Feel the atmoshpere in Metroid Prime: new pics.

[Xantar]

Ok, so you say that GameSpot editors who have actually played the game say that Metroid Prime is an FPS. Well, Matt Cassamassina has also played the game, and he says otherwise.

Matt responds: A true slip of the tongue, my friend. To clarify, I should think that Metroid Prime is in fact a first-person adventure with shooter elements. Has Nintendo brainwashed me? No, no, seriously -- hear me out on this; the game couldn't be more the opposite from, say, TimeSplitters 2, which is a true FPS. How's that? Well, it's all in the play setup, really. Metroid controls differently, for one, with emphasis on Samus's different targeting modes and gadgets, not to mention her ability to morph into ball form. Second, it moves like an adventure. For instance, in some places, Samus will be able to walk through an entire locale without the need to blow a single enemy apart -- not the style of a shooter.

But it's really just a label. The game does take place largely in first-person mode and there is shooting, so if some gamers feel better about it, they can dub it an FPS. And similarly it's an adventure, so that applies too. I've come to think of the first-person shooter as a kind of "shoot first and ask questions later" genre, and Metroid Prime is definitely not that. So, for me at least, the FPA label works better.

What he says sounds reasonable enough to me. And it is possible that different people will have different opinions (as he points out). But based on what he says and what I have read about the game, Metroid Prime just doesn't seem to be an FPS unless your definition of an FPS is simply first person game in which you have a gun.