Metroid Prime Hunters - Hands On

If you've got no friends, no internet connection and possibly no pulse, you can still delve into the robust solo mission. It begins fully powered up, with no need for extensive corridor spelunking for new weapons or abilities. Normally you'd hit the planet with the smallest of space age arsenals, however in keeping with the four-player, online free-for-alls, action has trumped exploration. You're still roaming through space station hallways and inhospitable planets, but instead of taking your sweet time, you're trying to beat the six other hunters to a set of all-powerful crystals.

This ultimate bounty is sprinkled across an entire galaxy, one that happens to fall outside of Samus' usual jurisdiction. As such, this is an "off the record" outing. A telepathic message has summoned hunters from all points, and most of them are after this treasure for less than positive purposes. It's your job to pour over this galaxy, find the crystals and get them back to friendly space.

As you hop from planet to planet, some of the alien rouges will come calling. Should they take you out, they'll make off with whatever crystal you've snagged. To get it back you're gonna have to figure out which planet they’ve run off to, smack them around and take it back. While the regular quest may be straightforward (scan this thing to open that door, blow this up and run through), having a sextet of cold-blooded killers on your tail picks your feet up. Icing a hunter also unlocks it for your multiplayer pleasure.

The Hunters developers claim they've pushed the DS hardware to its limits with the game's graphics, sound and online breadth. It's not hard to see why. We're not saying it looks as sharp as the GameCube games, but who knew the DS could pull this off? The creepy Prime music made the trip as well, projecting a sense of constant uneasiness. And with a huge target on your head, the tension is much more apparent than even the console versions. The adventure is supposed to rival the original Metroid Prime's length, and may serve to be the ace in the hole for a title already promising a thick online presence when it hits later this month.