Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is finally on the cusp of release after more than seven years of development, and it’s arriving with high reviews to boot. However, those same reviews share similar views on the issues with Metroid Prime 4, which fans began to fear only two weeks ago.
Retro Studios’ Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was announced back at E3 2017, only a few months into the original Switch’s life. Unfortunately for fans, the game went unmentioned for years—with every passing Direct raising and dashing hopes.
However, seven years later the game was re-revealed in 2024, with 2025 subsequently ushering in new details, including its improved capabilities when played on the Switch 2. The game also received a December 4th release date, which is now only a few days away.
The new info revealed for the game in 2025 has struck both fear and excitement into the hearts of fans. On the one hand, trailers showing Samus riding a motorcycle have fans ready and eager to finally play. Two weeks ago, though, a trailer showing off quippy characters shroud out the series’ sense of atmosphere with MCU-esque dialogue had fans go from excited to nervous.
To some extent, fans don’t have to worry nearly that much, as review embargos are up and are almost all placing the game in the 7–9/10 range. While this is a little lower than previous entries on average (and some gamers consider a 7 or 8 as far lower than they ought to), it’s still a very strong showing.
However, the game’s open-world elements and structure have produced a padded feel to some critics, even if Samus’ new bike is generally well-regarded in terms of handling. Moreover, Prime 4‘s cast of Galactic Federation companions, most prominently the nervous engineer Myles Mackenzie, have predictably added a whole lot of talk to what is otherwise a series grounded in isolation and exploration.
Though it will come as a relief to fans that some reviews didn’t find these characters as obtrusive as they were expecting, few are happy to see them. Gamereactor‘s David Caballero, whose review sits on the lower side with a 6/10 score, describes the hand-holding problem of these NPCs, saying, “it’s not about the teenager sci-fi lines, it’s about telling you too much, too early, too constantly.”
Giant Bomb offers one of the most positive takes. In a glowing review, writer Dan Ryckert heavily praises the visuals and core gameplay loop, though even here the best he has to say about Myles is that the character is “ultimately no big deal.”
Tripping At The Finish Line
Make no mistake, the reviews of Metroid Prime 4 are generally incredibly positive, although it may not look that way to a gaming culture that increasingly sees an above-average score as remaining in the negatives.
Despite this, fan concern has, unfortunately, been vindicated. The game’s NPCs are, according to reviewers, negligible at best and a hand-holding bugbear at worst. Fans will undoubtedly decry this as a shame, considering the game took so long in the oven just to arrive with a new and needlessly destructive feature.
