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103-518: Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a 2016 cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS . Taking place after the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007), players assume the role of Galactic Federation Marines attempting to thwart the continuing advances of the Space Pirates after Samus Aran eradicated

206-542: A total conversion mod for the game Unreal Tournament 2004 , first released in 2005, introduced the cooperative wave-based survival game mode. After the Gears of War franchise introduced the term, Horde mode , which is four-player cooperative wave-based survival game mode, the cooperative game mode has undergone a resurgence, starting a trend which included Halo 3: ODST ' s "Firefight" mode and Call of Duty: World at War ' s "Nazi Zombies" mode. More games in

309-498: A "distinct female character [who does not rely] on cheap thrills to capture the attention of gamers". Nevertheless, much of Samus' media reception came from her sex appeal , and she has been included in many video-game lists that rank women by their physical attractiveness. Paul O'Connor, the lead game designer for Sammy Studios and a fan of the Metroid series, remarked that players empathize and identify with Samus because she

412-614: A 3D display product for their consoles. This display system supported this practice under the trademark SimulView. While the SimulView feature set was designed to work only with the Sony 3D monitor, the move renewed interest in this technology, and it was not long before the gaming community circumvented this vendor lock-in gambit, allowing SimulView-supporting games to utilize the feature on third-party 3DTV equipment. By contrast, in cooperative platform games , both players typically occupy

515-460: A March 2016 Nintendo Direct, but an accompanying trailer on YouTube received a 2:1 dislike to like ratio (last recorded as 1,374 to 600) and resulted in Nintendo disabling the feature within hours of being available. Additionally, the game completely skipped E3 2016, even though its release was slated for a few months after the event. Metroid Prime: Federation Force received a rating of 64/100 on

618-637: A ball to travel through tight areas was initially called the Maru Mari, meaning "round ball" in Japanese, and was rechristened as the Morph Ball in Super Metroid . The Morph Ball was conceived by the developers because it requires less effort to animate than "a cyborg crawling on all fours", and the producer for Metroid , Gunpei Yokoi , took advantage of this shortcut. Samus Aran was raised on

721-812: A beam onto the egg, causing it to rapidly hatch into larval form. Federation Force was developed by Next Level Games , who are known for having previously developed Super Mario Strikers , Mario Strikers Charged , Punch-Out!! for Wii , and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon . In early 2014, an interview with Next Level Games' co-founder Jason Carr revealed the company's closeness with Nintendo and implied that their future games would be exclusive to Nintendo's consoles. Carr also shared that Nintendo gives them "better and better IP to work with". Nintendo's subsidiary Retro Studios - who previously developed Metroid Prime , Metroid Prime 2: Echoes , and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - were not directly involved with Federation Force ' s development, but they designed

824-451: A breakthrough for female characters in video games, and is one of the most beloved video game characters of all time by critics and fans alike. Samus is one of the first major female protagonists in a video game. The reveal in the original game has been regarded as a significant moment in gaming by sources such as UGO Networks , Game Informer , and GameDaily . In contrast, Rupert Goodwins of The Independent felt that

927-404: A co-op rhythm game which allowed players to work together to complete a song of their choosing or the two players could fight each other in the battle mode with each guitarist striving for a higher score. Early-generation home consoles typically did not offer co-op options, due to technical limitations which hindered the increased graphics required for simultaneous co-op play. Though consoles from

1030-600: A comic book continuation of the TV series Captain N: The Game Master . As one of the earliest female video game protagonists, Samus is noted for her role in establishing positive gender representation in video games , though her portrayal in Metroid: Other M received criticism. Conceived by scenario designer Makoto Kano and designed by Hiroji Kiyotake , series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto has stated that

1133-446: A cooperative game, the industry has settled on games that support up to four players as an informal standard. This comes from a combination of factors. Historically, cooperative arcade video games maxed out at four players. Similarly, consoles which supported local co-op play on the same screen also maxed out at four players. There is also a human factor according to various developers. While having more than four players involved could make

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1236-435: A game more interesting to play, this starts to exceed a comfortable number related to social interactions between players and may cause segmenting of the larger group into smaller ones, while up to four players encourages cooperation and coordination within that group. Many video games support split screen displays in order to show two or more players in different regions of the game. Split screen displays would usually split

1339-401: A limited number of missiles. The Power Suit can be reconfigured into a small, spherical form called the Morph Ball, which allows her to roll through tight areas, such as tunnels, and use Bombs. Additionally, its visor can be used to scan objects to learn more about them, a feature that has been used since Metroid Prime . Aside from her Power Suit, Samus is also in possession of a Gunship, which

1442-485: A mixed reception. Metroid Prime: Federation Force plays similarly to Metroid Prime Hunters , which primarily focused on the shooting mechanics within the Metroid Prime series as opposed to the exploration. Like its handheld predecessor, Federation Force incorporates cooperative elements into the core gameplay, but it lacks the touch-based controls of Hunters as well as the established scanning mechanics of

1545-520: A mixture of single-player goals ("quests") and larger end-game challenges that can only be completed via intensive co-op play, of up to twenty-five (formerly forty) players in end-game raids, and up to forty versus forty in battlegrounds. Co-op games can be played locally using one or multiple input controllers or over a network via local area networks , wide area networks , or the Internet. Cooperative games designed to be played by multiple players on

1648-574: A now unknown member of the development team conceived of the idea of making Samus a woman midway through the first Metroid ' s development, which the development team voted in favor of. The game's instruction manual refers to Samus as if she were male to obscure her real sex until the surprise reveal at the end of the game. Her appearance outside of her suit was based on actress Sigourney Weaver in her role as Ellen Ripley from Aliens , and actress Kim Basinger 's roles from 9½ Weeks and My Stepmother Is an Alien . Sakamoto noted that during

1751-657: A passcode. Metroid: Zero Mission introduced the Zero Suit, a form-fitting jumpsuit that she wears beneath the Power Suit. In Metroid: Other M , the Zero Suit is capable of materializing the Power Suit from within itself. She is 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) and 90 kilograms (200 lb) while wearing the Power Suit. The Super Metroid Nintendo's Player's Guide describes Samus as 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) tall and weighs 198 pounds (90 kg) without her Power Suit. Her signature ability to collapse into

1854-558: A pinball version of the first Metroid Prime game. She also appears in Metroid Prime Hunters , where she is tasked with either retrieving or destroying an "ultimate power" while dealing with other bounty hunters. Metroid Prime Federation Force has her as a non-playable character, where she needs to be rescued from the Space Pirates by Galactic Federation soldiers. Outside of Metroid series. Samus appears as

1957-629: A playable character throughout the Super Smash Bros. series, where she can use her array of weapons in combat against characters from other Nintendo franchises. She first appears in Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo 64 in her Power Suit. Starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl , the third entry in the series, Samus gets a second character in the form of Zero Suit Samus, who has a completely different moveset. Both forms appear in every Smash game afterward. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate added Dark Samus, whose moveset and model are mostly

2060-452: A single player mode and that Samus Aran would appear in-game as a non-playable character. This game would be a defining factor on the negative reception of Nintendo's presence at E3 2015 as whole, fueled by the announcement of Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival and the lack of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild . Following a long silence on the game, Tanabe detailed the game further in

2163-512: A single screen, utilizing multiple monitors, or participating in online multiplayer. Some games, like Super Mario Galaxy , the Wii version of Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands , Super Mario Odyssey and some versions of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , however, limit the second player to an omniscient, invulnerable helper role, where they can assist the first player. This may include

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2266-411: A sizable online community. It allowed one player to serve as a Dungeon Master , shaping and altering the game world against a party of human-controlled players, playing cooperatively. (An earlier game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption (2000) was the earliest CRPG to feature this sort of "storyteller" mode. ) Contemporary MMORPGs such as Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft feature

2369-443: A two-player cooperative mode via split screen where 2 players needed to cooperate in order to solve puzzles and eliminate enemies. Later PC RPGs became more powerful and flexible in simulating the shared real life RPG experience, allowing players to collaborate in games over the Internet. Blizzard Entertainment 's immensely successful Diablo (1996), which incorporated Blizzard's online matchmaking service, battle.net , allowing

2472-750: Is a video game that allows players to work together as teammates, usually against one or more non-player character opponents ( PvE ). Cooperative video games are often abbreviated as co-ops . The gameplay of cooperative games may be entirely cooperative or be limited to cooperative modes . Co-op gameplay has gained popularity as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs and consoles, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of games—including shooter games , sports games , real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games —include co-op modes. The first video game to feature co-op play dates back to 1973, with Atari 's arcade video game Pong Doubles , which

2575-612: Is eventually able to access the source of the planet's Phazon contamination, a meteor impact crater, where she defeats the Phazon-infused creature Metroid Prime. In one ending, the Metroid Prime is shown reforming as a copy of Samus, dubbed in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes as Dark Samus. In Echoes , Samus is sent to the planet Aether, a Phazon meteor-ravaged planet split into light and dark dimensions. There she battles

2678-405: Is how Federation Force ' s campaign is organized. The game features previously established aliens as enemies, including the titular jellyfish-like Metroids and Space Pirates, but it also features original enemies, such as Goliath Beetles. The environments are diversified, with at least one mission taking place in an icy region, while another takes place in a desert. Up to four players traverse

2781-488: Is often rewarded for indulging in her curiosity. The book Videogames and Art noted that in the original Metroid the player is not briefed on Samus's past or future; the only interaction that they have with the character is by being her through gameplay, while bits of information can be gleaned from the handbook and through concept art, adding, "Samus is very rare for the character intimacy gained solely through game play and for her stasis and then drastic change", referring to

2884-548: Is sent to the Bermuda System to conduct archaeological surveys. The Federation Force soon discovers Space Pirate presence in the Bermuda System. The Galactic Federation hires Samus Aran to investigate the Space Pirates and provide intelligence. During an investigation on Bion, the Federation Force learns that the Space Pirates have acquired a technology that increases their size. Meanwhile, Samus discovers that

2987-399: Is used in the games to save progress and restore her health and ammunition. Early on, instances of Samus appearing without the Power Suit occur mainly in cutscenes, such as post-game screenshots of her in more revealing clothing, which are unlocked depending on difficulty level, game completion, or play time. Players could control Samus without her suit in the original Metroid using

3090-590: The Doomseye and discovers that the Space Pirates have captured Samus, who is then brainwashed and transformed into gigantic size and forced to fight against the Force. The Force defeats her, returning her size to normal, and disables the Doomseye' s force field, allowing the survivors of the Federation Fleet to launch their assault. During the ensuing chaos, the Force is sucked into the vacuum of space before

3193-484: The Metroid Prime series, which allowed players to analyze their character's surrounding environment and discover secrets. Federation Force is the first Metroid game where the player controls a Marine of the Galactic Federation. Within the context of the Metroid series, the Galactic Federation is a law-enforcing organization where soldiers are divided into platoons and go on planetary missions, which

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3296-769: The New Nintendo 3DS , but development pushed the title's release date to 2016. While the game is playable on all Nintendo 3DS models, Metroid Prime: Federation Force specifically benefits from the C-Stick of the New Nintendo 3DS by allowing the player to adjust their view of the surrounding environments. This extends to the game also supporting the Circle Pad Pro and Gyro Sensor controls for earlier Nintendo 3DS models. The game also supports Amiibo functionality, with compatible Amiibo unlocking new paint jobs for

3399-493: The Super NES which offered two- and three-player action once the main character had acquired his party members. Secret of Mana's co-op gameplay was considered innovative in its time, as it allowed the second or third players to drop in and out of the game at any time. This function influenced future titles, such as Dungeon Siege III . Final Fantasy VI (1994) offered a form of alternating co-op play for its battles, with

3502-402: The player character in the original 1986 game Metroid . Raised by the birdlike Chozo and infused with their DNA , Samus Aran is an ex-soldier of the Galactic Federation who became a galactic bounty hunter. She uses a powered exoskeleton that is equipped with an arm cannon that fires directed-energy weapons and missiles. She executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation and

3605-597: The review aggregator website Metacritic , indicating "mixed or average reviews". Upon release in Japan in August 2016, Metroid Prime: Federation Force sold less than 4,000 copies and failed to enter the top 20 of the sales charts. In the United Kingdom, the game debuted outside of the all-format software charts, below older 3DS titles such as New Super Mario Bros. 2 and Tomodachi Life , and charting outside of

3708-509: The second generation of video games onward typically had controller ports for two-player games, most systems did not have the computing or graphical power for simultaneous play, leading most games that billed "2-player gameplay" as a feature to merely include the single player game mode with alternating players. During this early era, many video games which featured co-op play (including beat 'em ups such as Double Dragon ) were ported to less advanced home systems. Alternating play replaced

3811-555: The 2015 short fan film Metroid: The Sky Calls , Samus is portrayed by actresses Jessica Chobot and America Young . Figures based on the character have been produced by various manufacturers. Samus is one of the twelve original amiibo released in November 2014. Nintendo Life suggested that Samus is a mascot character for the Metroidvania genre. As a woman in a male-dominated role, Samus has been widely considered

3914-542: The Bermuda System which features three planets: Excelcion, Talvania, and Bion. While conducting missions there, it is discovered that the Space Pirates have regrouped in this area and have obtained an ancient technology that increases their size to gargantuan proportions, which they intend to use against the Galactic Federation. Samus, featured as a secondary character in Metroid Prime: Federation Force , appears to conduct investigations regarding

4017-560: The CPU. Due to the lack of online multiplayer , co-op games in the RPG genre have generally been less common on console systems than on PCs. Nevertheless, some of the earliest co-op action RPGs were console titles, including the TurboGrafx-16 game Dungeon Explorer (1989) by Atlus which allowed up to five players to play simultaneously, and Square 's Secret of Mana (1993) for

4120-458: The Chozo, and is tasked with hunting various antagonistic forces, including the Space Pirates and their leader Ridley , the cybernetic supercomputer Mother Brain , the energy-draining X Parasites and Metroids , and the rogue Chozo warrior Raven Beak . Samus appears as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series. She also features in other media, including films, manga series, and

4223-507: The Fleet destroys the Doomseye , where they are saved by Samus. Samus then thanks the Federation Force for their efforts. In a post-credits scene, if the Federation Force had successfully stolen a Metroid egg from the Space Pirates, an unseen individual bearing a striking resemblance to Sylux infiltrates a Galactic Federation facility and encounters the Metroid egg. The individual projects

Metroid Prime: Federation Force - Misplaced Pages Continue

4326-468: The Galactic Federation mechs for the title. It was speculated by some people that Nintendo Software Technology , the development studio behind previous handheld entry Metroid Prime Hunters , may have been involved, but this turned out to be untrue. NST were not even made aware of the title's existence and only learned of Federation Force during the E3 2015 Nintendo Direct . The producer of Federation Force

4429-477: The Galactic Federation receives a video from an unknown source showing an X Parasite alive in the wild on planet ZDR. To investigate, they send 7 EMMI (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier) units, but after losing contact with the units, they hire Samus once again as she is the only being in the universe immune to the X. Upon arriving on ZDR, Samus is attacked, left unconscious and stripped of her equipment by an unknown Chozo warrior. From there she travels through

4532-538: The Ing, creatures that are able to possess other organisms, and Dark Samus. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007), Dark Samus infects Samus with Phazon, which slowly corrupts her and further forces her to prevent it from spreading to other planets. By the end of the game, she renders all Phazon inert by destroying its original source, the planet Phaaze, and permanently destroys Dark Samus. Samus also appears in other Metroid Prime games, including Metroid Prime Pinball ,

4635-460: The Mech that award special gameplay bonuses. Upon its reveal at E3 2015 , Metroid Prime: Federation Force received negative reception from many fans of the series. The game was criticized for lacking traditional Metroid series elements and not resembling other Metroid games, with criticism aimed toward the game's focus on first-person shooter combat and multiplayer over exploration and isolation,

4738-485: The Power Suit, Samus leaves and enlists in the Galactic Federation. She leaves after a dispute with her commanding officer, Adam Malkovich , but continues to assist them as a freelance bounty hunter afterward. Samus first appeared in Metroid in 1986. The Galactic Federation sends Samus to track down the Space Pirates on their home planet of Zebes. Deep within their base, she battles Mother Brain , and escapes just as

4841-495: The Space Pirates are building a massive battleship known as the Doomseye . The Federation then abruptly loses contact with Samus. The Doomseye cannot be located due to sophisticated cloaking technology powered by generators on each of the three planets in the system. The Force destroys the devices and reveals the Doomseye in orbit, which retaliates and decimates the majority of the Federation Fleet before surrounding itself in an impenetrable shield. The Federation Force infiltrates

4944-635: The Space Pirates' presence. Emphasis is made on encountering her from the perspective of the Federation Marines. In an effort to eradicate the Space Pirate menace for good, the Galactic Federation authorizes Operation Golem, a top-secret project in developing Mech suits to better combat the threat. An elite unit in the Federation, known as the Federation Force, is formed to pilot these Mechs, led by General Alex Miles. The Federation Force

5047-473: The ability to attack enemies within the first player's view, typically via a targeting reticle. Other co-op games such as It Takes Two and Evolve give the other player special roles, tasks or abilities. In essence, the second player's role in co-op video games is far from a duplicate of the first player. It introduces a unique perspective, fostering a culture of teamwork and mutual support. Often, these games also incorporate additional features to enhance

5150-604: The ambiguity of who might be in the suit made it "hardly a breakthrough for feminism". Various critics have discussed Samus' relation to sexuality; she was regarded as being one of the least sexualized female video game characters in the 2007 book Gaming Lives in the Twenty-First Century: Literate Connections , a belief shared by Steve Rabin in "Introduction to Game Development". Justin Hoeger of The Sacramento Bee appreciated that she

5253-465: The animated series of the same name. In the comic series, set before the events of Metroid , Samus is portrayed as brash, money-hungry, and fiercely independent, and title character Kevin Keene is depicted as her love interest. Samus also appears in various print adaptation of Metroid games. Samus appears as the main character of the 2003–2004 manga series Metroid , telling her backstory up to

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5356-462: The arcade's co-op play in the NES version (although Double Dragon II and III , for the same system, did retain their co-op gameplay). Most other titles featuring two-player were head-to-head sports titles. Though most of the console beat 'em ups were arcade ports, original franchises such as Streets of Rage and River City Ransom also became popular. In the run-and-gun shooter genre, Contra

5459-499: The baby Metroid fully grown, who sacrifices its life fighting a reborn Mother Brain. She gains Metroid powers and escapes the planet before it explodes. She later appears in Metroid Fusion , where she becomes infected by the X Parasite but is saved by DNA made from the hatchling. She explores a Space Station infected by the parasite and seeks to prevent it from spreading. She discovers Metroids are being grown here, and destroys

5562-565: The base self-destructs. She appears again in Metroid II: Return of Samus , where she is tasked with exterminating the Metroid species on SR388. After defeating the Metroid Queen, she finds a lone baby Metroid that imprints on her, and she spares its life. This story is retold in the remake, Metroid: Samus Returns . Her nemesis Ridley steals the hatchling in Super Metroid , who Samus pursues through Zebes. She finds

5665-480: The beat 'em up genre and was present in megahits such as Final Fight (1989), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989), and The Simpsons (1991). Ports of these games to home consoles were often criticized for their lack of co-operative functionality. In 1998, Time Crisis II launched as the first in the series as a two-player arcade rail shooter where two players could provide cover for each other. In 2009 Konami and Activision released Guitar Hero Arcade ,

5768-516: The character to "an actual human being who's using the vastness of space to try and put some distance between herself and the past". 1UP.com ' s Justin Hayward found the portrayal "lifeless and boring" and "nonsensical". GamesRadar wrote that Other M painted Samus, widely considered a strong female lead character, as "an unsure, insecure woman who desperately wants the approval of her former [male] commanding officer". The A.V. Club echoed

5871-590: The characters that made Nintendo "what it is today". IGN ranked her as the third-best character for Super Smash Bros. Where Jeremy Parish of Polygon felt her Zero Suit "works as demonstration of the questionable design decisions" for female characters in the Smash series, he regards Samus as "by far the toughest lady in Nintendo’s stable of characters". Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek felt that Samus stood out among

5974-504: The chasm could be prevented from scrolling into view by a slow player. Developers have attempted to counter these frustrations by using a camera that can zoom in and out over an entire level as needed, keeping both players within the scope of the camera. This type of camera was used to enable the display of four player cooperative gameplay in New Super Mario Bros. Wii . Another strategy allows player screens to be split when

6077-415: The cooperative gaming experience, creating a space where players can come together, strategize, and share the joys of gaming in an interactive and immersive way. Samus Aran Samus Aran ( Japanese : サムス・アラン , Hepburn : Samusu Aran ) is the protagonist of the video game series Metroid by Nintendo . She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano and was introduced as

6180-577: The course of the Metroid series, developers constantly try to express her femininity without sexually objectifying her. Sakamoto and Kiyotake said that the character's last name "Aran" was taken from Edson Aran tes do Nascimento, the birth name of the famous football player Pelé . She did not speak in the original NES games, and in Super Metroid , she only spoke in the prologue. Samus broke her silence further in Fusion and Other M , although

6283-429: The deadly Phazon mutagen. The gameplay places a greater emphasis on the shooting mechanics and multiplayer, similar to its handheld predecessor Metroid Prime Hunters , albeit with cooperation instead of competition. It also includes a competitive soccer -based game mode known as Metroid Prime: Blast Ball . Federation Force ' s announcement at E3 2015 was met with a largely negative reception from fans due to

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6386-517: The download as a special demo version of the full game. The mode is also included in the retail title with full online support, and saved progress from the free download can be transferred to the retail version. Online support for the free download was terminated on December 31 the same year. This did not affect the online support for the "Blast Ball" mode in the full version. The events of Metroid Prime: Federation Force take place after Metroid Prime 3: Corruption . Instead of featuring Samus Aran as

6489-470: The early 2000s, however, many FPS developers have forsaken co-op campaign play, opting to focus more purely on either a more detailed and in-depth single player experience or a purely multiplayer game. Epic's Unreal Tournament series had shifted almost entirely towards deathmatch modes, and significant FPS releases such as Doom 3 , Quake 4 , and both Half-Life titles shipped without cooperative gameplay modes. However, Killing Floor , originally

6592-582: The events of Metroid . Adapting Samus' soldier background as previously provided in Captain N: The Game Master , the series was written by Kouji Tazawa and illustrated by Kenji Ishikawa. Samus is featured as a mentor character in the manga series Samus and Joey and its sequel series Metroid EX . Famous across the universe as the "Guardian of the Galaxy", Samus trains a young boy, frontier planeteer Joey Apronika, as her successor. In

6695-411: The first day of its announcement, giving it a 90% dislike ratio, and reached 9,500 likes and 83,000 dislikes by the end of that year. A Change.org petition calling for the game's cancellation was also created in the hours following the game's announcement, reaching 7,500 signatures in under 24 hours. Within 2 months this petition went up to 20,000 signatures. It was later announced that the game does have

6798-402: The game bearing little resemblance to previous entries in the Metroid franchise. The game was further derided for its poor timing, as it was a spin-off title that was announced when the series had been on hiatus since the controversial Metroid: Other M (2010) and that the game would release during the series' 30th anniversary. Upon release, the game was a commercial failure and was met with

6901-419: The game's players to play through the entire single player campaign together. The D&D-sanctioned Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games, released in 1998 and 2000, respectively, allowed up to six players to play through the campaign mode over a network. Atari 's Neverwinter Nights (2002) was an official and comprehensive D&D simulator, featuring even more robust game-creation tools and developing

7004-495: The gaming experience by introducing a dynamic element of cooperation. Co-op games typically adapt their single-player counterparts, enabling additional players to assume control of distinct characters within the game's universe. These characters, while visually and physically separate from the first player's avatar, must adhere to the same fundamental game rules, including managing their individual health bars and resources. This cooperative dynamic injects depth and collaboration into

7107-437: The gaming experience, fostering a sense of teamwork as players strategize and coordinate their actions to overcome challenges and achieve objectives throughout levels . In some instances, co-op games transcend mere adaptation, offering a unique and immersive cooperative system. These games may introduce entirely new cooperative maps, characters, and mechanics specifically tailored to multiplayer gameplay. This approach enriches

7210-577: The genre from the 2010s include the Payday and Destiny series. Most early role-playing video games were inspired by multiplayer tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons , but were restricted to single player due to the technology of the era. The earliest RPGs featuring something resembling co-op play were MUDs , which would later evolve into the MMOG genre. In 1989, Image Works released Bloodwych for MS-DOS and various other platforms which featured

7313-449: The lack of a single player mode, the graphics (both the technical aspect and the use of a cartoonish super-deformed art style, which was considered unfitting with the Metroid series' mature tones) and the absence of the series protagonist Samus Aran . Moreover, as the series had been on hiatus for five years since the last released game in the series, Metroid: Other M , the last acclaimed Metroid game, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption ,

7416-484: The latter received criticism due to what many reviewers described as poor character development and inferior voice acting. The developers decided to revert to Samus' original concept in later games. In October 2021, producer Yoshio Sakamoto explained the reason why Samus barely speaks in Metroid Dread is "to convey the current situation of Samus or what Samus is thinking right now, this would be better conveyed to

7519-684: The main screen into either two or four sub-regions so that 2–4 players can roam freely within the game world. Many first-person and third-person shooter games use this technique when played in multiplayer co-op mode, such as the console versions of games in the Rainbow Six series , the Halo series or the fifth installment of the Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: World at War . Split screen modes have also been combined with 3D Television technology by hobbyists, using alternate-frame sequencing for

7622-537: The mining colony K-2L, and when she was a child, the planet was raided by Space Pirates led by Ridley in an attack that killed her parents and destroyed the colony. The orphaned Samus was then found by a bird-like alien race known as the Chozo , who brought her to their home planet, Zebes. To keep her alive, they infused their DNA into granting her superhuman athleticism and a strong resistance to foreign environments. After training her and granting her one of their artifacts,

7725-481: The misgivings about her immaturity, petulant behavior, and misguided loyalty. In Metroid Dread , several people noted that Samus never talks as a protagonist. Alex Donaldson of VG247 has claimed that the game proves that Samus is cooler than Master Chief , but Ian Walker of Kotaku criticized and said that "Samus doesn't need to be an emotionless robot to be badass". In his review of Super Smash Bros. , GameSpot ' s Jeff Gerstmann called Samus one of

7828-418: The other player in others. Two-player games of Nintendo's Mario Bros. could be played as competitively or cooperatively. Co-operative games became particularly popular among operators of coin-op video games as they had the potential to net double the revenue per game. Drop-in/drop-out co-op was pioneered by Gauntlet (1985) which came in models of two and four players for different locations. This trend

7931-581: The overall gaming experience, catering to players who seek a more robust and engaging cooperative adventure. Furthermore, co-op games provide a range of options for players to engage with one another. Split-screen modes are a common feature, allowing players to share a single screen while independently controlling their characters. This setup enhances the social aspect of cooperative gaming, enabling more effective communication and strategic coordination. Additionally, players can choose from various display options to match their preferences, whether it's playing on

8034-419: The planet to reach her ship on the surface, having to contend with the near invincible EMMI and other threats on the way. Samus also appears in the Metroid Prime series , starting with Metroid Prime . She explores the planet Tallon IV, which contains a Chozo colony in ruins and a Space Pirate base. There she learns of Phazon, a mysterious mutagen that can alter the genetic material of any organism. Samus

8137-597: The planets to meet their objective. Unlike the multiplayer modes within Hunters and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes , players work cooperatively as a single unit as opposed to competing with each other. Before starting a mission, players can customize their Marine with different weapons and utilities. Some are more offensive, like the returning Super Missiles. Others are more strategic, such as a healing first aid device that allows one Marine to hang back and aid his comrades. The different weapons have weight-based properties that affect

8240-458: The player characters are far apart, but combine into one full-screen image when player characters are close enough together. The 2005 video game The Warriors is considered notable for attempting this in a 3D third-person perspective format. A common concept in cooperative games is the sharing of resources between players. For example, two players managing one team in a real-time strategy game, such as StarCraft , will often have to draw off

8343-404: The player not through actual words or actual voice, but more with acting or visuals. I want the player to think, 'What is going on? What is Samus feeling right now?' That is why I decided to go this way for this game". Despite Samus being identified as a bounty hunter, Nintendo later admitted that the occupation was initially chosen because they did not know what a bounty hunter was and simply liked

8446-424: The player's speed and mobility. These mechanics are inspired by options in classic role-playing games . "Blast Ball" is a mode which offers three-on-three matches, where players in their mecha suits shoot balls into nets akin to both the real life sport soccer and the video game Rocket League . This mode serves as a tutorial for the control scheme and an in-universe exercise for the playable Marines. This mode

8549-505: The protagonist or a playable character, the game focuses on the Galactic Federation 's Federation Force, a group of elite marines equipped with gigantic mechanized armorsuits called Mechs modeled after Samus Aran's Power Suit. Players control a young Marine who goes through various parts of training and is eventually sent to carry out research missions. The Federation Force is assigned to former Galactic Federation territory in

8652-426: The purpose of presenting each of two couch co-op players with their own 2D full-screen image on the same display, rather than for stereoscopy. Due to the complexity involved in correcting the resulting aspect ratios, and that in obtaining 3D glasses which allowed both lenses to synchronize to the same eye-frame, this remained the purview of enthusiasts until 2011, when Sony Computer Entertainment America began to market

8755-467: The relationship between Samus and Sylux, with additional involvement from the Federation Marines. In addition to Tanabe, Nintendo's Yoshihito Ikebata and Ryuichi Nakada oversaw the game's development. They originally considered making it for the Nintendo DSi , but ultimately decided to make it for Nintendo 3DS due to Next Level Games' familiarity with the hardware. It was planned to release alongside

8858-510: The release of the Nintendo 64 (1996, 1997), having four controller ports started to become a standard feature in consoles, as the Dreamcast , GameCube and Xbox all later featured them. As larger multiplayer games became feasible, cooperative gameplay also became more available. The 7th and current generations of video game consoles all feature wireless controllers, removing port-based local player limits. The release of Doom in 1993

8961-648: The revelation that she is a woman. Her controversial portrayal in Metroid: Other M received mixed reactions. Unlike other Metroid games, where Samus took full advantage of weapons and abilities available, she deactivated most of them until Commander Adam Malkovich authorized their use. G4 TV considered Samus needing permission to use her equipment and Samus' anxiety attack upon seeing Ridley as "sexist". According to GamePro , though Other M ' s story and Samus's monologues did not compel them, "it helped contextualize her entire existence" which developed

9064-512: The same aside from animations and design. Samus makes cameo appearances in the games Galactic Pinball (1995), Super Mario RPG (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996), and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997), and a non-playable appearance in Dead or Alive: Dimensions by Metroid: Other M co-developers Team Ninja . Samus is featured in a series of comic books called Captain N: The Game Master , published by Valiant Comics in 1990, based on

9167-622: The same display screen have come to be known as "couch co-op", "local co-op" or "single-player co-op" games. Cooperative games in which players each use their own display system are known as "online co-op", "network co-op" or "multiplayer co-op" games due to the majority of such systems utilizing telecommunications networks to synchronize game state among the players. Games have also been brought to market in which both modes can be combined—accommodating more than one display with each display accommodating one or more players. While there are no practical technical limits to how many players can be involved in

9270-487: The same pool of resources to build and upgrade their units and buildings. The sharing of resources, however, can be as simple as the system used in the Contra games (and other shoot-'em-up/beat-'em-up games) where a player who is out of spare lives could "steal" a life from the other player so both players could continue to play at the same time. The second player's role is pivotal in co-op video games, fundamentally altering

9373-404: The same screen and must coordinate their actions, particularly with regard to the scrolling. If the scrolling is limited to a forward direction only, players can potentially kill each other. For example, one player lagging behind could cause problems for his partner, as the screen will not scroll onward. If a player was attempting to complete a jump over a chasm, the "safe" surface on the far side of

9476-515: The second player taking control of half of the characters in the party. Namco 's Tales series allowed multiple players to take control of individual members in its real-time battles in some of the titles, such as Tales of Symphonia , while the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games replicated the Diablo formula for consoles, offering two-player simultaneous play through the game's campaign. With

9579-464: The space station to destroy both the X and the Metroid. Metroid: Other M expands Samus's backstory and emotional scope, such as her brief motherly connection to the Metroid hatchling; the deep respect for her former commanding officer and father figure Adam Malkovich; her reignited feud with Mother Brain in the form of the android MB; and overcoming a posttraumatic episode upon once again encountering her arch-nemesis Ridley. In Metroid Dread ,

9682-432: The title, seeing her as an "altruistic" and "motherly" adventurer. Samus Aran is typically seen wearing the Power Suit, a powered exoskeleton which protects her from most dangers she encounters and can be enhanced by power-ups collected during gameplay, and is generally a silent protagonist . With the Power Suit's Arm Cannon, Samus can fire various energy beams, charge beams to shoot an extra-powerful blast, or launch

9785-714: The top ten on the 3DS charts, leading some outlets to describe the game as a commercial failure. In the 2018 Nintendo Switch game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , the blue Mech appears as a collectible Spirit and the title's main theme appears as a music track that can be played on stages hailing from the Metroid series. Cooperative video game Co-op gameplay has gained popularity as controller and networking technology has developed. On PCs and consoles, cooperative games have become increasingly common, and many genres of games—including shooter games , sports games , real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games —include co-op modes. A cooperative video game

9888-418: Was Kensuke Tanabe , who produced all previous Metroid Prime titles. He first conceptualized of a game centered around the Galactic Federation while working on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption . He wanted to expand the Metroid universe by showing it from the perspective of the Galactic Federation's Marines. Tanabe also hoped that Federation Force ' s plot would lead to future Metroid Prime games based on

9991-501: Was a tennis doubles version of their hit arcade game Pong (1972). Co-op play was later featured in another Atari coin-op, Fire Truck (1978). Several early 1980s arcade coin-op games allowed for co-op play. Wizard of Wor offered solo, competitive two-player, or cooperative two-player gaming while Williams Electronics' Joust encouraged players to alternatively compete and cooperate by awarding bonus points for co-op play in some rounds and awarding bonuses for attacking

10094-423: Was a breakthrough in network gaming. Up to four players could travel through the entire game together, playing on separate computers over a LAN . The game's campaign mode was designed primarily for single player , but the difficulty was tweaked to compensate for extra human players. The following three games produced by id Software ( Doom II , Quake and Quake II ) all featured co-op modes. Starting from

10197-420: Was followed by the likes of Quartet (1986), Ikari Warriors (1986), and Rampage (1986) which became high-earners for American operators. Beat 'em up games, exemplified by Double Dragon (1987), were among the most successful games of the late 1980s. Their co-operative nature often included mechanics such as friendly fire, providing more opportunities for dynamic play. The feature became expected in

10300-738: Was more successful in its NES incarnation than it was in the arcades in the North American market. Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis and the Metal Slug series for the Neo Geo were also well-received titles. Electronic Arts has produced key co-op sports games , including the original NHL Hockey (1991) and Madden NFL (1990) installments on the Sega Genesis. These games allowed two players or more to play against

10403-542: Was not a character who existed for sex appeal , as well as her "tough" personality. A writer for the Toronto Star however, felt distaste for the "sexual politics" surrounding Samus, feeling that she was neither a character created for sex appeal, but was also not a "leader in the struggle for video game civil rights". Featuring her in their 2004 list of "top ten forces of good" (one section on their list of top 50 "retro" game characters), Retro Gamer regarded her as

10506-521: Was originally unveiled as a separate game under the same name during the Nintendo World Championships and was the first reveal of Metroid Prime: Federation Force in general. This mode was also playable during E3 2015 , where Federation Force was announced days later. "Blast Ball" was released independently as a free download on the Nintendo eShop on July 21, 2016, with a limited online play period. Nintendo of America branded

10609-465: Was released eight years prior, and the game's release window coincided with the series' 30th anniversary , fans criticized Nintendo's choice of resuming the franchise after a half-decade of hiatus with a spin-off title rather than a main series Metroid game. The game became one of the most discussed and controversial games of both that year's E3 and 2015 in general: the debut trailer received over 25,000 dislikes and just 2,500 likes on YouTube within

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