Metroid 1.5 (No, not Zero Mission)

[Cosmonautical]

At some point inbetween the release of Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, a proposal document was made for ‘Metroid 1.5′ a prospective Retro Studios title that added multiplayer and number of new mechanics to the prime franchise. Obviously the game was never released, but you can now download the original proposal document, and it makes for some fascinating reading.


This design document was written by Tony C. Giovannini, then a level designer at Retro Studios, a developer who most recently worked on Epic Mickey. It seems that some of the ideas in the document were integrated into what eventually became Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

This adventure would take place immediately after Samus takes off from the surface of Talon IV. Upon exiting the planets surface, Samus decides to take a long rest in her Cryo chamber as her ship autopilots home. However, something goes wrong and Samus’s ship computer hones in on a distress signal. The distress signal is coming from a huge alien vessel (huge like the size of several Star Destroyers) that is drifting out in space. As Samus’s ship approaches the alien craft, a tractor beam activates and the Ship is pulled into one of the gigantic docking bays. As the ships doors close, the gigantic vessel folds and enters a parallel dimension, thus begins Samus’s new adventure…

The story circulates around the concept of a rogue AI onboard a ship – it is Samus’ goal to disable the AI, which has gone insane and splintered into four different personalities: the killer, the child, the mother and the martyr.

… the ship’s AI has gone mad and the ship is actually a war vessel that is on a collision course with a peaceful planet. It’s goal? The entire enslavement of the race of beings on said planet as well as natural resource stripping as its (the planets) destruction. So in essence, the ship AI has split into several different personalities, and is playing a deadly game with Samus. The Alien inhabitants of the ship are also in a state of suspended animation because as the ship travels through the parallel dimension, the alien inhabitants are being created and refined for warfare until the ship arrives at its destination and assaults the planet…However, the robotic and automated entities are not, these will be the primary enemies that Samus must deal with. In addition, Samus must also deal with the ships cunning AI, who will all the while be taunting her and trying to trick her at every opportunity.

If you have the time, or you happen to be a huge Metroid fan, we’d recommend reading through or at least scanning through the concept art. We’d love to see some of these ideas integrated into a new Metroid game – especially after the disappointment of Metroid: Other M.

The Metroid That Got Away… | Kotaku Australia

I got a 403 Forbidden report from the address, so I haven't gotten to look over the doc itself, but this is a pretty interesting canceled project. Perhaps elements of the design were rolled into Hunters as well as Prime 2?

Anyway, there are design pictures up on the Kotaku page, if any of you want to check them out.

[heh]

but zero mission and metroid are two different games, i heard this from a reliable source

[Loot]

THE ELEVATORS DON'T SYNC

[CaptHayfever]

Yeah, as soon as it said "Prime" and "multiplayer", I also thought it had turned into Hunters. That AI plot (which AI posted, heh) sounds stinkin' awesome, though. They probably had to ditch it since they couldn't include any Pirates or Metroids in the plot at all, given the setting.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[MeowMan]

AI, I didn't know you had multiple personality disorder.

[X-3]

Sounds like some aspects were rolled into Hunters and Echoes.

It'd be nice to see this one day in some form, whether it be a Metroid game or an original IP. Still, it's been 8 years since the proposal was made, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

You can read the full document here.

Originally Posted by CaptHayfever

They probably had to ditch it since they couldn't include any Pirates or Metroids in the plot at all, given the setting.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Well...

Originally Posted by Humetroid:

-Standing roughly 6 feet tall the Humetroid is a half metroid / half human entity that excels in stealth, sabotage, scouting, and long distance kills. It has a detachable metroid in its chest that can be dispersed in order to attack enemies from a distance and scout an area. Once the metroid is released, the Humetroid body cloaks and the player will have control of the metroid. Because of they symbiotic nature between the Metroid and the Humetroid body, if one is killed, the other will perish.
-Because of its ability to absorb energy from other players and creatures, the Humetroid can also temporally gain an opponents ability

Originally Posted by Thrash-hunters:

-Standing 8 and 1/2 feet tall, this Alien is a mixture between a Space Pirate and another unknown Alien species. It uses no mechanical weapons but does use its sharp saber-like claws to rip though opponents with ease. It can walk along walls, crawl across ceilings and has a chameleon like ability to change its exoskeleton color and pattern to match up to its surrounding environment. It is ruthless and cunning, much like Giger’s Alien; it lives to kill, and kills to live.
-In addition to its saber-like claws the Thrash-hunter also has the ability to self-destruct when low on heath and when in clear and visible danger. The blast radius would kill anything within a 20-foot radius.

Originally Posted by Shock beast

-Shock beast: Standing 10 feet tall, the shock beast is another Space Pirate / Alien Hybrid. It is similar to storm troopers in respect to its loyalty and stupidity. It is the standard shock trooper of the Alien fleet and carriers a high-powered pulse rifle and frag-grenades. In addition to mechanical weapons, it can also self-destruct when in danger or low on health. Again, the blast radius would kill anything within a 20-foot radius.
-Due to a genetic flaw, the heart and lungs (on its backside) of the shock beast are exposed, making it an easy kill. Since the ship’s AI has noticed the design flaw, later versions have an armored carapace that must be destroyed in order to hit the vital areas, much like the Baby Sheegoth

It's worth noting that the art of the Shock Beast is the MP2 Space Pirate.

[Valigarmander]

Huh, this sounds pretty cool. MORPHBALL BUMPER CAR SUPER BATTLE GAIDEN

[CaptHayfever]

^^That pretty much gives away whose ship it is, though.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[X-3]

So, uh, speaking of things we never got to see...

There's some Metroid Prime concept art towards the bottom of this blog. I haven't seen it before, so I think it's worth pointing out.

[Cosmonautical]

^Whoa, now that is an intense Kraid design. I suppose it makes sense that they left him on Zebes, but I was a bit disappointed that he didn't show up anywhere in the series. Good find, man.

[Auron]

^Supposedly the Omega Pirate fight in MP was originally planned to be a fight with Kraid, but was changed somewhat later in the design process because they felt it didn't quite fit.

[Jere]

Meta Kraid... i like it!