May 10^th, 2006 (9:53pm) - IGN had the chance to sit down an interview Retro Studios, the studio behind the critically acclaimed and best selling Metroid Prime series, in regards to the upcoming Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Before putting up their fully transcripted interview, they’ve been kind enough to shed some new information on the game that I’m sure all Metroid fans will find interesting, including Metroid Prime 3’s scheduled release, Wii launch this Fall, alongside The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, thus making Wii launch the biggest console launch of Nintendo’s illustrious history.

Unfortunately for those who were expecting Metroid Prime 3 to feature a full fledged online multiplayer mode should be disappointed to hear that Retro currently has no plans to include such a feature. However, it should be noted that the game will take advantage of Nintendo’s WiiConnect24, to allow owners to download upgrades and additional content for the game.

Taking a new direction, in Metroid Prime 3, Samus will travel from world to world via her newly designed gunship. Although, those looking forward to pilot the ship through space will be disappointed to hear that you won’t be able to do such a thing. Samus’ travels through space will instead be seen through cut-scenes, similar to she travels from world to world in Metroid Prime Hunters for the Nintendo DS. The gunship, however, will still play an important role in the game as Retro has hinted towards a new visor in the game that will allow Samus to command her ship while grounded, allowing for it to blow up certain obstacles, thus being able to access and explore new areas.

Speaking of visors, Retro is still keeping quiet in regards to them, but it can be confirmed that the X-Ray visor will be making a return and playing a bigger role in Metroid Prime 3. It will be used extensively in both combat and puzzle solving. The visor will be used a new beam to the game that will be able to shoot through walls in order to eliminate unsuspecting enemies.

While it doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement over Metroid Prime 2: Echoes at the current time, Retro hopes to polish of the game’s visuals as it comes closer to release. Additionally, Retro plans on having the game run at a smooth 60 frames per second.