When it was first announced during Nintendo’s 2017 E3 showcase, Metroid Prime 4 immediately set the internet ablaze for promising the comeback of a beloved gaming franchise. As time went on without any proper updates or snippets of footage, concern began to arise within the community of fans that the project was experiencing a troubled production. Unfortunately, these worries took full shape in January 2019. as Nintendo informed the public that Metroid Prime 4 was restarting its development process from scratch.
With nearly four years passing since its initial announcement, players are eagerly anticipating any sort of concrete evidence that the highly anticipated sci-fi adventure will be delivered in proper form. However, for Metroid fans who happen to have purchased a new PlayStation 5 console, an alternative game is just on the horizon that meets similar gameplay mechanics and styles as Nintendo’s classic series. Returnal is just around the corner, and for any gamers in desperate need of an atmospheric, space-based action-adventure title, it is sure to be a strong hold over until whenever Metroid Prime 4 is completed.
One of the most appealing aspects to any Metroid game are the absolutely stunning and diverse range of intergalactic planets in which Samus Aran finds herself exploring. From the frosty mountains of Phendrana Drifts to the murky swamps of Brinstar, the locations are consistently eerie and otherworldly, yet always eye popping to navigate. From the many trailers released, Returnal seems to capture the same look and feel of transporting the player to bizarre settings of various geographical landscapes.
Gameplay snippets from footage released show settings that evoke a sense of familiarity to much of the level design in Metroid, but in the best of ways. One area appears to be thick with vegetation and other plant life, while another fiery desert planet gives off feelings of burning heat with its red hot sun shining down on the player. It seems safe to assume that this is a mere glimpse of the cosmic wonders in store for gamers when the title launches, as the best are most likely being saved for a surprise.
Being a science fiction action game, one thing that anyone would expect are freaky alien opponents to fight and Returnal seems to have that in spades. Within the same aforementioned trailers that showed off the creepy locations, freakish creatures are seen inhabiting these worlds and not a single one of them appear to be friendly. These space oddities range from bug-like creepy crawlies, animalistic atrocities and even gargantuan squid monsters evoking serious Lovecraftian themes.
Of course, in order to stand a chance against such monstrous threats, the game needs to provide gamers with the proper equipment and gear to defend themselves, making this another component to Returnal that calls back to Metroid gameplay. A recent combat trailer for Returnal indicates that a variety of big weapons and gear are discovered as the game progresses, ensuring that there is always a fighting chance against the steep challenges that the game surely has in store.
While the Metroid series has never been explicitly graphic or outright terrifying, it certainly shows inspiration from other sci-fi properties such as the Alien film franchise, wrapping its world in a thick coat of atmospheric mystery and consistent sense of looming danger. Around every corner, a potential for discovery or danger. Within each cavern, a chance to reveal new possibilities or face doom itself.
Returnal looks to be a very similar experience for those who enjoy traversing an unknown world that constantly pushes back. The game’s developer Housemarque is known for delivering relentless side scrolling action games such as Resogun, and are aiming to deliver that same persistent shoot’em up tension but in a 3rd person perspective instead. Furthermore, Returnal will implement elements of the roguelike genre to always keep players fully attentive to the game, as the procedurally generated nature of roguelikes makes every play session a guessing game.
Even more so than Metroid ever has, Returnal is truly emphasizing the horror vibes of its narrative and game world. The fact that the already disturbing game locations will always be changing and that the player themselves is stuck in a time loop always guarantees something new and unexpected, which is a premise that is all at once compelling and unnerving. Such an unpredictable nature to the gameplay rips always the comfort a player can have, which in a game all about being stranded on an alien world, is perfectly fitting.
Even with all the stylistic and genre similarities between the two games, when examined from just the general premise and setup, it is shocking how nearly identical the two properties are. Although narrative glimpses of Returnal have been brief, the game places the player in control of a female space pilot, who after her spacecraft crash lands on a mysterious alien home world, has to plunder its many treacherous locations in order to find a method to escape or survive.
Teaser trailers allude that nothing is as it seems in the universe of Returnal. The horror, both physical and psychological is palpable and the high octane combat, using big guns against even bigger enemies promises a relentless fight to the finish line. While Nintendo continues to remain silent on one of its most anticipated exclusive games, PlayStation will pick up the slack and fill the Metroid void with a gaming experience that promises to be just as delightfully spooky, intense and weird.
Returnal is a PlayStation 5 exclusive scheduled to be released on April 30, 2021.
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