Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Hands-On: Samus's Psychic Abilities Are More Than A Gimmick

Read Time: ~7 minutes

It has been nearly two decades since the release of the last Metroid Prime entry. With Metroid Prime 3: Corruption launching in 2007, one question has lingered ever since the announcement of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond—does anyone still know how to truly make a Prime game? After spending an extended hands-on session ahead of its December release, I’m confident Retro Studios not only understands what makes Metroid Prime special, but also has a clear direction for expanding its world through newly introduced psychic abilities that feel as natural as Samus’s classic enhancements.

The initial demo, showcased during the Switch 2 reveal event, served as a high-intensity tutorial sequence with Samus joining Federation forces under heavy attack. It was designed to highlight both the game’s mechanics and the new hardware capabilities, and I walked away impressed. This second hands-on session picked up shortly afterward—still early in the game, but offering more freedom and more recognizable Prime-style exploration.

While assisting the Federation, Samus is unexpectedly transported to an unfamiliar world, with communications severed and key parts of her gear missing. Early on, she discovers a mysterious psychic crystal that bonds to her visor, granting her the ability to interact with the planet’s technology. The Lamorn—an ancient civilization native to this world—believe Samus is their prophesied figure because the crystal chose her. Much like how Chozo artifacts enhanced her armor in earlier games, Samus now acquires Lamorn psychic upgrades, maintaining the series' thematic consistency.

This time, Samus isn’t beginning completely powerless. The crystal immediately grants her the Psychic Beam, Psychic Hyper Beam, and Morph Ball capabilities, though her other classic abilities are absent. Most notably, she gains the Psychic Visor, which merges the functions of the classic scan visor with the interface for her new mental abilities. This reshapes how interactions work—objects move not because Samus physically manipulates them, but because her psychic focus directs them. She even raises her hand to her temple in a gesture reminiscent of Professor X, driving home the mental aspect. Another character in the demo even remarks on seeing objects shift as if by an unseen force, reinforcing the theme.

Before long, the objective becomes clear: to escape the planet, Samus must collect five master teleporter keys. At this point, the game opens into more traditional, exploration-driven Metroid Prime territory. While this section felt guided—likely by design, as it’s still early—there were hints of areas that will become accessible later with new abilities. Whether the five main areas will interconnect or remain mostly contained remains to be seen, but the first zone operated largely on its own, with environmental hints suggesting future backtracking opportunities.

Samus is stranded, but not entirely alone.

The playable area was set in a dense jungle beneath a towering, sacred Lamorn tree. Visually, the environment offered a mixed impression. Nintendo is renowned for strong art direction, especially with stylized franchises like Mario, Kirby, and Zelda. But with Metroid Prime 4 aiming for a more realistic look, the Switch 2’s limitations—or perhaps Nintendo and Retro’s relative inexperience with realistic foliage—occasionally showed through. The jungle looked good enough, though the brush mostly lined the borders of flat pathways. At times, the visuals stood out beautifully, such as navigating through vine tunnels as a Morph Ball or observing the glossy, hardened resin blocking certain doors. The game doesn’t look bad by any means, but aiming for realism in a setting as familiar as a jungle invites comparisons to current-gen hardware like PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Combat in this early stretch was minimal, with enemies posing low-level threats as the focus leaned on exploration, learning mechanics, and obtaining new abilities. A missile upgrade allowed me to break through the resin, while psychic variants of abilities introduced fresh utility. For example, you can telekinetically grab a mote of light and launch it into a socket to power a door, or shift objects mentally to activate machinery. These twists offer additional reasons to use the visor frequently to scan for interactable elements. The Control Beam, one of the standout abilities, lets you guide a slow-motion projectile to hit targets or switches that would be awkward to reach otherwise.

During the demo, I encountered Myles MacKenzie, a stranded Federation engineer. His reaction to meeting Samus mirrors classic sci-fi scenarios where everyday soldiers come face-to-face with legendary heroes—like meeting Master Chief in Halo. Myles is clearly outmatched by the planet’s dangers, yet his mechanical expertise proves useful. His nervous, quirky personality contrasted nicely with Samus’s calm demeanor, and his presence added levity without becoming an escort burden. After helping him reach safety, he remained in a control room while I continued deeper into the wilderness.

The demo climaxed with a boss encounter against Carvex, a corrupted, aggressive plant creature. The battle began with slicing through weak vines using standard weapons, but as the fight escalated, I needed to use the Control Beam to cut multiple vine segments at once—something normal shots couldn’t achieve—while dodging its sweeping tendrils. It was both intense and clever, exactly the kind of combat puzzle Prime fans expect. Scanning Carvex even revealed a bit of lore: it had fused with a Metroid, which severed its ability to communicate.

Samus battles Carvex

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Defeating Carvex rewarded Samus with the Psychic Bomb—an upgrade that acts like a traditional bomb but can be charged to float, allowing it to be moved telekinetically just like psychic motes. This ability can activate distant switches and, in the demo, enabled me to access a transport pod.

What lies beyond that pod remains a mystery until the full game launches on December 4. But based on everything I’ve played so far, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond shows every sign of honoring the series’ legacy. Retro Studios clearly understands