- Search: More on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

On August 27, Nintendo invites gamers to get corrupted in Samus Aran's upcoming adventure, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The Wii first person shooter plunges the bounty hunter into another out of this world adventure, giving players the opportunity to blast aliens and solve puzzles using an enjoyable control scheme.

In the game, Samus continues the battle against her alter ego, Dark Samus, who seeks to corrupt planets by infecting them with gigantic seeds called Leviathans. Samus essentially planet hops across the galaxy, saving the universe while at the same time coping with the mysterious Phazon corrupting her body. At the same time, she can harness this Phazon energy with a device called a Phazon Enhancement Device (PED), which gives her super strength and improved weapons, allowing her to tear through enemies and other obstructions.

The catch is learning to maintain this Phazon, using it responsibly to avoid breaching "safe" levels and killing her, so the game has a cool risk vs. reward system. Players must choose between easily defeating enemies and doing things the hard way to avoid death.

Much like the other Metroid Prime video games, Corruption features alien landscapes full of life and vivid detail. Gamers will blast robots and a host of other creatures, all while scanning hundreds of objects to learn more info about their adversaries and surroundings. In addition, Samus' morph ball returns, giving her the opportunity to fit in small areas and complete puzzles.

Corruption uses a control scheme much more advanced than the abysmal Call of Duty 3 and Red Steel. Gamers maneuver her with the nunchuk's d-pad and lock-on with Z (in this game, you can strafe and independently target enemies at the same time). With the motion sensitive remote, players fire Samus' primary weapon with A, jump with B and launch missiles by pressing the d-pad. She can also use a grapple hook to swing across chasms and travel to different areas. In one sequence, for example, she latches onto a rail and zips across two structures. Gamers hold down Z (the grapple button) while using the remote to target and destroy enemies, bombs and even doors in Samus' path.

Samus also has a host of different visors, and gamers access them by pressing and holding the remote's minus button, then tilting the controller towards the desired mode. To go into scan mode, for instance, they merely flick the remote upwards.

Although Nintendo didn't go into too much detail (we grilled the rep about online play, to no avail), we thoroughly enjoyed Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Developer Retro Studios continues to do an amazing job creating alien worlds and populating them with scores of bizarre creatures, and true to form, the game doesn't disgrace the classic Metroid formula but enhances it.

With its release but a month and a half away, Metroid Prime 3 should be a nice way to end the summer.