Tanabe on how Metroid Prime: Federation Force fits into the franchise, expecting backlash

A portion of a CGMagOnline interview with Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe (through a translator)...

CG: Now when it comes to the world of Metroid Prime, I know a lot of fans are very loving of that series. Will you be carrying over any of the references or things people might love from the series into this game or will this be a completely new experience with no mention of the Metroid Prime games?

KT: So the core game system itself is pretty much a brand new thing. I’d like to clarify it. So you can play as a solo player or up to four players. Each player will be given a mech with all the same base specs. It is then up to them to pick a load-out before they go on to a mission. You’d be able to choose items such as missiles or repairs or other things like that. However, the player would also have to consider that there’s a weight limit to the mech. The super missile is something that’s very powerful but because it’s so heavy, you’ll only be able to carry one or two at most at a time. As opposed to that, a repair capsule is pretty light so you’ll be able to carry multiples. So depending on how the player feels, they might choose to bring a powerful weapon like a super missile or some other people might choose to be more like a healer type to bring in repair capsules. So the load-outs will basically give players the choice to choose what type of character they will be in that mission.

CG: What is your hope for fans when they first hear this title? What are you expecting the fan reaction to be when they first see Blast Ball and Federation Force?

KT: First off, he had in mind that he expected that people would sort of act in a negative way when they find out that Samus was not an actual player. What he sees happening is that once the players can actually have hands-on experience with the actual game, they’ll be able to understand and experience for themselves how the game actually feels and that the Metroid Prime universe atmosphere is there, and the music that is used in the game is also heavily related to the Prime series of course so while people would at first say, “oh this isn’t what I expected,” they’ll definitely understand the different perspective that we’re taking here and it’ll certainly make a difference once you get some experience with the game.