Metroid Prime: Federation Force Reviews
Metroid Prime Federation Force is an extremely poor game. The control's are bad and overall this game is disappointing.
There is a core idea here that could’ve worked, but Metroid Prime: Federation Force is nothing short of a disaster due to horribly thought out implementation and shoddy execution.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a bland and frustrating take on the Metroid franchise. Though it’s a technically functional game, Federation Force is an overall disappointment that doesn’t understand what makes Metroid so great.
In the end, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a limited game that fails to do justice to its source material.
Other M is no longer the worst Metroid game.
If Metroid Prime: Federation Force is anything to go by, I am fearful of the future of the 30 year old franchise. The controls do take some getting used to on the New 3DS, but those with the standard 3DS should avoid this like the plague, due to the terribly optimised controls for that hardware. It’s certainly not fun on its own and only marginally more so with others. This is not the Metroid game we’ve been waiting for.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is not a good game at all. When you find yourself just wanting to complete levels to see if the game ever changes and gets better, that’s a sign that something is very wrong. The core gameplay is simplistic, boring, and not the level of quality one would expect from a Metroid game. Other M may have been the most fan-derided Metroid game until now, but Federation Force will easily take the crown from here on out.
"Multiplayer-focused spin-off lacks charm."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Though a serviceable enough intergalactic trip for anyone looking to play a multiplayer shooter on their 3DS, there's absolutely nothing memorable about this by-the-numbers entry into a hallowed franchise. The bite-sized missions lack balance, easily overcome with a quartet, frustratingly difficult done solo. The familiar action and time-worn objectives are quite playable, but the mediocre gameplay inspires little reason to return to the planet surface.
Metroid Prime: Federation Force could have been a whole new entry in the Metroid Prime series but unfortunately its fine control system and variety of game modes (including online multiplayer) are not enough to save it from the overall lack of interest of its missions, lacklustre bosses (for the Metroid series, at least) and simply unfitting art style and visual environment.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a bit of a sad way to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary — in making this entry so multiplayer-focused, Nintendo has ironically created an alienating experience.
For the few things it does right, like some variation in the mission structure and a control scheme that makes sense (even in a hurty way), it's just not that good. For a series that has worked so hard to make a great solo experience, even—especially—in its first-person outings, it’s incredibly unbalanced with a difficulty spike I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before. And not in a challenging way, but in a “yup, I need multiple other people to cover me/back me up” way. Some of us enjoy playing FPS titles by ourselves sometimes, and I don’t want to feel relegated to a small handful of missions I might be able to work through on my own. Scaling the difficulty has been done since this genre began, so why it’s being bypassed now I have no clue.
With or without friends, Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a slog
Metroid Prime: Federation Force plays it safe and drops the ball.
I was holding out hope for Metroid Prime: Federation Force, but at this point, there are so many other dungeon crawlers that are worth your time. Just like Hunters on the original DS, the main questline of Federation will probably fade out of the limelight over time and become a whisper in hardcore Metroid crowds -- though I can see Blast Ball having longer legs.
The game made me feel like an errand boy picking up the second-rate missions passed down from the infamous Samus Aran
Unter den richtigen Bedingungen kann Federation Force gut unterhalten. Allerdings lassen Story, Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten und Präsentation zu wünschen übrig.
Review in German | Read full review
It is easy to write Metroid Prime: Federation Force off completely without playing it, and there is no question that it has its fair share of faults, whether it is balancing, tedious and gimmicky missions, and a slow set of opening hours, but there is something here that deserves giving it a chance. Running the campaign solo will not result in the best experience, but this has been designed to be played with other people, and that is when Federation Force is at its best. Previously dull missions become fun when they allow players to focus on different tasks, and there is still a visible effort to ensure it feels like a Metroid Prime game, which also runs well and controls smoothly with the recommended setup of Circle Pad Pro or New 3DS. It may not be the type of game nearly all Metroid fans desperately want, and it may go ignored due to that, but Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a great example of not only how to make FPS work on the 3DS, but how to successfully do co-operative mission-based multiplayer.
So Metroid Prime: Federation Force just feels weird to me. I'm glad that Nintendo is still paying attention to the franchise, but this off-shoot never really comes together like it should.