Although the E3 demo of Metroid Prime Hunters features only multiplayer modes, it is very mature at this point. Having played the packed-in demo, I thought I had a good idea of what to expect, but the current version of Hunters is far beyond the pack-in. I played the game for a couple of hours on the show floor and took copious notes on each character, weapon, mode, and level.

First I will describe the interface and game modes. Between fights one, person in the group has an opportunity to host the next match (whoever exits the end-round stats screen first). That player can choose from three multiplayer modes, Death Match, Bounty, and Hacker. Death Match is just what you would expect, excepting the unique features of Hunters such as morphing. Bounty plays like capture the flag with only one flag and one drop off point. If you morph or die, the bounty returns to its original location. The hunter with the most bounties claimed wins. In Hacker, there are multiple points scattered around the level which you must inhabit for 10 or 20 seconds to gain points. After taking over the location, it will continue to generate points for you even after you leave. The hunter with the most data hacked wins.

The characters in the demo are Samus, Noxus, Spire, and Kanden. Each one has its own unique HUD on the lower screen and each has its own morph ball mode with particular features, not just unique looks. Everyone should be familiar with Samus’s morph ball already. Kanden morphs into a small, armored, snake-like bug. When you use the bomb button, it releases its tail which explodes. It seems to have a larger blast radius and perhaps more strength than Samus’s bombs, but you cannot drop them as frequently. Noxus morphs into a spinning top and upon holding the fire button a lethal blade spins around until striking an enemy or taking damage. Spire has similar melee attack while in morph ball form that causes his outer shell to expand and retract, requiring better timing than Noxus’ blade, but it’s not as powerful. However, in addition to this attack Spire, has the ability to roll up walls to some extent. The climbing is a little slower than normal movement, and it’s difficult to get up a vertical wall unless you roll up a corner. It can also be used to roll up steep hills with no prior momentum, and it can be used as a safety net while navigating narrow bridges. Each character also has a unique look and color scheme. Upon starting a match, a quick pre-rendered cut-scene introduces the character. There are even more characters in the final game, so it will be interesting to see what else they come up with.

There are a number of weapons and an item or two featured in the current demo. The standard power beam has unlimited ammo, a fast rate of fire, and does minimal damage (a head shot can hurt though). Each player also starts with ten missiles that can be replenished by picking up missile ammo. They cause some splash damage and a small knock back for direct hits and are significantly powerful, meaning that every player starts with good arms, making respawning relatively painless. The other weapons all share the same ammo reserve with each weapon taking either one or two units from the ammo pool. In the final version, other weapons may take even more ammo. The Electro Gun fires powerful shots, but has a slow rate of fire. It also uses only one unit of ammo so it can be used for quite a while without finding additional ammo. It’s a good sniper weapon, but not perfect as its payload does not instantaneously reach its target like a rail gun. The Mortar requires two ammo units and fires a small orb that bounces a little and rolls. It’s explosive as the name implies and causes significant damage (don’t hurt yourself). The third weapon is the shotgun. It also requires two units of ammo and appears to be a lot like a charged light beam shot from Metroid Prime 2. The shots ricochet off of surfaces. Power-ups that increase overall damage per shot are available. However, there are currently no Prime style power-ups such as the screw attack. Each player starts with 99 units of energy (health) and can get up to 199 by picking up energy orbs, worth 50 units each.

The demo levels include the High Ground, the Cryo Chamber, and the Magma Vents. The Vents are exclusive to Bounty Mode (and the others are exclusive to DM or Hacker mode). The High Ground features a texture set based on the Chozo Ruins from Metroid Prime. The look is very appealing and not unlike Metroid Prime, despite having fewer polygons and no texture filtering. It has a good mix of open areas and sniping points in addition to a system of tunnels circling the walls and area below the map. A tower contains the Electro Gun (too bad there is no zoom). The Cryo Chamber features an icy white and blue set of textures that look good, but not quite as good as the High Grounds. It is a bit less vertical and contains a central location with a number of tunnels branching off to side areas containing items and, in Hacker mode, uplink points. The Magma Vents is a relatively linear level with the bounty on one end and the drop point on the other. I think that with a good set of players there won’t be many bounties claimed, but the folks I was playing with let me capture two bounties (I almost attained a third, but time ran out just before I could drop it off).

The controls are different from the demo in subtle ways. The modes where you tap the screen to shoot have been removed entirely. S mode has been split into left and right handed modes. S mode was split because the touch screen buttons are laid out differently for left and right handed folk. Speaking of the touch screen buttons, all of the weapon buttons are along the top of the screen now, biased to the left or right according to the control mode chosen. The morph ball touch button appears on the bottom right or left. The interface is graphically different depending on the character you choose, but functionally similar. The alternate graphic style for each character helps to remind you who you’re using (since you can’t see yourself) and increases the immersion a bit.

The workings and responsiveness of the controls is about the same as in the First Hunt demo. The morph ball works very well in multiplayer because very little precision is required to flee and attack. Overall, I've had a lot of fun playing Hunters multiplayer. My only real complaint is that without Internet play, I will not frequently be able to play the retail version with other people. Hopefully, the currently undisclosed single player mode turns out really well. Even so, the multiplayer mode appears to be worth the price of admission.