"Metroid Prime 4: Beyond" Officially Releases December 4, 2025! What Are the Critics' Reviews So Far?

The initial announcement of Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2017 generated great excitement among fans. However, its development journey has not been smooth.

After a less than satisfactory start with the team at Bandai Namco Studios, Nintendo made the bold decision in 2019 to reboot the project with Retro Studios, the original developer of the highly regarded Prime series.

In June 2024, Nintendo officially unveiled the game's full title, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, alongside the first trailer showcasing familiar yet updated gameplay.

The trailer showed Samus Aran exploring a jungle world, using her morph ball abilities, scanning for Space Pirates, and confronting the bounty hunter Sylux.

A second trailer, released on March 27, 2025, further fleshed out the game by introducing the planet Viewros, new enemies, the Lamorn race, and hinting at Samus's psychic powers.

The confirmation of a cross-generation release in April 2025 ensures that the game will be accessible to the broad Nintendo Switch player base, while also offering a more immersive experience on the newer Nintendo Switch 2 console.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond retains the first-person adventure style that is the hallmark of the Prime series, where players guide Samus through expansive, non-linear environments.

Exploration, combat against enemies, and searching for upgrades to enhance Samus' abilities remain at the core of the gameplay experience.

This ability allows Samus to control the trajectory of beams fired from her arm cannon or manipulate objects in the environment to solve complex puzzles.

To traverse the vast expanses that separate the major areas of the planet Viewros, Samus is now equipped with a motorized vehicle called the Vi-O-La.

The game also features a variety of unique biomes, including Fury Green (dense jungle), Sol Valley (vast desert), Volt Forge (factory), Ice Belt (frozen laboratory), and Flare Pool (molten facility), each with its own challenges and mysteries.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's story takes place after the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, taking Samus Aran to an unknown planet called Viewros where she receives an important mission from Viewros's native Lamorn race.

However, her mission is not easy, as she must fight for survival while facing her old rival, Sylux, who has a personal vendetta against her and the Galactic Federation.

After a brief, intense encounter with Sylux, Samus becomes trapped in a mysterious anomaly that transports her to Viewros.

As is the tradition in many Metroid games, Samus finds most of her weapons and abilities disabled, forcing her to embark on a quest to regain her powers and find her way home.

For Nintendo Switch 2 owners, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond offers a significantly superior visual and performance experience.

This version allows players to choose between 4K resolution at 60 frames per second (FPS) or 1080p at 120 FPS when the console is docked.

This gives players the flexibility to prioritize visual clarity or fluidity.In handheld mode, the resolution is adjusted to 1080p or 720p, while maintaining the same frame rate, ensuring a smooth gaming experience regardless of the device.

Furthermore, the Switch 2 version includes support for Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, promising more precise and responsive aiming, crucial in an action-adventure game like Metroid Prime.

The implementation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) on the Switch 2 is also noteworthy, significantly enhancing visual effects like laser blasts and environmental highlights, making the world of Vistaros feel more vivid and immersive.

While the game was built to be compatible with the original Switch hardware, the Switch 2 version "speeds up" the already-good-looking game to make it run and feel much better.

Players who purchase the Nintendo Switch version also have the option to upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version by purchasing the Upgrade Pack for $9.99.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond had received generally positive reviews from critics, while there were also some noteworthy criticisms.

A pre-release demo in November 2025, which allowed media to play the first 90 minutes of the game, was well-received.

Ethan Van Allen of Game Informer praised Samus's new psychic powers as a "standout" and appreciated the new mouse controls.

Alex Olney of Nintendo Life felt the controls blended well and were "very different," while Andy Robinson of Video Games Chronicle found the preview "solid, though not particularly mind-blowing," with entertaining boss battles.

However, the game also criticized for its vast desert open world separating the main locations, deemed "lacking character" and "boring" compared to recent Zelda games.

Samus's new psychic powers and the expansive open world also felt "awkward" and "unnecessary" at times.

The excessively talkative nature of the supporting characters was also criticized, as it disrupted Metroid's signature atmosphere of solitude.

Nevertheless, praise continued to pour in.

The series' atmosphere was described as "never better," with excellent level design in certain areas offering immersive first-person exploration.

Some boss fights and certain sections of the game were considered excellent, making Metroid Prime 4: Beyond an "excellent modernization" though not a "total reinvention" of the series.

The game recorded an average score of 81 on Metacritic and OpenCritic.