Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Hands-On: Samus’s Psychic Abilities Are More Than A Gimmick

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It’s been 18 years since a new Metroid Prime game. With Nintendo not releasing one since Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, many wondered if they could still create a worthy successor. After a lengthy preview of the upcoming release in December, I’m confident that Retro Studios has captured the essence of Metroid Prime. Even better, they’re building on the world with new psychic powers that fit seamlessly with Samus’s existing skills.

We recently got to play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on the new Switch 2. The first demo was a fast-paced tutorial where Samus helped Federation troops under attack – it was designed to show off both the game and the console, and it made a great impression. This second hands-on experience came shortly after that, and while still early in the game, it allowed us to explore some of the key gameplay elements that Metroid fans will recognize.

While helping the Federation, Samus is suddenly transported to an unknown planet, completely cut off and without all of her usual gear. She quickly finds a mysterious crystal that attaches to her helmet, giving her the ability to connect with the planet’s technology. The planet’s ancient inhabitants, the Lamorn, believe Samus is the person they’ve been waiting for, since the crystal specifically chose her. This is similar to how Samus often finds Chozo technology to upgrade her suit, but this time the power-ups are psychic and come from the Lamorn. It feels like classic Metroid Prime gameplay.

Samus begins her journey with a few key abilities already unlocked thanks to the crystal – she can use Psychic Beam, Psychic Hyper Beam, and Morph Ball. However, she’s lost all her other skills. The biggest addition is a new Psychic Visor. It not only scans environments like in previous Metroid Prime games, but also controls her new psychic powers. This fits the game’s theme, making it feel like you’re moving objects with your mind – or, more specifically, where you’re looking – instead of using her arm cannon. You can even see Samus raise her hand to her temple, like a psychic concentrating. This feeling of psychic power is reinforced by another character in the demo, who remarks that objects seem to move on their own when you use telekinesis. We’ll have more on this character later.

The main goal becomes clear quickly: you need to find five special keys to escape the planet, and that’s when the real adventure starts. This section of the game opens up more opportunities for exploration, though it still feels a bit guided. It’s early in the game, so it’s your first chance to explore, but it’s not too overwhelming. It was fairly easy to figure out where to go, and the landscape wasn’t confusing. I expect this will change as you unlock more areas and things become more complicated. However, based on this short preview, it wasn’t clear if the different areas will connect to each other or remain separate. The first area felt mostly self-contained, although I did notice hints that you’ll need new abilities to fully explore it later on.

This part of the game takes place in a dense jungle beneath a huge, sacred tree belonging to the Lamorn people. Visually, I had somewhat mixed feelings. Nintendo is usually great at creating art styles that work well with the Switch’s hardware, particularly with the colorful, cartoonish look of Mario games. However, when they try for a more realistic style with lots of natural details, the Switch’s limitations – or perhaps Nintendo and Retro Studios’ lack of experience with realism – become more noticeable. The jungle itself looked okay, mostly with overgrown plants around simple dirt paths. There are some beautiful moments, like when you’re rolling through vines as a morph ball and get a close-up view of the organic details, or seeing the shiny, hardened resin blocking doors. It’s not an ugly game, but trying to create a realistic jungle environment inevitably leads to comparisons with the graphics of games on more powerful consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

When I first started playing, the enemies weren’t too tough – they were more like obstacles while I figured things out and got used to my abilities. It was all about exploring and finding new powers, like a missile upgrade that lets you blast through that weird resin stuff. But the coolest part was how my existing powers got a psychic upgrade! I could grab these glowing motes with my mind and use them to power doors, or even move objects just by thinking about it. It really made me want to switch to visor mode all the time to see what else I could interact with. One power, the Control Beam, was especially fun – I could slow down a projectile and steer it right into switches or at enemies. It added a whole new layer to everything!

While exploring, I encountered Myles MacKenzie, a fellow Federation engineer stranded on the planet. He’s clearly starstruck by Samus Aran – a legendary figure – which reminded me of how people reacted to Master Chief in the Halo games. Myles is out of his depth on this dangerous planet, but he’s a skilled mechanic, making him helpful. I personally found his clumsy, talkative personality charming, especially compared to Samus’s quiet nature. The game even seems to intend their interactions as humorous. After getting him to safety – thankfully, he didn’t slow me down – he stayed in a control room, and I continued exploring on my own.

The demo ended with a challenging boss fight against Carvex, a hostile, intelligent plant. Initially, you used your weapon to break through its vines, but as more appeared, you needed to use the Control Beam to quickly cut through multiple sections at once – something regular attacks couldn’t do. All this happened while avoiding its sweeping tendrils. It felt like a thrilling combat puzzle, reminiscent of the best Metroid Prime games. Scanning Carvex also revealed some extra story details, explaining that it had lost its ability to communicate after merging with a Metroid.

Beating Carvex unlocked a new ability called the Psychic Bomb. It works like a regular bomb, but you can also charge it up to create a floating one that you can control with your mind, similar to the psychic motes. This allowed me to activate distant switches and finally open a transport pod.

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2025-11-14 17:11