Yes, because Metroid is one of Nintendo's most long-running and successful gaming franchises, Metroid Prime 3 had no choice but to be created and released. But you know, it's certainly nowhere *near* a classic because it's basically a watered down, less interesting sequel but with slightly improved graphics and sweet-looking explosions.  Actually, the explosions aren't necessarily better than the first two Prime games, but I found myself admiring them more this time around (perhaps because I was bored out of my mind in so many other ways).

Remember the original Metroid on the NES, Metroid 2: Return of Samus on the Game Boy, and Super Metroid on the Super NES? These games were released a long time ago, and what made them so fantastic was how the gameplay emphasis on each of them was on "exploration".

In Metroid Prime 3, you predictably go through one hallway after another shooting whatever you see. While it's somewhat fun, the lack of exploring hurts the game a LOT and prevents it from having much in the way of replay value. I also hate how it takes such a long time to defeat some of the bosses in the game. It was never like that in the past (playing the 2D Metroid games, I mean).  Are you kidding me?  20-30 minutes to completely eliminate ONE boss battle?  Why in the heck does it take so darn long???  This complaint holds true with the previous two Prime games as well.  That's a major, unforgiveable problem.

Also, and this is a pretty big complaint, the regular enemies you encounter while going through these numerous, one-way hallways are usually small, horribly animated, and just boring to watch/fight.  NOTHING compared to the enemies in the first two Prime games.  We're talking dreadfully boring enemies to the point you sometimes find yourself just preferring to run past them and not waste a single moment fighting them.  I'm extremely disappointed here.  It makes me think the third installment in the series is an obvious milk job by Nintendo.

Besides the first hour of the gameplay being extremely tedious and boring because you're doing nothing but talking to soldiers like it's a borderline RPG game, exploring generic computer rooms that we've seen to death in thousands of other video games, and admiring constant blue/grayish colors throughout *every* single wall located on *every* single hallway (yes that's sarcasm) the game eventually changes so you're exploring different areas of land by way of your spaceship.  Too bad each of these lands ends up missing the mark and looking rather dull compared to the previous Metroid Prime games.  Actually it's more like a poor imitation of previous efforts.

That's not quite the biggest issue I have with the exploration feature however.  The BIGGEST problem is that the game is nothing more than a lengthy series of miniature and narrow hallways constantly taking you to even MORE miniature and narrow hallways.  You're probably wondering why I keep saying "narrow" and it's because, for the most part, the hallways are exceptionally tiny and uninteresting.  It's like so much effort was put into the background graphics (which are overrated by the way- the game doesn't look *that* great) that the development team thought they could get away with slacking off on the level design.  I don't think so- if a game's not fun to play, it's not worth my time.  Basically no matter where your ship goes small hallways will definitely be in store for you.  The areas that are actually fairly beautiful are usually either too short so you never feel obligated to stop and take notice, or appear like an obvious rehash of the places you were already fascinated by in Prime 1 and 2.

Ice missiles are a really bad idea.  Yes, you can freeze the lava and make a walkable platform for yourself.  Who cares?  These aren't the kind of improvements that take advantage of the Wii's capabilities.  It's not the kind of improvements to shell out money for either.  Grappling doors and enemies isn't very fun either.  In fact, you might even say it's downright cheap.  While grappling an enemy, most likely another enemy from off-screen will shoot laser balls at Samus and drain a good deal of your health.  Meanwhile you can't do a darn thing about it because you're stuck in the grappling position with the first enemy.  Oh sure, this entire process only takes a few seconds (by either letting go of the grapple or going through with it and removing the enemies shields) but SEVERAL of the space creatures in the game are frantic laser ball-shooting maniacs, so it only take a few seconds to empty good chunks of your life energy.  This means you need total preparation to deal with these tough enemy situations but unfortunately the unfair and relentless nature of their ways makes it a needlessly tough task.

Lock onto enemies, fire repeatedly until they die, rinse and repeat.  It's predictable and boring now.  This is exactly what you'll be doing the entire way through.  You'll most likely be doing it while being forced to deal with unavoidable laser ball blasts by the space creatures.  I prefer the 2D games where you actually had to aim and practice your skills to eliminate the bad guys.  With enough practice you'd actually be able to *master* the games.  This is probably not entirely THIS games fault- but 3D games in general.  Ugh, enough is enough.

Speaking of the Wii, who's bright idea was it to make the game so you actually have to turn and pull on the Wii remote to do certain commands involving opening doors and whatnot?  Yes, I'm referring to grappling again.  No, you don't have to do these commands for EVERY door you walk through- just specific ones.  It's still a terrible idea and it's more annoying than anything else.

Speaking of doors, why in the WORLD does it take 10-15 seconds to load a door?  Are you kidding me?  This game was released in 2007 (not 1996) so it's absolutely pathetic that we have to sit there and wait for the doors to open, especially when this wasn't even a problem in the first two Prime games.  Ridiculous.  Also -while waiting for a door to open up- make sure you've taken care of all the enemies in the room (and I mean ALL of them).  They WILL find a way to sneak back into the picture and blast Samus from behind.  Such a dreadful gameplay flaw.

Another enormous gameplay problem are the puzzles that require the gamer to deal with infinitely spawning enemies while trying to accomplish a task.  Many times, after spending more than 20 minutes trying to finish a task and being unable to do so thanks to the enemies being a frequent problem with their recurring ways,  I just shut the game off and say "I'm done with this BS".  I strongly dislike the way the puzzles are designed in this game.  I can't tell you how many times I was *almost* finished and an enemy became a distraction and I either couldn't finish the puzzle or died.  Frustration to the highest extent.

The one positive is that Hypermode is pretty awesome.  No, it doesn't actually speed up the gameplay (like I originally thought when I first read about it).  Instead, Hypermode is the name of a really powerful laser beam-type weapon that blasts the living heck out of anything that moves.  It's pretty awesome.  However, there's a certain degree of complexity involved in using it properly that's a bit overbearing and therefore annoying.  It's only a slight learning curve admittedly because once you figure it out you'll be fine after that, so I can't complain about it TOO much. I can however, complain about something else- that being, when you immediately enter a room and become overwhelmed by enemies and therefore become corrupted right away, and you have ZERO time to react and therefore you die immediately.  Cheap, uncalled for, and severely flawed.

The first three Metroid games ever made for the NES, Game Boy and Super NES were REALLY different from each other and that's another thing that made each of them appealing to gamers everywhere.  Alright, so the first two Metroid games aren't THAT much different (besides the obvious color and graphic differences) but certainly Super Metroid is a drastic step in a significantly different direction.

The first three Metroid Prime games however, are all basically the same. It's *really* not like Nintendo to ever milk a series (with the exception of Mario perhaps) but for some reason, they're letting it happen with the Metroid Prime series. It's probably time they stopped working on making Metroid games and focused on another creation, because innovative gaming in the Metroid series is probably now a thing of the past.
Yes, because Metroid is one of Nintendo's most long-running and successful gaming franchises, Metroid Prime 3 had no choice but to be created and released. But you know, it's certainly nowhere *near* a classic because it's basically a watered down, less interesting sequel but with slightly improved graphics and sweet-looking explosions. Actually, the explosions aren't necessarily better than the first two Prime games, but I found myself admiring them more this time around (perhaps because I was bored out of my mind in so many other ways). Remember the original Metroid on the NES, Metroid 2: Return of Samus on the Game Boy, and Super Metroid on the Super NES? These games were released a long time ago, and what made them so fantastic was how the gameplay emphasis on each of them was on "exploration". In Metroid Prime 3, you predictably go through one hallway after another shooting whatever you see. While it's somewhat fun, the lack of exploring hurts the game a LOT and prevents it from having much in the way of replay value. I also hate how it takes such a long time to defeat some of the bosses in the game. It was never like that in the past (playing the 2D Metroid games, I mean). Are you kidding me? 20-30 minutes to completely eliminate ONE boss battle? Why in the heck does it take so darn long??? This complaint holds true with the previous two Prime games as well. That's a major, unforgiveable problem. Also, and this is a pretty big complaint, the regular enemies you encounter while going through these numerous, one-way hallways are usually small, horribly animated, and just boring to watch/fight. NOTHING compared to the enemies in the first two Prime games. We're talking dreadfully boring enemies to the point you sometimes find yourself just preferring to run past them and not waste a single moment fighting them. I'm extremely disappointed here. It makes me think the third installment in the series is an obvious milk job by Nintendo. Besides the first hour of the gameplay being extremely tedious and boring because you're doing nothing but talking to soldiers like it's a borderline RPG game, exploring generic computer rooms that we've seen to death in thousands of other video games, and admiring constant blue/grayish colors throughout *every* single wall located on *every* single hallway (yes that's sarcasm) the game eventually changes so you're exploring different areas of land by way of your spaceship. Too bad each of these lands ends up missing the mark and looking rather dull compared to the previous Metroid Prime games. Actually it's more like a poor imitation of previous efforts. That's not quite the biggest issue I have with the exploration feature however. The BIGGEST problem is that the game is nothing more than a lengthy series of miniature and narrow hallways constantly taking you to even MORE miniature and narrow hallways. You're probably wondering why I keep saying "narrow" and it's because, for the most part, the hallways are exceptionally tiny and uninteresting. It's like so much effort was put into the background graphics (which are overrated by the way- the game doesn't look *that* great) that the development team thought they could get away with slacking off on the level design. I don't think so- if a game's not fun to play, it's not worth my time. Basically no matter where your ship goes small hallways will definitely be in store for you. The areas that are actually fairly beautiful are usually either too short so you never feel obligated to stop and take notice, or appear like an obvious rehash of the places you were already fascinated by in Prime 1 and 2. Ice missiles are a really bad idea. Yes, you can freeze the lava and make a walkable platform for yourself. Who cares? These aren't the kind of improvements that take advantage of the Wii's capabilities. It's not the kind of improvements to shell out money for either. Grappling doors and enemies isn't very fun either. In fact, you might even say it's downright cheap. While grappling an enemy, most likely another enemy from off-screen will shoot laser balls at Samus and drain a good deal of your health. Meanwhile you can't do a darn thing about it because you're stuck in the grappling position with the first enemy. Oh sure, this entire process only takes a few seconds (by either letting go of the grapple or going through with it and removing the enemies shields) but SEVERAL of the space creatures in the game are frantic laser ball-shooting maniacs, so it only take a few seconds to empty good chunks of your life energy. This means you need total preparation to deal with these tough enemy situations but unfortunately the unfair and relentless nature of their ways makes it a needlessly tough task. Lock onto enemies, fire repeatedly until they die, rinse and repeat. It's predictable and boring now. This is exactly what you'll be doing the entire way through. You'll most likely be doing it while being forced to deal with unavoidable laser ball blasts by the space creatures. I prefer the 2D games where you actually had to aim and practice your skills to eliminate the bad guys. With enough practice you'd actually be able to *master* the games. This is probably not entirely THIS games fault- but 3D games in general. Ugh, enough is enough. Speaking of the Wii, who's bright idea was it to make the game so you actually have to turn and pull on the Wii remote to do certain commands involving opening doors and whatnot? Yes, I'm referring to grappling again. No, you don't have to do these commands for EVERY door you walk through- just specific ones. It's still a terrible idea and it's more annoying than anything else. Speaking of doors, why in the WORLD does it take 10-15 seconds to load a door? Are you kidding me? This game was released in 2007 (not 1996) so it's absolutely pathetic that we have to sit there and wait for the doors to open, especially when this wasn't even a problem in the first two Prime games. Ridiculous. Also -while waiting for a door to open up- make sure you've taken care of all the enemies in the room (and I mean ALL of them). They WILL find a way to sneak back into the picture and blast Samus from behind. Such a dreadful gameplay flaw. Another enormous gameplay problem are the puzzles that require the gamer to deal with infinitely spawning enemies while trying to accomplish a task. Many times, after spending more than 20 minutes trying to finish a task and being unable to do so thanks to the enemies being a frequent problem with their recurring ways,  I just shut the game off and say "I'm done with this BS". I strongly dislike the way the puzzles are designed in this game. I can't tell you how many times I was *almost* finished and an enemy became a distraction and I either couldn't finish the puzzle or died. Frustration to the highest extent. The one positive is that Hypermode is pretty awesome. No, it doesn't actually speed up the gameplay (like I originally thought when I first read about it). Instead, Hypermode is the name of a really powerful laser beam-type weapon that blasts the living heck out of anything that moves. It's pretty awesome. However, there's a certain degree of complexity involved in using it properly that's a bit overbearing and therefore annoying. It's only a slight learning curve admittedly because once you figure it out you'll be fine after that, so I can't complain about it TOO much. I can however, complain about something else- that being, when you immediately enter a room and become overwhelmed by enemies and therefore become corrupted right away, and you have ZERO time to react and therefore you die immediately. Cheap, uncalled for, and severely flawed. The first three Metroid games ever made for the NES, Game Boy and Super NES were REALLY different from each other and that's another thing that made each of them appealing to gamers everywhere. Alright, so the first two Metroid games aren't THAT much different (besides the obvious color and graphic differences) but certainly Super Metroid is a drastic step in a significantly different direction. The first three Metroid Prime games however, are all basically the same. It's *really* not like Nintendo to ever milk a series (with the exception of Mario perhaps) but for some reason, they're letting it happen with the Metroid Prime series. It's probably time they stopped working on making Metroid games and focused on another creation, because innovative gaming in the Metroid series is probably now a thing of the past.