Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

THE GOOD:
-Absolutely astounding atmosphere, the sound and graphics are just top notch!
-Controls and gameplay style fit the game perfectly
-The game has a delicate balance between being fairly challenging and yet quite addictive at the same time

THE BAD:
-Multiplayer could have been a little better, more abilities like the screw attack would have been nice

SUMMARY:
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the sequel to Metroid Prime (also on the 'cube), is an 'out of this world' experience, it is REALLY amazing. The minute you step out of your ship, into the cave on the planet's surface, the detail just springs to life in your eyes; the plant-life scattered across the cave floor, and the way glimmers of light shine through certain environments in the game, revealing the groups of tiny insects suspended in flight... the way the sounds of your gentle footsteps give life to a silent cave...
there is just a great, detailed, realistic atmosphere that surrounds you throughout the entire game.
The gameplay is also perfectly suited to this type of first person shooter (FPS). The controls are basic enough, move/turn with the contol stick and hold L to strafe. The control pad/C-stick is used for changing beam weapons/visor modes and this is an effective yet very simple idea that works very well with the game. In this game, L is also used for locking on to enemies as opposed to just aiming at them, some gamers may think that this would make the game too simple, but after playing, you will realise that while locking on, you will have to hit certain parts of enemies like their backs to deal some proper damage.
You explore the diverse landscapes of the planet Aether as bounty hunter, Samas Aran, but there is a great innovative twist to this storyline... The planet is unstable and has been split up into the regular Aether of the normal dimension, and the Dark Aether of another dimension. You are allowed to traverse between these two 'worlds' using special portals dotted around the planet. This, to me, gives a great, new depth of gameplay which takes the game to a whole new level... as there many puzzles to solve that require you to work in both dimensions to solve them, but you must be careful, as the dark dimension's atmosphere is toxic and will slowly lower your health...
Samus' 'power suit' also allows her to transform into a sphere that rolls along the ground and allows you to get to hard-to-reach places, such as through pipes etc... The control system for the 'morph ball', as the sphere is known is just great as you are able to move in any direction with a flick of the control stick and you are also able to change the camera angle most of the time (with the exception of when you are in a cross section view or in a certain place) in order to gain different perspectives of your situation.
There is also an excellent upgrade system in this game that has not really changed throughout the Metroid series, because as they say: 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it!' As you play as Samas, her power suit will gain new abilities as you progress throughout the game such as a new beam weapon or charge combo etc. This gives you great incentive to play on as the excitement of 'what ability will i obtain next?' grows inside of you.
Now, the boss battles are really quite perfect in my eyes, the provide quite a challenge, and I love a great boss challenge. Sure, aren't bosses supposed to be hard? But, these boss battles are really exciting. Each boss provides a different challenge, and finding out what strategy will beat the boss is always great! I always get a feeling of satisfaction after the rush of defeating a boss and, of course, there ARE rewards for beating bosses, which are ususally a new ability to have fun with!
The multiplayer is also great fun to play, this is a first for Metroid games to provide a multiplayer mode, and Metroid fans should love being able to use Samus' abilities to demolish their friends with! But as excellent fun as the multiplayer is, with full choice of beam weapons etc, I can't help but think that it is slightly lacking, that it could contain more abilities like the screw attack and charge combos etc., but still, this is an excellent first shot at multiplayer for the Metroid series!
This game's prequel, Metroid Prime, was an amazing game, and this is EVEN better; which may people may have thought would be hard to do. The multiplayer is also a nice touch; and in my opinion, this is one of the best, if not THE best looking games on the 'cube right now. I am a great fan of Metroid games, but I believe that most hard core gamers would agree with me that this probably the best Gamecube game out right now! It's certainly my favourite!!! But I just have to say, if you haven't already bought this game, where have you been? Under a rock? YOU MUST GET THIS AMAZING GAME!!!