Metroid Prime Trilogy
3 1/2 stars
The three "Metroid Prime" games have been packaged together, and the first two updated for Wii, in this compilation.
"Metroid Prime" and its first sequel, "Echoes," have been given the widescreen treatment as well as the motion-sensitive controls from "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption." The reward token system from "Corruption" has also been expanded to the earlier games.
All three play in a similar way, with bounty hunter Samus Aran scanning her environment for clues, battling Space Pirates and other creatures, and solving numerous puzzles and challenges on her way to the end. The first "Prime" is still the best, with the most useful array of special items and weapons, and the most interesting world to explore, but the other two are quite good as well.
Newcomers shouldn't expect run-and-gun game play despite the first-person perspective; the focus is on exploration and discovery, as it is in all "Metroid" games so far.
Nintendo Wii; $49.99 • Age rating: Teen
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta
3 stars
The fifth, and apparently final, piece of downloadable content for "Fallout 3," "Mothership Zeta" has the player's character abducted by the strange aliens whose technology can be found in a few places in the Capital Wasteland.
After an unpleasant-looking medical experiment, the player wakes up in a cell with another human prisoner, who comes up with a plan to escape. From there, the goal is to get to the bridge of the ship and defeat the alien commander with the help of other abductees, some of whom have been onboard a long, long time.
This expansion is similar to the more action-oriented "Operation: Anchorage" one – there's a lot of fighting, alien technology to pick up and new foes to destroy with it. It's not the best of the added content, but the spaceship environment is all new, and the ray guns are pretty neat.
Microsoft Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade download), PC; $10 (800 Microsoft Points) • Age rating: Mature
– Justin Hoeger
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