Almost 25 years ago, the original Metroid Prime set the modern standard for winter video game biomes in Fendrana Drift. Ice levels play an important role in Samus’ adventures, containing not only useful upgrades but also important story hints. This is a small graveyard for a dead alien race that once inhabited Talon IV, the planet where Metroid Prime takes place. With unforgettable scenery and some of the best music in video game history, Fendrana Drift is a gold standard that even the Metroid series itself has struggled to live up to. That was until Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
Samus’ latest adventure receives a lot of criticism. Cyrax is an underwhelming villain, the open-world desert center is bland, and Miles Mackenzie certainly likes to rant. But where Metroid Prime 4 shines is in its excellent biome design. From the Fury Green jungle to the factory lines of Bolt Forge, it features some of the best environments in the series since the first Metroid Prime game. This is most evident in the Ice Belt, a Metroid biome that eventually rivals Fendrana Drift.
When you first step into the blandly named Ice Belt, it seems like you’re in for a fairly standard snowfall level. Samus walks through a wintry landscape, blasting bugs and melting walls of ice while pouncing on packs of wolves. It’s just a short warm-up to the Icebelt’s real attraction: an abandoned laboratory owned by Earth’s now-defunct alien race, the Ramones. What exactly happened there? That’s what Samus has to find in a dungeon that follows the conventions of the Ice Metroid level, but completely breaks it.
Image: Retro Studio/Nintendo
Ice belts are more than just average winter levels. It’s a self-contained horror movie. Samus finds herself in a creepy biological laboratory filled with frozen corpses in test tubes. Naturally, as she explores creatures begin to break out of their containment, providing some good scares along the way. This moment also carries the weight of the story, as it is the “all hope is lost” point in the story, as Samus reveals how the Ramones have inadvertently accelerated their own downfall. This is the part of Metroid Prime 4 that truly conveys the sense of fear and isolation that the Metroid series has become known for.
Like most biomes on the planet Bulos, where Metroid Prime 4 takes place, Icebelt’s strength lies in how it subverts the elemental tropes that have been core to video games for decades. How many times have you played a game where you bounce between grassy areas, fire zones, ice worlds, and some kind of electric biome? (Think something like Donkey Kong Bananza with scattershot layers.) Developer Retro Studios follows that formula, but avoids creating a disjointed world by rooting each environment into the story. Bolt Forge is an electrified region, as it is a factory that requires power from the constant storms at one end of Bulos. The weather is part of the story and explains how the Ramones became a technologically advanced race.
The same storytelling exists in Icebelt. We’re not just exploring snow levels. Because that’s where video games should go next. The laboratory was intentionally abandoned and frozen for some reason. I feel like Ramone was trying to bury a secret here, even before I knew why. The environment itself is an omen. In that sense, Ice Belt is clearly a descendant of Phendrana Drifts. The same trick worked on this level, telling the story of the Chozo tragedy with frozen monuments and ghoulish ghosts. Both biomes are haunted houses.
Image: Retro Studio/Nintendo
There’s a good reason why this kind of design fits Metroid so well. After all, this series is influenced by one of the greats of horror: Alien. Series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto has never hidden the fact that Metroid was originally inspired by Ridley Scott’s classic monster movies. (I mean, Ridley is right there.) HR Giger’s art guides the look of the game, and Samus has shades of Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley. The series had many similarities and nods to Alien, but in Icebelt, those influences are more apparent than ever. The abandoned lab in the Icebelt feels like it’s not far from the USCSS Nostromo.
Metroid Prime 4 is a mess, but Icebelt is the only biome that focuses on it halfway. It’s clear that this game is going back to the series’ cinematic roots. The chatty characters feel like they’re meant to replicate the team dynamic from Alien, with Cyrax stalking Samus around the Bureau like a xenomorph. And there’s certainly a lot of Giger in some of the yonic design choices. Although it doesn’t quite work from start to finish, Icebelt makes for a great little horror movie in its own right. If Metroid Prime 5 gets the green light, it will be an ice-cold moment.
