Metroid Prime 3 details

A rare interview with Nintendo's second-party cohorts Retro Studios has shed some light on Metroid Prime 3, which is bound for release on the next-gen Revolution format sometime next year by current estimates.

The interview, aired official Metroid site Luminoth Temple, talks of bringing closure to the story, retaining the game's first-person viewpoint and taking full advantage of the new system.

"The plot of Prime 3 is about closure, told against the backdrop of an epic struggle," the Retro Studios spokesperson said. Apparently the planet Phazon will play a key role again, and heroine Samus Aran willf ind herself coming up against Metroid enemies and new threats as well.

"We plan on taking advantage of a number of new features in the Revolution, including the controller," Retro said. Wow, a game that uses a control pad! The point, of course, is that the fabled Revolution pad is said to be quite interesting and different to what we've experienced before. Details on what it actually does have yet to be revealed.

On the audio/visual side of things, apparently we'll see "even more" of the "drastic improvements", visually, that we witnessed moving from Metroid Prime 1 to 2. "Our engineers are a very talented and dedicated bunch, and they're constantly looking for ways to make our games run smoother with more details."

Finally, Retro spoke of composer Kenji Yamamoto, who will reprise his role creating the game's soundtrack. "We hope to take the music into some new directions for this title, and there's no doubt Mr. Yamamoto is going to relish the challenge," Retro said.

Nintendo previously confirmed the existence of Metroid Prime 3 with a very short and unrevealing teaser trailer at its pre-E3 press conference, but this is the first time any solid details have emerged.