Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Metroid Prime: Federation Force turned the Metroid series inside out from the moment of its very announcement — instead of the lone huntress Samus Aran, the player takes on the role of a rank-and-file Federation soldier, one of four pilots of combat mechs. The game is designed primarily as a four-player cooperative experience, in which players jointly complete missions in enclosed arenas full of space monsters, with the camera and controls based on the view from inside a mech's cockpit, similar to the previous Metroid Prime games. Each mission emphasizes cooperation, role division, and coordinated fire, as many enemies and bosses are designed so that a single player alone would have great difficulty handling them.

The gameplay loop alternates between fighting waves of enemies, simple environmental puzzles, and collecting upgrades that the player adjusts to their mech's loadout between missions. The graphical presentation stays in the spirit of the previous 3DS titles in the series, making heavy use of the stereoscopic 3D effect from the cockpit view, and the musical score continues the atmospheric, mysterious style for which the Metroid Prime series became known. The game can also be played solo with AI teammates, though this changes the pace and difficulty compared to the intended cooperative experience, and players left alone without human partners often face a noticeably tougher challenge.

The game's announcement at E3 sparked a wave of disappointment among fans, who had expected a full-fledged adventure with Samus, and this reaction shaped how the game was perceived even before anyone had a chance to actually try it. Today, Federation Force is often seen as an interesting but marginal experiment within the series — a bold attempt to expand the Metroid universe in a different direction, one that never replaced fans' longing for a classic solo adventure. As a cooperative arcade shooter with Metroid-style atmosphere, however, it can still find its audience today, especially among players willing to cooperate.