Metroid Prime 4 Gets a Release Date—and a Motorcycle

I consider Samus Aran the greatest video game character of all time. If you argue with numbers, stay away from me on this. I treat this stance the way I treat my Jalen Hurts stance: I don’t argue about my quarterback. You know dope when you see it.

So, of course, the wait for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has been excruciating, going back to when it was first announced. But now, I can breathe easier. I have a date in front of me, and it is December 4th, 2025.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond brought more than just a date

I had questions about what Metroid Prime 4 could be. But at no point did I consider that an open world would be one of them. And maybe I should have given that both Mario and Link have been flung into the wide-open spaces of modern gaming.

I think most of that stems from… how do you even really do open world in Metroid? A lot of the allure of the series comes from tight spaces and a high level of atmosphere and environmental storytelling.

Can you keep that up in open spaces? That’s going to be the main issue here. I trust that Retro Studios knows what they’re doing. And in some small way, it does answer the last question in the above link: “Will we ever get to see Samus really be a bounty hunter?”

Being able to traverse the entire planet that she’s on during her missions would go a long way towards making me feel like the bada** that I know Samus to be. And how do you double down on a character like Samus being said bad**? You give her a freaking motorcycle.

I already know people are going to dislike it at first glance, and I understand why. It’s a weird addition to a series built on isolation and on foot exploration. But you are lying to me if you think it doesn’t make Samus even more awesome. I will hear nothing of it.

Come December 4th, I’m revving the engines and getting active. Please be as good as this all sounds in my head.