Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

 GameCube
User Score
8.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 506 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 454 out of 506
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 506
  3. Negative: 28 out of 506
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  1. GarryW.
    Nov 12, 2004
    6
    If you like Metroid games, you'll love this. But you need a lot of paitence. Something I don't have I'm afraid. Multiplayer feels half-baked.
  2. Evman
    Nov 14, 2016
    6
    A unique, artistic and worthy sequel, though often feels like a disjointed retread of the first.

    It's definitely a long game, if only for the continued backtracking through areas you've been through a few times before. The visors make for some cool graphical effects, and visuals are top notch (60 frames per second in 2004, say whaaa!) though the audio - primarily the soundtrack    A unique, artistic and worthy sequel, though often feels like a disjointed retread of the first.

    It's definitely a long game, if only for the continued backtracking through areas you've been through a few times before.

    The visors make for some cool graphical effects, and visuals are top notch (60 frames per second in 2004, say whaaa!) though the audio - primarily the soundtrack sounds rather artificial and dated compared to many other games released around the same time. The shrill synth notes and repetitive riffs had me drop the music volume down via the options screen.

    The thing that irks me the most about this game is the way it needs to be played different from all the Metroids before. Take Super Metroid on the SNES for instance - you'd pass a yellow door and know to come back later when you had the Power Bomb. Now, you've got the cool 3D map in Metroid Prime 2 so you've got an even easier job of finding a path back to the door. So you get the power bombs and decide to make your way back - HOWEVER, due to being locked in a 'side quest' of 'Collect the 3 keys' you'll find yourself locked in a section of the game world and unable to progress until you complete the menial task.

    This kind of momentum breaking distraction occurs several times over the course of the game and combined with the disorienting transitions between the light and dark Aether I found myself unable to play the game for long without becoming frustrated at the 'stabs in the dark' approach to discovering the exact predetermined way forward.

    Don't even get me started on the overuse of the Morph/Boost/Gravity Ball in this game. Is it 2? 3 bosses that depend on its almost exclusive use?

    Not a terrible game, but the worst of the console-based Metroid titles.    … Expand
  3. SilverUchiha
    Sep 28, 2011
    7
    Funny how I read a few reviews and people compared this game to Halo 2 as if Nintendo and Microsoft are having a "who has the biggest dick" contest and are throwing out their armored space-fighters to do the talking. I played Halo 2 on the PC and thought it was **** but everyone says the port was **** so who cares. The PC of Halo 1, however, was supposed to be good and I found it boring.Funny how I read a few reviews and people compared this game to Halo 2 as if Nintendo and Microsoft are having a "who has the biggest dick" contest and are throwing out their armored space-fighters to do the talking. I played Halo 2 on the PC and thought it was **** but everyone says the port was **** so who cares. The PC of Halo 1, however, was supposed to be good and I found it boring. Why people have to make the Halo v Metroid comparison is just baffling. Metroid is clearly better because it isn't nearly as boring. The environments are way nicer. And Samus is much more appealing than Master Chief. So can we stop comparing now? Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a sequel to the stupendous Metroid Prime. While I expected MP2 to not out-do the predecessor, I didn't think it'd falter this much. Then again, I consider the first to be nearly flawless while the second doesn't feel quite like a Metroid game should. That isn't to say that it's bad. But it just feels out of place in Metroid continuity so it's an awkward fit. What's good? Envinroments are as nice as ever, better detailed this time around. You also get to encounter friendly aliens for once in your miserable life. They are the Luminoth and they don't want you to be assimilated, but, instead, help them fight the Ing, a race of dark monsters that were created by some kind of weird disaster. The corrupt living and dead things to do their bidding, Borg style (I guess you might get assimilated after all). But where's all the Metroid **** we had to deal with in the last game? Well, for those who managed to get 100% completion in the first game, you'll see that Metroid Prime's new form (ala Dark Samus) is a main antagonist to the game, but lacks the tension that SA-X brought to the evil-Samus-clone department. Also, for some reason, there are space pirates here and they brought Metroids so that way this can still be called a Metroid game. Like I said, the story in this game doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the Prime trilogy and I don't like that. I'm also not a fan of ammunition for Samus' lasers. Yes, it may make it feel like every other bull**** FPS game that is out on consoles these days, but Metroid is better than those and doesn't need to be trying to copy those bastards. Besides, we all know that Dark beam is the same as the "Ice Beam" and that the light beam is the same as the "Plasma beam". Let's just drop the shenanigans and leave the ammunition limits to missiles like they've always been, okay? I would argue, however, this game is definitely harder than the first, but not impossible. It's just that the environments don't feel nearly as linear. So getting lost might happen from time to time. Not to mention that going between Light World and Dark World will force you to search through twice as many areas. And let's not forget that Dark World hurts you where as, in Zelda Tradition, it just makes you see prisoners of some dark magic spell and fight chickens. The addition of a multiplayer feature is definitely awesome, but I feel it lacks something. I love being able to see who the better Samus is. But there are so few levels (even if you can unlock two of them) and there isn't a lot of variety to really make the game challenging. Maybe if they included some maps from Metroid Prime 1 and allowed you to use characters from Metroid Prime Hunters, then it might be a lot better. As it stands, however, multiplayer is fun for a bit, but gets old fast. On the whole, MP2E is a good game, but it is well overshadowed by Metorid Prime 1. It still does a lot right, but I just think the crippling issue is that the story seems a little out of place. Lack of Kraid got some fans pissed at MP1. Now we don't even have Ridley and the pirates aren't that big a deal anymore. Now it's a bunch of shadow-bugs or whatever. I'd say this game is still worth getting, or at least renting.… Expand
  4. Raveendrabose
    Nov 25, 2004
    6
    Metroid Prime 2 is a great game, but I have recently also have bought Halo 2. And while MP2 offers a better single player (Halo2s single is still solid). Metroid Prime 2 is $h*t in the multiplayer category. While games (like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2), offer a solid single player and an impeccable multiplayer that truly captures you. So if you have no friends and no internet I would highly Metroid Prime 2 is a great game, but I have recently also have bought Halo 2. And while MP2 offers a better single player (Halo2s single is still solid). Metroid Prime 2 is $h*t in the multiplayer category. While games (like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2), offer a solid single player and an impeccable multiplayer that truly captures you. So if you have no friends and no internet I would highly reccomend MP2, otherwise get Halo 2 or Half-Life 2 and be prepared for an awesome game.… Expand
  5. RAYT.
    Dec 11, 2004
    7
    This game is cool i dont like multiplyer.
  6. Zerockman
    Mar 25, 2023
    7
    I wrote a review for Metroid Prime Remastered recently, saying it is my least favourite in the trilogy. I immediately take that back after revisiting Prime 2. This is my least favourite playthrough of Prime 2 (my 3rd playthrough) and it reinforces my feeling that as I keep revisiting older games I start to notice I like them less and less as time goes on.

    Metroid Prime 2 is a good game.    I wrote a review for Metroid Prime Remastered recently, saying it is my least favourite in the trilogy. I immediately take that back after revisiting Prime 2. This is my least favourite playthrough of Prime 2 (my 3rd playthrough) and it reinforces my feeling that as I keep revisiting older games I start to notice I like them less and less as time goes on.

    Metroid Prime 2 is a good game. I think it's the worst in the trilogy (I'll play Prime 3 afterwards but I don't think it will change this time around) but it's still fun. 2 however comes with the most problems:

    If I was complaining about Phendrana Labs in Prime 1, well, the underwater section of Torvus Bog blows it out of the water completely. It's so much worse. And in general Torvus Bog is just really bad and really boring.
    The constant 10 second transitions between Aether and Dark Aether, the multiple encounters with invisible enemies, far before you get access to the Dark Visor in order to deal with them (also they close the doors during several of these encounters to force you to defeat them), the cumbersome beam ammo management, the multiple poorly designed boss fights. Oh, how I hate Boost Guardian so much. Chykka, Amorbis, Alpha Blorg and many others aren't much better tbh. The final boss battle against Emperor Ing is so painful to go through.

    Thankfully, Sanctuary Fortress is really good. It almost makes up for how bad Torvus Bog is. Fortress is honestly one of the best locations in all of Prime, it's really fun.

    Prime 2 is still bogged down by a lot of annoying little things and this last playthrough of mine really disappointed me, but I still recommend the game although like I said it's easily the worst in the trilogy imo.    … Expand
  7. Wertypite
    Feb 10, 2023
    7
    Bad gamedesign ruins this game for me. I wish this game was better and that tedious to complete.

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best GameCube Game of 2004
2
#2 Most Discussed GameCube Game of 2004
4
#4 Most Shared GameCube Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 60 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 60 out of 60
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 60
  3. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. Gamestyle
    100
    To match such thrill-a-minute environments, the level design, puzzles, and boss fights are all insanely original.
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  2. Games Radar
    90
    Other than a few superficial tweaks and some vanilla, offline multiplayer, the rest is exactly like the first Prime.
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  3. NTSC-uk
    90
    Whilst none of the levels quite match up to the stunning quality that was Phendrana Drifts, it is, as a sum of its parts, wonderfully evocative as a playing experience and induces the same level, if not more, of internal satisfaction that Prime achieved.
    Read full review
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