Six months after the events on Aether, Samus was summoned to a meeting between the Galactic Federation and several other bounty hunters. They were sent on a mission to rid the Federation’s Aurora Units of a computer virus the Space Pirates managed to get past their security systems. The situation quickly escalates as a Space Pirate attack occurs.
The team of hunters, led by Samus, is dispatched to planet Norion to activate the defense mechanisms. The Space Pirates set a Phazon-infused meteor, called Leviathan Seed, on a course towards the planet. Their offense is led by none other than Dark Samus, who unleashes a devastating Phazon energy beam on the team of hunters, leaving them for dead.
A month later, Samus wakes up to find her body is self-generating Phazon. As the seemingly sole survivor of the Norion mission, the Federation sends Samus to the planets of Bryyo and Elysia equipped with a Phazon Enhancement Device, which allows her to harness the power of the Phazon energy that is being generated by her body. Her mission is to find the missing hunters, stop the Space Pirates’ plans, and defeat Dark Samus once and for all.
METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION, released in 2007 for Wii, was the first game in the series to utilize motion controls – specifically, infrared-pointer-based aiming. The adaptation of the unique input methods offered by the Wii Remote was so successful it eventually led to the previous two games being ported over, adopting the same control scheme. CORRUPTION followed a more linear approach than the previous two entries in the main PRIME series, with a stronger focus on cinematics and distinct planets that were not as interconnected as the worlds of the other games. The game also let players pilot Samus’ iconic Gunship between interplanetary trips. A bobble-head of the player’s Mii-avatar could even be seen on the dashboard. Additionally, for the first time, an in-game achievement system was implemented, rewarding players with tokens for completing certain tasks. These could be used to unlock items or extras such as concept art.
METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION was developed by Retro Studios under the supervision of Nintendo. Mark Pacini, Frank Lafuente, and Todd Keller all reprised their roles as game director, lead engineer, and lead artist from the previous game. Joining Kenji Yamamoto in composing music for this title were Minako Hamano and Masura Tajima. Kensuke Tanabe served as producer for Nintendo.
