Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the stunning culmination of Retro Studios' legendary series. Prime's first (and last) outing on Wii is indicative of a developer that has refined and honed its craftsmanship and design sense, even after its debut effort quickly became one of the most respected games of all time. Never before have we seen a Metroid game with a larger variety of gameplay, a greater sense of inhabiting the iconic power suit of bounty huntress Samus Aran, or a fuller context for the universe in which Samus fights.

Inevitably, Prime 3 cannot impart upon us the same brain-crushing sense of wonder that the unexpected Prime did at the time of its release; such is the nature of this type of sequel. What it can and does do--and, with a couple notable exceptions, what its immediate predecessor perhaps failed to do as much as it should have--is deliver what we now expect from Prime, but then shake things up and ask, "Ah, but did you expect this?"

The original Metroid Prime set a new high bar for exploration-based, atmospheric first person shooters--or first person adventures, as its developers often remind us--while simultaneously reinterpreting the gameplay of its predecessors in a 3D context. Nintendo and its developers have managed to do this no fewer than three groundbreaking times with its various franchises, but Metroid occupies a unique place in the company's pantheon, with its solitary, almost melancholic old-school sci-fi aesthetic and enigmatic but rich world.

Series devotees will be relieved to know that the bulk of the game consists of the nonlinear exploration format established in the original Metroid and first exemplified by Super Metroid. Sent on a critical mission by the Galactic Federation, Samus traverses numerous environments, each of startlingly disparate and aesthetically magnificient design, gaining new abilities and opening up the world more and more.

In a clever move, however, Retro has bookended that classically Metroid gameplay with a relatively linear and conventional shooter segment to introduce the gamer to the Wii controls at the beginning, and a much more organic blend of narrative and gameplay that serves to tie up the game, the series, and the gameplay mechanic that gives Corruption its subtitle at the end.

Though well-intentioned and generally well-conceived, the brief opening segment, which sees Samus battling her way off of a besieged Federation station, is the one major area of the game that falls short from a presentational standpoint. The stilted NPC-heavy cutscenes feel like new ground for Retro, and the fairly uninspired brushed-metal spacecraft interiors aren't done any favors by the Wii hardware.

That said, it is an appropriately high-action sequence that serves to quickly acclimate players to the pointer-based controls and to Samus' already considerable powers--unusually for the series, she begins with several abilities on which to build, rather than starting from scratch. It also sets up the game's premise to the point that those who have missed out on either Prime installment should not feel lacking. The sequence is still peppered with brilliant moments, such as manipulating Samus' ship from within the cockpit, a great way to one-up the signature visor view that is such a crucial part of the series' identity.

So with the hit-and-miss opener out of the way, get ready for the great stuff, otherwise known as "everything else."

One of the main goals of the opening sequence was doubtless to give players a straightforward stretch of gameplay to learn the controls. Other first person Wii developers, take note: Retro has set the bar, and your games will be judged against this one. On the "Advanced" setting, which most readers of this site are advised to use, movement and aiming with the Wii remote is fluid and natural.

It takes a fair amount of time to use it with great skill, but a basic competency is gained very quickly. Gone is the wild flailing of games such as Red Steel. The controls retain Prime's ability to lock the camera onto an enemy, but also allow the player to point the reticule independently. This inventive optional mechanic bridges old and new, adding a great deal of elegance to the controls without sacrificing the practical convenience of locking on.

Prime 3's core gameplay avoids treading too far into full-on shooter territory, but not because the controls are incapable of it. Rather, it is because of a fundamental series convention of Samus' firearm: its delay. The non-instantaneous nature of her beam weapons means that it is still more advantageous to dash from position to position rather than engage in frenetic Quake-style circle strafing (although, for what it's worth, circle strafing is now possible even without a lock).

For this reason, the pointer-based controls are actually more of a joy for the movement aspect than the aiming. It simply feels right to walk into a new area and guide Samus' field of vision up and around in that natural way. Everyone who has played Prime can relate to the experience of coming to a new location and involuntarily taking a step back to soak it all in, and Corruption provides a better interface to do so.

That's not to say Prime 3 doesn't hit you with a burst of intense FPS action from time to time. The game's titular Corruption mechanic, which sees Samus consume health to enter her powerful Hyper Mode, gives her a faster-firing weapon allowing more sharpshooting from the hip. Abuse of Hyper Mode can be fatal, and the game does an excellent job of making its use essential while also ensuring you become genuinely proficient with it rather than abusing it.

This interplay between first person adventure and shooter is one of the game's defining characteristics, and it is a testament to Retro's designers that it never feels incoherent or shoehorned. One starts to wonder what the studio could do with a full-on original FPS, as even Corruption's nods to traditional FPS eclipse what other full games in the genre have achieved on Wii.