Metroid Prime 3 - video walkthrough

You've read the FAQs, scoured the message boards and digested an entire strategy guide. You know what's up when it comes to Metroid. But there's still this one thing you just can't find because no one can explain it properly. Well, that's why we're bringing you not just a Prime 3 guide, but also a ton of video clips that explain the trickiest parts. So, set your control sensitivity to advanced, switch fire to the B trigger and let's dive on in.

Opening

You begin in Samus' ship. First touch the navigation pad between her feet to get the ship moving, then input the transmission codes when you're asked - the transmitter is above you, so take a look up. Then activate the boosters to your left and you're off to G.F.S. Olympus.

Here you get your first taste of the scan visor, your auto-updating map goals and the free-aiming control. Activating your scan visor is the single most important thing you can do in all three Prime games, so keep it in mind every time you enter a new room. Right away you can scan Samus' ship, the marines, the landing spikes and several other objects. Only items sent to your logbook really matter.

Head into Docking Bay Access, shoot the red turrets to activate the ramp. Once up, follow the hallways to the next door, which is locked tight. Turn around 180 degrees and you'll see a login station that gives Samus the code to unlock the door (in this case, 13576). Proceed through the biohazard scan and head through the linear path towards the briefing room. Once there, you're told to seek out the Aurora unit on Bryyo - oh and the space pirates attack, forcing you to blast your way out.

Before you make it to your ship, however, pirates attempt to steal an energy cell - an item you'll become much more familiar with in a few hours. Beat them, get it back, escape through the Morph Ball hole, grab the missiles in Munitions Storage (next to Repair Bay A) and eventually tackle this guy:

As his scan info says, his glowing red spots are weak against charge blasts. Once they're gone, he'll send purple blobs at you - shoot them to send them back. After about four hits of that, his weak point will open up and you're free to blast away. Then it's off to Norion to save the marines.

Norion

Now you've got coordinates for three power generators. The goal is to get them all online. Naturally, there will be much shooting before that happens. Grab the Grapple Lasso up ahead and move along, up the elevator to Cargo Hub. The Lasso will pull away debris at the end of this corridor, so head that way. Substation East is the path you want, which also happens to contain your second energy tank. Continue down this path, get the map and logbook scans, then proceed to your next firefight with new shield-equipped pirates. The Lasso will, obviously, yank the shields right out of their hands.

After tackling shield pirates, flying pirates and then the whole damn pirate battleship, you'll be saved by a fellow bounty hunter. As a plus, you can now land your ship here and heal/save your game. The first generator is through the door, where you'll face a swarm of fast-moving droids. Follow them left or right while standing in place - eventually they'll stop to fire, and you can bag 'em that way. A short button press later and bam, you've got one generator back online.

A brief update and cutscene later, you're heading towards the next generator. Ghor will meet you back in the Cargo Hub and send you towards generator C. Along the way, generator B will come back online, leaving only this last one to be repaired. After a straightforward Morph Ball maze (just activate the ball-sized access points with bombs), you'll battle Ridley, the series' best-known nemesis.

He looks tough, but all you really need to do is keep firing charge shots at his open mouth. One he grabs you, charge blast any energy he summons to stun him and resume firing at his mouth. Eventually he'll go down, leaving you to simply press the "on" button to the generator.

Now the meteor is closing in fast. You've got a limited amount of time to get those turrets firing - but time enough to scan for a yankable piece of wall that leads to a missile upgrade on the right side of the Cargo Hub. Then simply follow the map to your destination, where Dark Samus will make her first real appearance. When you wake up from her assault, things will be much different.

You've read the FAQs, scoured the message boards and digested an entire strategy guide. You know what's up when it comes to Metroid. But there's still this one thing you just can't find because no one can explain it properly. Well, that's why we're bringing you not just a Prime 3 guide, but also a ton of video clips that explain the trickiest parts. So, set your control sensitivity to advanced, switch fire to the B trigger and let's dive on in.

Opening

You begin in Samus' ship. First touch the navigation pad between her feet to get the ship moving, then input the transmission codes when you're asked - the transmitter is above you, so take a look up. Then activate the boosters to your left and you're off to G.F.S. Olympus.

Here you get your first taste of the scan visor, your auto-updating map goals and the free-aiming control. Activating your scan visor is the single most important thing you can do in all three Prime games, so keep it in mind every time you enter a new room. Right away you can scan Samus' ship, the marines, the landing spikes and several other objects. Only items sent to your logbook really matter.

Head into Docking Bay Access, shoot the red turrets to activate the ramp. Once up, follow the hallways to the next door, which is locked tight. Turn around 180 degrees and you'll see a login station that gives Samus the code to unlock the door (in this case, 13576). Proceed through the biohazard scan and head through the linear path towards the briefing room. Once there, you're told to seek out the Aurora unit on Bryyo - oh and the space pirates attack, forcing you to blast your way out.

Before you make it to your ship, however, pirates attempt to steal an energy cell - an item you'll become much more familiar with in a few hours. Beat them, get it back, escape through the Morph Ball hole, grab the missiles in Munitions Storage (next to Repair Bay A) and eventually tackle this guy:

As his scan info says, his glowing red spots are weak against charge blasts. Once they're gone, he'll send purple blobs at you - shoot them to send them back. After about four hits of that, his weak point will open up and you're free to blast away. Then it's off to Norion to save the marines.

Norion

Now you've got coordinates for three power generators. The goal is to get them all online. Naturally, there will be much shooting before that happens. Grab the Grapple Lasso up ahead and move along, up the elevator to Cargo Hub. The Lasso will pull away debris at the end of this corridor, so head that way. Substation East is the path you want, which also happens to contain your second energy tank. Continue down this path, get the map and logbook scans, then proceed to your next firefight with new shield-equipped pirates. The Lasso will, obviously, yank the shields right out of their hands.

After tackling shield pirates, flying pirates and then the whole damn pirate battleship, you'll be saved by a fellow bounty hunter. As a plus, you can now land your ship here and heal/save your game. The first generator is through the door, where you'll face a swarm of fast-moving droids. Follow them left or right while standing in place - eventually they'll stop to fire, and you can bag 'em that way. A short button press later and bam, you've got one generator back online.

A brief update and cutscene later, you're heading towards the next generator. Ghor will meet you back in the Cargo Hub and send you towards generator C. Along the way, generator B will come back online, leaving only this last one to be repaired. After a straightforward Morph Ball maze (just activate the ball-sized access points with bombs), you'll battle Ridley, the series' best-known nemesis.

He looks tough, but all you really need to do is keep firing charge shots at his open mouth. One he grabs you, charge blast any energy he summons to stun him and resume firing at his mouth. Eventually he'll go down, leaving you to simply press the "on" button to the generator.

Now the meteor is closing in fast. You've got a limited amount of time to get those turrets firing - but time enough to scan for a yankable piece of wall that leads to a missile upgrade on the right side of the Cargo Hub. Then simply follow the map to your destination, where Dark Samus will make her first real appearance. When you wake up from her assault, things will be much different.