Metroid Prime 4: Beyond final preview: evolving the series with 4K HDR visuals and new powers
Updating the classic Metroid framework for the modern age
🎮 We got two hours to preview Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
📺 The best-looking Metroid game yet, running at 4K 60fps and HDR
👾 Viewros introduces a truly alien world without any familiar Chozo or Space Pirate trappings
🖱️ Mouse mode is the way to play as Beyond introduces more frantic combat
🔮 Psychic powers play into combat and exploration, adding a twist to classic power-ups
🪬 Telephatically manipulate puzzles and doors to get through the game
☄️ New Control Beam lets you pilot Samus’ Charge Beam like a drone to hit up to three targets in slow-motion
💣 Psychic Bomb turns Morph Ball Bombs into orbs of energy for solving puzzles
🗣️ Samus will encounter multiple Galactic Federation Troopers to help her through her journey
🌏 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will feature multiple levels connected by an explorable open-world hub
📅 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond releases on December 4, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Switch
The Shortcut Review
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is shaping up to be the exciting return to a first-person Metroid game fans have been waiting almost two decades for. This time, I got to play for nearly two hours to explore one of the game’s first areas, defeat a boss, and gain three power-ups. Unlike my first hands-on, which was just the game’s prologue area, this preview placed me on the alien world of Viewros in a jungle region called Fury Green.
All of the Metroid trappings are here, including losing all your power-ups upon waking up in Viewros. You’ll have to explore, solve puzzles, and defeat bosses to regain all your abilities to get off the alien rock. That said, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond feels new with an all-new alien and unknown world to explore with dramatically better HDR lighting and detail I’ve never seen before in any Metroid game. Combat feels more intense, too, as you constantly have to dodge and turn to contend with multiple enemies surrounding you. Psychic powers also take center stage, putting a new spin on classic abilities like the Charge Beam and the Morph Ball Bomb.
Beyond the demo I played, Nintendo just dropped a new trailer detailing how the game will expand with an open-world hub connecting multiple different areas. Two hours wasn’t nearly enough and now I can’t wait to play the rest of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond when it releases on December 4th.
👾 Alien world. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond brings back the air of wonder to the series. In this game, Samus finds herself miraculously transported to the alien world of Viewros. From what I’ve played, there are no familiar Chozo ruins or space pirate strongholds, so the environment and architecture of the game feel entirely new.
🌅 HDR at last. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is also the first Metroid game to feature true HDR, which dramatically improves the lighting and atmosphere of the game. From particles to fog, sun streaks, and lightning cutting through the night sky, Metroid feels more atmospheric and alive than ever before. You can still spot some low-resolution textures like the incredibly flat grass, but on the whole, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a visual stunner.
🖱️ Mouse mode is the way to play. Mouse control is simply the best way to play Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. It’s intuitive, and you get an almost 1:1 movement from your hand movement to aiming on screen. On top of giving you a more precise aim, I also had to snap around quickly several times as enemies ambushed me from in front and behind throughout the level. Regular joystick controls with either the Joy-Con 2 controller or Nintendo Pro controller work just as well; you’ll get more speed and precision from Mouse Mode.
🔮 Psychic puzzles. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond puts Samus’ new psychic abilities front and center. Throughout the Fury Green level, there are doors that can only be opened through psychic telepathy. This involved moving psychic motes, essentially purple balls of psychic energy, from left to right, relocating them to trigger points, or pulling them towards me. The mouse controls also make the psychic abilities feel more tactile. As Samus moved objects with her mind, I would move the controller to match the movement on the screen.
🪬 Psychic twist on classic power-ups. Psychic energy also comes into play with combat and all of Samus’ powers. Embued with psychic powers, the classic Charge Beam becomes a Control Beam you can twist around corners and through obstacles in slow motion like a curved bullet from the Wanted series. Alternatively, this new psychic charge beam can also hit up to three targets, which becomes a necessary mechanic for beating one of the Fury Green’s bosses. The Morph Ball Bomb, meanwhile, persists as orbs of psychic energy that you can use to activate door triggers and solve puzzles. I’m sure Nintendo has more psychic versions of the missile, power bomb, and space jump in store for us, and I can’t wait to see what new mechanics they introduce.
🗣️ Escort missions and dialogue. About halfway through our demo, we encountered a very talkative Galactic Federation trooper named Miles MacKenzie, who endearingly not only wears glasses but also has glasses built into his armor. After saving him from being suspended high up from a dropship caught in vines, MacKenzie will follow you partway across a bridge and several rooms. Unfortunately, I can confirm that escort missions are in Metroid. At least MacKenzie can somewhat hold his own, killing at least one enemy during my demo; however, he’ll also continue chatting the whole way. MacKenzie will be at least one of six Galactic Federation troopers we’ll meet throughout Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, and it seems like there will be more dialogue in this game than even Metroid: Other M.
🌏 Hub-based open world. If you were worried or excited about the potential of an open-world Metroid game, I can confirm that Beyond will be a hub-based open world. Essentially, the game is broken up into levels like Fury Green, Volt Forge, Flare Pool, and Ice Belt, all connected to an open-world zone you can explore freely on Samus’ new Vi-O-La motorcycle. The open-world zone features both indoor and outdoor areas to explore, as well as points of interest that yield objects to scan and power-ups.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will be released for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch on December 4, 2025.
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Kevin Lee is The Shortcut’s Creative Director. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam