Video Game Concepts: Co-op Metroid
Metroid has always been about Samus going solo- even in Other M where there was a team of Marines working in the same area. A few times in that game - especially when Marines started getting killed- I wondered if things would've changed if one or two of those guys worked alongside Samus through most of the game. Since I can't re-invent Other M (even though it needs to be done...), I tried for the next best thing: Metroid 5: Return of the X!
Plot:
When Samus directed the B.S.L. station to crash into the planet SR388, she thought the explosion would eradicate all life on the planet- especially the X parasites that had infested the station. In doing so, she had gone against the wishes of the Galactic Federation, who wanted to study the X for military purposes. The G.F. tried to use this as an excuse to refuse payment to Samus, but when confronted by Samus’s full report on the behavior of the X on board B.S.L. and by Adam Malkovich’s support of her actions, they were compelled to provide sufficient compensation to allow Samus to purchase a new Hunter-class ship, transfer Adam into its computer, and begin work on restoring her old Power Suit. The Federation declared SR388 and its entire system to be a restricted quarantine area, partially to wait until the planet recovered from the crash and partially as an added measure of protection should any X have survived the impact.
The Zebesian Space Pirates, although greatly reduced in power by Samus’s repeated victories over them, still maintained a presence on a few worlds and were presently engaged in small-scale operations trying to rebuild without attracting attention. About five years after the B.S.L. incident, of which the Pirates knew nothing, a scouting squadron of Zebesians slipped into the SR388 system unnoticed and found that the planet, although still suffering from high levels of radioactivity and climatic upheaval, could be landed on and explored by someone with sufficient shielding. The scouts who survived brought back reports that SR388 could be exploited for radioactive materials and raw materials for vital infrastructure. They also unwittingly brought something else: some of the few surviving X Parasites. Of the scouts who returned to their home base, only two were uninfected and alive.
The Pirate scientists studied the X and came to the conclusion that X-copied Pirates were superior warriors due to their ability to regenerate their form, and were impressed by the parasite’s powers in general. They proposed an X breeding program to create an army of virtually indestructible soldiers that could destroy the hated G.F. Within a matter of weeks, they reversed their decision, having discovered that the X did not take orders and that their virtual indestructibility made them impossible to contain. The planet was in danger of being over-run by the X. On Homeworld, Pirate High Command found themselves in a pickle- they could not save themselves, and the only solution with the least glimmer of hope involved falling upon the mercy of the Hunter and her G.F. allies. Finally, they agreed that begging for help was better than extinction.
The arguments between and within both groups over policy and procedure threatened to squelch the infected planet’s chances, until Samus stood up and declared that eliminating the X took higher priority to her than seeing the end of the Space Pirates. Eventually a plan was put forward that both the Zebesians and the Federation could agree to. Samus would transport several SR388 Metroids that the G.F. had grown from the Baby Metroid DNA to the infected planet and place them in strategic locations- and particularly attempt to establish a Queen Metroid. She would take direction from Pirate Command and be accompanied by a Zebesian, who would have to be inoculated with a temporary form of the Metroid Vaccine that was used on Samus. The two will have to work together in order to plant the Metroid Eggs and contain the X with minimal damage to Pirate infrastructure.
Standing against them are X-copies some of the Space Pirates’s toughest agents: Kraid, Draygon, Crocomire, and the Elite Pirate-X.
Gameplay:
You control Samus and the Space Pirate in a swap-out manner: you control one while the computer makes the other follow you and make basic attacks toward threats that come their way. Samus’s gear is tuned more towards combat, while the Pirate’s gear is mainly used to operate machines, unlock hatches, and plant Eggs in designated spots, although both have weapons and abilities like Space Jump for moving around. Samus and Pirate have separate health and ammos and each has a unique “Energy Tank” pick-up, although either character can grab them. Samus starts at her basic skills- normal beam and morph ball- because she is wearing a new Power Suit that still needs some work. She acquires new powers via Core-X and picking up Missile Tanks. The Pirate starts with basic lasers, is able to crawl through straight Morph Ball tunnels, and can plant the Eggs at spots that appear when a room is cleared of enemies. He gains more abilities at Equipment Rooms as authorized by Command.
When a Metroid Egg is planted, it will hatch when the next objective is cleared and will grow over time according to the relative strength of that room’s enemies, gradually reducing the number of enemies until only basic, health-giving X remain. Metroids will not attack the players, no matter how much they evolve, and cannot be killed (although they can be frozen with Ice weapons for use as temporary platforms). The Queen Egg will be planted roughly one-third of the way through the game and must be periodically protected until it reaches the Omega stage.
Besides the four bosses listed above, there will be other Core-X based on other Metroid bosses or original creatures. The EP-X fills the same role as the SA-X in Fusion, only tougher to dodge due to its size. It is slower than the characters, but its weapons are long-range and include Ice power beams and Super-level concussives, plus it can punch through some walls. It is the only X capable of threatening a full-grown Queen Metroid, and thus will serve as the final boss, just outside Queenie’s room.
Objectives will be delivered from Pirate Command at Navigation Rooms, and are usually along the liens of planting a certain umber of Eggs in a region or destroying a Core-X to “clean up” an area. The characters are not supposed to destroy Pirate infrastructure (walls, beams, entire buildings…) without prior approval. Although Samus and her companion will not always agree on the details, most of their goals are held in common, and the Pirate is more pragmatic about breaking things than his superiors are. Adam is a reliable ally to Samus when disagreements turn hot, and he’s generally better at locating Core-X and tracking the EP-X than Command. As things heat up and the EP-X becomes more active- often demolishing walls and altering entire rooms- Pirate Command decides to pin the blame and cost for its actions on Samus, declaring the EP-X a fictitious creature made up by Samus to cover her “senseless rampaging” across the planet. At this point Samus’s companion has a crisis of faith and ultimately decides to pursue the truth over Command’s wishes, whole-heartedly assisting Samus as she begins to hunt down the EP-X.
True to form, the game ends with a race against the clock to reach the ships before the reactor meltdown caused by the EP-X’s death throes takes out the installation above the Queen’s cavern. (Don’t worry, Queenie survives). The Metroids will be minor obstacles on the way out.