The long-awaited Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is coming on December 4 to both the original Switch and the recently-released Switch 2, as announced during today’s Nintendo Direct livestream. The Switch 2 is getting a dedicated version with upscaled graphics and some other bells and whistles, just like the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
We already knew the next Metroid would drop sometime in 2025, but it’s nice to have an actual release date. We got a nifty trailer for the first-person adventure earlier this year that showed off new power-ups for protagonist Samus Aran. The game looks very fun and certainly seems to capture the spirit of its predecessors.
The plot involves Samus exploring a large planet and battling malevolent alien creatures which more than likely include the titular Metroids. This is a first-person game, unlike the relatively recent Metroid Dread, with an emphasis on scanning the environment, shooting enemies and solving puzzles. She has a cool-looking motorbike this time around, with an Amiibo figure to match. The trailer also shows off some wide-open sections to explore.
The first Metroid Prime was released all the way back in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube. The fourth entry has experienced a rocky development cycle, with Nintendo scrapping the project entirely in 2019 to start over from scratch.
The Metroid series dates back to 1986 with the NES original. The franchise represents one half of the popular Metroidvania genre, which is buzzy right now thanks to the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong. A price has not yet been announced.
