Metroid Prime: Federation Force – Overview trailer, details, footage, boxart

It’s been a little while since we last heard about Metroid Prime: Federation Force… since the game was delayed, actually! Unsurprisingly, it was not at E3 this year, not even showcased during the Nintendo Treehouse Live. It looks like Nintendo waited until the event was over before talking about it again.

Today, Nintendo uploaded the usual overview trailer that most major games get, and this one is pretty lengthy: it lasts 10mn in total. Here it is:

In Metroid Prime: Federation Force, you play as a federation soldier piloting a Mech: a special suit based on the same technology as Samus’s. Your main weapon is the Arm cannon, that you can charge in order to use the Charge Beam (something fans of the Metroid Prime series are pretty familiar with).

You can also lock-on onto enemies, in order to strafe around them: pretty useful to both avoid their attacks, and keep shooting at them.  That technique can also be used to circle around enemies, and hit their weakpoints. And when it comes to jumping, there’s Overjump: this allows you to hover for a few seconds after jumping. This can be used to jump further, but also avoid certain enemy attacks.

Next, we have subweapons. The trailer gives us several examples: (Super) Missiles, Freezeshots, Fireshots, Shield (to defend yourself and your teammates), and more. Some subweapons are more effective against certain types of enemies (the Fireshots on ice-based enemies, for example). And since you can only carry a certain amount of subweapons, you have to think carefully when picking them up before a mission.

One thing to note about subweapons is that you can use them to find hidden items. In the trailer, we see the players using a Freezeshot to destroy a wall of lava, and find a Chip hidden behind. It looks like missions are not just about shooting stuff: there’s also some secrets to uncover.

Head after the break for more details, some gameplay footage, and the boxart!

Before you start a mission, you also have to chose your Chips: little modules that improve your abilities, increase your attack power, and more. Some of them can even repair your mech when it’s too damaged. The Chips are shared among all players, so you need to think carefully about which ones to pick.

It’s generally better to go with pre-defined roles, such as:

• Healer
• Assist
• Attacker
• All-rounder

Metroid Prime: Federation Force can be played in Single-Player, but also in multiplayer: of course, that includes online multiplayer! As for Metroid Prime: Blast Ball, it’s some sort of space football, played with the mechs.

Finally, Nintendo revealed how amiibo are used:

• Metroid Prime: Federation Force: use the Samus and Zero Suit Samus amiibo to unlock special paintjob for your mech
• Metroid Prime: Blast Ball: use various amiibo to unlock special paintjobs for your mech. Unfortunately, it’s not clear which amiibo are compatible right now, other than Mario and Bowser.

The official website was also updated, and features some gameplay videos showcasing some missions (including one where you get out of your mech), but also Metroid Prime: Blast Ball.

Here’s video with all segments put together:

Finally, here’s some screencaps from the official website (Japanese), along with the boxart:

It doesn’t show anything that isn’t covered in the overview trailer above. It does show the three planets the game seems to take place in: Talvania, Excelcion, and Bion.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS) and Metroid Prime: Blast Ball (3DS eShop) come out on August 19th in North America, August 25th in Japan, and September 2nd in Europe.