"Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" a contender for game of the year

The sequel to the outstanding adventure title "Metroid Prime" has arrived, and it is another triumph. "Metroid Prime 2: Echoes," available only for the GameCube, improves the strengths of its predecessor and expands the original concept to include an entertaining multiplayer mode.

In "Echoes," players control Samus Aran, a female bounty hunter whose one-woman crusade against the nefarious Space Pirates has given her a mythical reputation throughout the universe. The game's fascinating plot, which takes place on a planet called Aether, puts Samus in the position of savior for an almost extinct race called the Luminoth, which has been attacked by an evil race known as the Ing from another dimension.

"Echoes" is absolutely gorgeous from beginning to end. Players will be amazed by the spectacular landscapes from a dry, barren desert to a tropical bog. Players will often travel to the Ing's dimension, a sort of perverse version of Aether. In fact, some of the puzzles in the game involve activating a machine on this Dark Aether that will cause a change on light Aether. The combinations for puzzles in this dichotomy are endless and always entertaining. However, any journey on Dark Aether is fraught with danger. The atmosphere on Dark Aether is utterly inhospitable, so players must recuperate from a foray into the gloom by basking in the radiance of protective light bubbles strategically placed throughout the planet by the Luminoth. To make matters worse, many of the creatures on Aether have deadly counterparts possessed by the Ing lurking on Dark Aether. The Dark Aether experience is paranoid, suspenseful and utterly engrossing.

An enjoyable aspect of "Echoes" is that players are left with nothing but their own resources to unfold the mystery of Aether themselves. An extremely cool function of Samus's armored suit is a visor that scans objects in the environment and creates brief reports. Players will delight in, to a varying degree, collecting data on the environment, species, machines and Luminoth lore found throughout it. The scan visor has another purpose: It activates machines remotely and gives clues on how to reach items, open doors and defeat bosses.

The natural progression through the game involves slowly acquiring new weapons and gadgets that make things easier and easier for players to get around. Players will get a vindictive kick out of re-encountering a dangerous enemy and vaporizing it with a new weapon or escaping it with a new gadget. The concept of ammunition for the beam weapons makes its first appearance in "Echoes" with the Light Beam and the Dark Beam. The new beam ammo factor makes the game much more challenging than the first "Metroid Prime," when all players had to worry about was their health and missile supplies. Destroying an enemy with one beam weapon will yield ammo for the other weapon, so players are perpetually lacking stores of one ammunition type.

It's the subtle extra touches that make "Echoes" truly worth buying. For instance, vision will be momentarily blurred when water runs off the visor as Samus emerges from a pool or swamp. Samus's free hand involuntarily comes up to protect her face when she is being bitten or electrocuted. And when a particularly brilliant explosion occurs, and the angle is just right, Samus' eyes will be reflected onto the surface of her visor.

"Echoes" retains the feel of the first "Metroid Prime," including, unfortunately, all the problems with control that turned some gamers off to the first game. The first-person perspective is forever awkward: It's commonplace among intensely violent shoot-em-up games, something that "Echoes" is not. It still takes an agonizingly long time to turn 180 degrees. One major flaw in the control is the fact that players cannot look up and down unless they hold down a button, which prevents them from moving. It is frustratingly common to get shot, rammed, sliced or bit in the back. The only recourse in that situation is to curl up into what is called a Morph Ball and roll to safety. Luckily for "Echoes," the main draw of the game is not the action. It's the exploration of a strange, spectacular new planet, and solving the mystery as to what happened before Samus landed. In fact, if the story weren't so engrossing and the graphics weren't so pretty, "Echoes" wouldn't be worth playing.

The multiplayer mode is adequately entertaining. There are two modes of play: Deathmatch, where players simply bash each other, and Bounty Hunter, where players bash each other but must collect coins that explode out of their prey. Up to four people can play, and four is highly recommended. Two players makes for slow, unentertaining gameplay and involves very little strategy. There are a total of six maps, and each is ingenious in its own little way. For instance, Sidehopper Station, a surreal little space station, involves chasing each other on foot and through the air, rolling up into a Morph Ball and being launched clear across the arena using conveniently placed cannons.

If you decide to buy "Echoes," you can expect one of the most challenging endgame boss fights in recent memory. You can expect to die ten times more often than you did in the first "Metroid Prime." Most of all, you can expect to get your money's worth with this excellent adventure game.

"Metroid Prime 2: Echoes" is rated Teen (age 13+). It is available at electronics and video game stores everywhere. The suggested retail price is $49.99.