to. Halo 4 looks great.

Click to expand...

Raide said:

I can see next Metroid using the Controller heavily for scanning and environmental stuff. Which would be great!

Click to expand...

Crunched said:

The Saturday morning cartoon cast of characters, constant "go here!" messages, linear hallway after hallway with ship segments breaking up bite-sized levels, the "win button" corruption mode, the fact that all but one or two power ups the entire game are placed directly in your path, the massive glowing weak spots and bounce back attacks and shockwaves of almost every single boss, the terrible VAs... few games have as consistently disappointed me the way MP3 did.

I enjoyed the derelict ship. I can give it that. And the short Metroid lab segment was cool.

Click to expand...

Gravijah said:

i don't see it outside of both of them being very colorful. and halo has always had quite a bit of color.

Click to expand...

Ocaso said:

I'm not one of the Prime series' ardent defenders, believe me, but Corruption was hardly the travesty you're making it out to be. Hell, in some ways it's more of a Metroid game than the original Prime. Yes, there were "missions" that told you where to go, but the key to exploration in all of the Primes is that you never really knew how to get where you were going. The game was perhaps slightly more linear than the original, but there were tons of opportunities to get lost or sidetracked (provided the actual hint system was turned off, of course). I'm not a fan of the extraneous characters, but their sporadic lines weren't that bad. It's not Uncharted, perhaps, but it's not Resident Evil either. The ship was little more than a teleporter, and implemented with far more deference to the core gameplay than even I expected. And to top it off, the environments showcased Retro at their most creative, with the terrain never being less than gorgeous. It's not my favorite of the Primes (that would be Echoes), but it's close.

On-topic, while the demo was reminiscent of, and perhaps partly inspired by the Prime series, it's not quite enough to claim that the game itself is Prime-inspired. An alien world always provides opportunities for creativity, but as far as we know other levels look as Earthy as anything else in Halo.

Click to expand...

TL4E said:

All the pain of MP3 not being exactly like MP1/2 can be alleviated by its amazing music:

Rundas Battle

Gandrayda Battle

Click to expand...