Metroid Prime: Federation Force
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 This game really feels Federation Forced...
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Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a first-person shooter game developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS, it is the Spin-Off to both the Metroid and Metroid Prime series, the sequel to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, is the fifth installment of the Metroid Prime series, the sixth 3D Metroid game and is the sixth overall game in the chronological time-line of the Metroid series.
Plot
Following the eradication of Phazon at the end of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Space Pirates were weakened. However, the Galactic Federation deemed it necessary to commence Operation Golem, an effort to create Mech suits so that their soldiers will be better equipped to completely destroy the Space Pirates in the event of a resurgence. These armor suits are based on the design of Samus Aran's Power Suit and are used by select Federation soldiers who have undergone extensive training. They are known as the Federation Force. The game focuses on the Force's first mission, an archaeological survey into former Galactic Federation territory in the Bermuda System.[2] [3] The Bermuda System contains three different planets: Excelcion, a frozen planet with an abandoned Federation mining base, Talvania, a gaseous planet with an unstable power station, and Bion, a desert environment.[4]
The Force deploys to Excelcion first and discovers that the abandoned base has been overrun by dangerous Ice Titans. General Alex Miles puts operations there on hold and directs the Force to Bion, where they recover a mysterious artifact and find signs that someone has been there before them. On Talvania, they are unexpectedly attacked by Space Pirates but manage to fend them off.
The Federation hires Samus Aran to investigate their presence in the area and provide intelligence to the Federation Force. The Force continues testing their Mechs and completing missions while fighting increasing numbers of Pirate forces. While investigating Bion, they discover that the ancient race that once inhabited the planet increased their size somehow, and the Pirates may have taken possession of this technology. Samus makes another discovery: the Pirates are building a "strategic weapon", which they soon discover is a massive battleship named Doomseye, which they plan to use to attack Galactic Federation Headquarters. After the Aegis learns of this discovery from Samus, it abruptly loses contact with her.
The Doomseye is unable to be located due to sophisticated cloaking technology. The Federation discovers that three Transfer Devices on each of the planets are powering the ship's cloak, and tasks the Force with destroying them. After intense battles with the Pirates guarding them, the Force destroys the devices and reveals the Doomseye. The Federation Fleet prepares an attack, but 90% of them are wiped out by the Doomseye. Unable to destroy it due to its protective shield, the Federation Force is ordered to infiltrate the ship and disable its shielding from within.
Inside, they discover what happened to Samus: she has been taken captive by the Space Pirates. The Pirates increase her size and have gained control of her suit somehow, forcing her to do battle against the Force in her Morph Ball form. They reluctantly defeat her, and she is buried by falling debris. Continuing into the ship, the Force destroys the Master Brain, a Mother Brain-like organism that powers the shield protecting the Doomseye. Samus comes in just in time to save the troopers from four Elite Bruisers, giving them a nod before escaping the Doomseye. With the shield lowered, the Federation fleet begins their attack, but the Federation Force fails to escape in time and is sucked into the vacuum of space. Expecting death, they are saved by a recovered Samus in her Gunship. The Force returns to the G.F.S. Aegis and is commended as galactic heroes. “ Thus, thanks to the valiant efforts of the members of the Federation Force, the Galactic Federation was able to unravel the Space Pirates' scheme. Mission accomplished. „
—Ending
If a Metroid Egg was recovered during M17: Infestation, Sylux breaks into a top-secret Federation facility, where he locates the Metroid Egg. Pressing a button on his wrist, the Metroid Egg is hit with a laser that causes it to rapidly hatch an Infant Metroid. The camera zooms out to show a glimpse of Sylux's shoulder as he regards the Metroid.
The events of Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid: Samus Returns follow.
Bad Qualities
- Despite Metroid Prime: Federation Force being part of the Metroid Prime franchise, it has almost no connection to it and feels more like a spin-off title. To drive the point home, Samus isn't even the main protagonist!
- Adding onto BQ #1, the game has very few elements from the Metroid franchise and feels more like a generic FPS game with the Metroid Prime label slapped onto it, despite being created during Corruption's production.
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force can also be seen as a MASSIVE Slap-In-The-Face to the fans who have been waiting for a proper Metroid Prime game, let alone a Metroid game, especially given the fact that it has been six years since the release of Metroid: Other M, which was the latest release of a Metroid game, and nine years since the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which was the latest release of a Metroid Prime game.
- The graphics are a downgrade from the previous games, despite being developed by Next Level Games of all people (the same people who developed the Mario Strikers and Luigi's Mansion games, as well as Punch Out!! on Wii). This is unacceptable, considering that many other 3DS games released in 2016 (such as Kirby: Planet Robobot, Yo-kai Watch 3, Pokémon Sun and Moon, and Miitopia) had far superior graphics.
- This game's chibi art style clashes with the series' dark tone and makes it feel like it was being marketed to children despite the "T" rating.
- Many of the mini-games are bland and basic, and have little to do with the Metroid franchise. The biggest example of this is Blast Ball, which is very similar to Rocket League, except that you shoot the ball instead of kicking it.
- The game is much more linear than most other Metroid games, with individually-selected missions rather than one connected overworld.
- The soundtrack isn't as good as the previous Metroid Prime games and sounds more like it came from another game that never got finished.
- This game has more bugs and glitches than any other game in the series, such as being stuck in a death loop when you enter the lava while a cutscene plays.
- The final boss is extremely anticlimactic: you fight a brainwashed Samus that is ABSOLUTELY BROKEN (it's essentially a Blast Ball game, but in boss form) and the fight before her is cliché and boring.
- When compare to some of the previous Metroid Games, Metroid Prime: Federation Force has little-to-no impact to the Metroid series as a whole, as most of the events of this game have been ignored in the recent release Metroid Dread, and almost non of the characters and/or events of that game are even mention in some of the previous older games that chronologically takes place after Metroid Prime: Federation Force(e.g Metroid II: Return of Samus/Metroid: Samus Returns, Super Metroid, Metroid: Other M and Metroid Fusion), the only thing that really contributions to the story is the Federation Force's relationship with Samus Aran, but even then it can still be skip as a whole, anyone can play any of the Metroid games(and yes, even the very controversial Metroid: Other M), skipping Metroid Prime: Federation Force and jump straight into Metroid Dread without missing anything impotent in the Metroid series.
Good Qualities
- The gameplay is still fun and makes for a good break from playing the main games. It's also even better when played in co-op mode, similarly to The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes.
- The soundtrack, despite BQ #6, isn't half-bad.
- After being portrayed as a "damsel scrappy" in Other M, Samus is returned to her usual heroic personality in this game.
- Once you complete a certain mission, you get a post-credit scene of Sylux breaking into the Metroid's prison.
- With the exception of Samus herself, the bosses are still cool and fun to fight.
Reception
Metroid Prime: Federation Force received largely mixed reviews (with a 64/100 critic score and 5.5/10 user score on Metacritic). Many fans critcized Nintendo's choice of resurrecting a franchise via a spin-off game rather than a mainline one, leading to one of the worst controversies in any video game and proof of how toxic a fandom can be.