Metroid Prime Remastered brings back a classic Easter egg of getting to see Samus’ face reflected in her visor but adds a new twist. Metroid Prime Remastered was surprise released shortly after the latest Nintendo Direct, which streamed on February 8. It’s been praised by fans and critics alike for its steadfast dedication to maintaining the look and feel of its 2002 original while updating graphical fidelity for a new generation.
Before Samus’ face was fully revealed at the end of Metroid Prime, players were offered glimpses throughout the game. Metroid Prime was the first entry in the series to offer a first-person perspective that lets the player see through the eyes of Samus. Some players were in for a surprise when they fired a weapon and for just a brief moment would see Samus’ eyes staring back at them in her visor’s reflection. It was a feature that reminded players that they weren’t inhabiting a soulless videogame protagonist. They were in control of a flesh and blood human being beneath that suit of sci-fi armor.
As Reddit user Tomato_Ketchup demonstrates, the team behind Metroid Prime Remastered not only included Samus’ reflections in her visor but built on it a little more. If a player turns Samus’ head while firing, not only will her face appear on the visor, as it did in the original Metroid Prime from 2002, but her head and eyes will move in the direction of her arm cannon. This time around, she also blinks and occasionally flinches.
The added expressions and head movements give the quick flashes of Samus’ face in her visor an added dimension of humanity. It makes it feel like the in-helmet view from an Iron Man movie, all while maintaining the first-person perspective. These simple little animations further reinforce the remaster’s intent of preserving everything that made the original game great for many players while adding little tweaks that only modern technology could provide. Overall, small changes like this bring Metroid Prime Remastered closer to how players remember the game versus how it actually was.
This isn’t the first time the Prime series put a twist on the visor reflection. In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Samus becomes infected with a virus called Phazon that slowly alters her appearance. As the virus slowly takes hold, Samus’ face takes on a pale blue hue. Her eyes are normally blue, but over the course of the game take on a greenish alien tint. A dark cluster of veins creeps up the right side of her face, nose, and eye. Every burst of reflection is a reminder that Samus’ life is on the line.
Metroid Prime Remastered is available now for Nintendo Switch.
