Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is an action-adventure game released in 2007. It was created by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii. This game is the seventh main game in the Metroid series. It was first sold in North America and Europe in 2007 and later in Japan in 2008.

The story takes place six months after Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, which was released in 2004. Players control Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who becomes infected with Phazon after facing her copy, called Dark Samus. Samus must stop Phazon from spreading to other planets while dealing with the effects of the infection.

To play the game, players use the Wii Nunchuk to move and the Wii Remote to jump, aim, and shoot. Corruption adds new features, such as Hypermode, which lets Samus use stronger attacks, and the ability to control her gunship. Designing the new control system took about a year and caused delays in the game’s release. The game was first shown to the public at the E3 2005 trade show.

Like earlier Prime games, Corruption was praised for its gameplay, graphics, and music. However, some players had mixed opinions about the controls. Over one million copies of the game were sold in 2007. It was later released again in 2009 as part of the Metroid Prime: Trilogy collection. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was released in 2025 for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

Gameplay

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a first-person action-adventure game. The player controls Samus Aran using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk devices. The Nunchuk helps the player move Samus and aim at enemies and targets. The Wii Remote is used to jump, aim, and fire weapons.

The game takes place on multiple planets, each with areas connected by elevators, rail systems, and bridges. Rooms in these areas are separated by doors that open when shot with the correct weapon. Gameplay includes solving puzzles, jumping on platforms, and shooting enemies. A "lock-on" feature lets Samus move in a circle while staying aimed at an enemy. This feature also allows Samus to use the Grapple Beam to pull objects like enemy shields or doors. The game is viewed from a first-person perspective, except during Morph Ball mode, where Samus becomes a ball-shaped suit and the camera switches to a third-person view. The third-person view is also used during the Screw Attack power-up, where Samus jumps continuously while emitting energy waves.

The heads-up display shows a view inside Samus' helmet and includes a radar, map, ammunition gauge, and health meter. Players can switch visors to gain abilities like X-ray vision, collect information about items and enemies, and interact with mechanisms such as force fields and elevators. The game includes a hint system that provides on-screen instructions and navigation help.

Hypermode is a feature that drains health to grant temporary invincibility and stronger attacks, but it lasts only 25 seconds or until a Phazon gauge is empty. If the Phazon gauge fills completely or Samus is hit by a Phazon Grenade from a Space Pirate, Corrupt Hypermode begins. If Corrupt Hypermode is not stopped, it causes a non-standard game over because Samus is overwhelmed by Phazon.

The Command Visor allows Samus to summon her gunship from a suitable landing site to save progress or travel quickly. New abilities let the gunship attack enemies from the air and move heavy objects. Players can earn special credits by completing objectives in the achievement system. These credits can be traded for rewards like concept art, music for a sound test, and decorations for Samus' gunship.

Synopsis

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption takes place six months after Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. The main character, Samus Aran, is a bounty hunter hired by the Galactic Federation to help during its war with the Space Pirates. After losing a battle on the planet Zebes during the first Metroid game, the Space Pirates tried to gain power by using a new substance called Phazon. Samus stopped their plans in the Prime trilogy, and the Galactic Federation took control of their Phazon weapons.

After losing in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, the Space Pirates were in chaos. They accidentally met Dark Samus, a dark version of Samus, while trying to collect Phazon. Dark Samus killed one-third of the Space Pirates and turned the rest into servants. Together, they planned to spread Phazon across the universe by attacking three Federation planets: Norion, Bryyo, and Elysia. The game focuses on these planets and three others that become accessible after completing specific tasks.

Fleet Admiral Castor Dane, the leader of the Galactic Federation’s flagship, GFS Olympus, called Samus Aran and three other bounty hunters—Rundas, Ghor, and Gandrayda—to a meeting. They were ordered to clean a virus from special computers called "Aurora Units" located across the galaxy. The meeting ended when the Space Pirates attacked the Federation fleet. Samus and the bounty hunters were sent to Norion, where the Space Pirates, led by Ridley, were attacking the Federation base. Samus learned that a Phazon meteoroid, called a Leviathan Seed, would soon crash into Norion. While trying to activate the base’s defenses, Samus and the others were attacked by Dark Samus and knocked unconscious. Samus, who was badly hurt, managed to activate the defense system just in time to destroy the Leviathan Seed before falling into a coma.

One month later, Samus woke up on the GFS Olympus. She discovered that Dark Samus’s Phazon attacks had damaged her. The Federation gave her a special device called the Phazon Enhancement Device (PED) to help her control the Phazon energy inside her. She was told that her fellow bounty hunters, who had also been infected with Phazon and given PEDs, had disappeared during missions to investigate planets with Leviathan Seeds. Samus was sent first to Bryyo and then to Elysia to find out what happened to her missing friends. She learned that both planets and their people were being slowly destroyed by the Leviathan Seeds and that she needed to destroy the seeds to stop the damage. Samus faced strong opposition from the Space Pirates, creatures infected with Phazon, and her corrupted bounty hunter friends.

During her mission, which took her to the Space Pirates’ home planet, Samus became more infected with Phazon. With help from Federation troops, she stopped the Space Pirates’ attack. After defeating a powerful version of Ridley, Samus and the Federation used a stolen Leviathan battleship to create a wormhole leading to Phaaze, the planet where Phazon originated. Samus traveled to Phaaze’s core, where she defeated Dark Samus and the corrupted Aurora Unit 313. Dark Samus was destroyed, and Phaaze exploded, possibly removing all Phazon from the galaxy. The Federation fleet escaped Phaaze’s destruction but lost contact with Samus. Later, Samus appeared in her spaceship and reported that the mission was complete before flying into space.

Samus returned to Elysia and mourned the loss of her friends. If the player completes the game with all collected items, Samus flies into hyperspace, followed by Sylux’s spaceship.

Development

Retro Studios planned to create larger environments for Metroid Prime 3: Corruption than those in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, including open-world features, and to make the game run at 60 frames per second. However, Retro canceled plans for interactive scenes involving Samus' ship after discovering the Wii was less powerful than expected. They also wanted to use the WiiConnect24 feature to add internet-based content.

As Samus is a bounty hunter, Retro initially planned for her to complete missions to collect bounties. Nintendo disagreed, stating that Samus was motivated by helping others rather than earning money. Later, Retro learned that Japanese Nintendo staff viewed bounty hunters as selfless heroes, not individuals who capture criminals for profit.

Retro announced that Corruption would be the final game in the Prime series, with a story focused on "closure" set during a large-scale conflict. After the Wii Remote was introduced, Nintendo demonstrated a version of Echoes adapted for the Wii at the Tokyo Game Show in 2005. At a Nintendo Media Summit in May 2007, Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America, said Metroid games had never been played this way before, and that Nintendo employees believed the game would "reinvent the control scheme for a first-person shooter."

Mark Pacini, the director, noted that Retro’s main challenge was designing controls with "too many functions for the number of buttons." The Wii Zapper, a gun-shaped accessory, was not used because it was introduced near the end of development. Michael Kelbaugh, Retro’s president, said delays allowed more time to improve the controller, which took a year to refine. He also mentioned that while Retro was proud of the multiplayer in Echoes, they focused on single-player for Corruption, which they believed was the series’ strongest aspect. Todd Keller, the art director, explained that the graphics team prioritized texture detail and variety, making each room unique. Nintendo EAD suggested turning Hypermode into a central game feature, as it increased player power but risked failure if overused. Retro initially worried this might reduce fun but later made Hypermode a standard part of the game. Engineer Paul Tozour mentioned the Halo series as an influence.

The soundtrack was composed by Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano, and Masaru Tajima. Increased RAM on the Wii allowed for better audio quality. Yamamoto based the music on Hirokazu Tanaka’s original Metroid (1986) design, keeping the soundtrack dark and eerie until the uplifting ending. Corruption was the first Metroid game to include significant voice acting, which helped players connect with characters. Previously, Samus was portrayed as a lone figure. Voice actors included Timothy Patrick Miller, Lainie Frasier, Christopher Sabat, Edwin Neal, Claire Hamilton, Brian Jepson, Gray Haddock, Clayton Kjas, and Ken Webster.

Release

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was first shown to the public at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2005 with a short video. It was later announced during Nintendo's press conference at E3 in 2006. In May, Nintendo said Corruption would be released as a game for the Wii console when it first launched, but the release was delayed to 2007. In April of that year, Nintendo executive Reggie Fils-Aimé said in an interview that the game would not be released by June and would come out no earlier than summer. Later that month, IGN editor Matt Casamassina said the game would be released on August 20 in the United States. Nintendo of America changed the date to August 27, but the final release date was set for August 28. The game was released in Europe on October 26, 2007, and in Japan on March 6, 2008. In the Japanese version, players choose the game's difficulty by answering a questionnaire from the Galactic Federation, while in the North American version, players select the difficulty directly. Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe said the idea for the questionnaire came from Retro Studios.

Initially, Casamassina criticized Nintendo for not marketing Corruption as much as the original Metroid Prime, which had a large campaign including a live-action ad. He said the smaller campaign showed Nintendo's new focus on casual games for its console. When asked, Nintendo of America said, "Nintendo fans will be surprised by the quantity and quality of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption information before the game launches on August 27. Your patience will be rewarded (or Corrupted)." After this, Nintendo released the "Metroid Prime 3 Preview" channel on August 10 in North America and October 15 in Europe. The channel, available for free on the Wii Shop Channel, let players watch preview videos, including a battle scene and new character details. This was the first of several downloadable content videos released in North America. Nintendo called this time period the "Month of Metroid," which included Virtual Console versions of Metroid, released on August 13, and Super Metroid, released on August 20.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was re-released on August 24, 2009, in North America and Europe as part of the compilation Metroid Prime: Trilogy, which also included Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Metroid Prime and Echoes included the motion controls and achievement systems introduced in Corruption. The compilation was later released on the Wii U's Nintendo eShop on January 29, 2015.

Reception

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption received positive reviews from many sources. Nintendo Power praised the game’s visuals and engaging gameplay, calling it one of the best Wii games. IGN gave it the Editor’s Choice Award, saying it was beautifully designed and the most visually impressive game for the Wii. They also noted the quality of the voice acting, which was a new feature compared to most other Nintendo games. Although some reviewers said the game was similar to earlier titles in the series, they concluded it was the best game in the Prime trilogy. IGN suggested that if the game had not been too similar to its predecessors, it might have received the same high score as the original Metroid Prime (9.8). X-Play found the game enjoyable but mentioned some control issues, such as awkward mechanics and difficulty handling the Wii’s motion controls. They also noted problems with targeting systems and discomfort from repeated movements.

Shane Satterfield from GameTrailers said the game was more user-friendly and action-packed than earlier titles like Metroid Prime and Echoes. He praised the improved motion controls, calling them a key reason why Corruption was "far superior to the original Metroid Prime." 1UP.com highlighted the new control system and called the graphics "some of the best in gaming." Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a Silver award and listed it as one of the best games of the month. GameSpot noted the game’s enjoyable puzzles, boss battles, and smooth gameplay. It also mentioned that the game felt more like a traditional shooter than an adventure shooter and that the motion-based actions sometimes responded too slowly.

GamesRadar ranked Metroid Prime 3: Corruption as the 10th-best Wii game, praising its shooting system and calling it "the ultimate achievement" for the series. In IGN’s Best of 2007 Awards, Corruption won for Best Wii Adventure Game, Best Artistic Design, and Best Overall Adventure Game. GameSpy placed it as the second-best Wii game of 2007, behind Super Mario Galaxy, and honored it for its innovation. The Australian website MyWii also ranked it as the second-best Wii game, behind Super Mario Galaxy. In 2009, Official Nintendo Magazine called the game a "fantastic finale" and placed it 35th on a list of the greatest Nintendo games.

Corruption was the fifth best-selling game in August 2007, with 218,100 copies sold. It debuted at number five on the Japanese charts, selling 34,000 units in its first week. Nintendo reported that 1.14 million copies were sold in 2007. Later updates showed that 1.31 million copies were sold worldwide by March 2008, and 1.41 million copies were sold by December 2014.

Sequels

A spin-off game called Metroid Prime: Federation Force was created by Next Level Games and released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. In 2017, Nintendo announced Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch. Eurogamer reported that Prime 4 was being developed by Bandai Namco Studios. Because of slow progress, Nintendo announced in 2019 that it had restarted development of the game with Retro Studios. In 2024, Nintendo shared a trailer and revealed the title Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The game was released on December 4, 2025.