Saving Samus Aran

Okay, I got Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Nintendo Wii the other day (via Amazon's $30 sale), and I have to ask -- what the frig is up with the game's save points?

I'm only halfway done with the planet Bryyo, and already I've had several times where I've trudged for over an hour before I can reach the next save point. This does not make it easy to play the game on my sporadic schedule; I've already had one occasion where I had to power down the Wii because of an external interruption, then spend 20 minutes in my next game session retracing the steps from my last save point to where I left off.

Apparently I'm not the only person who feels this way; I've heard from other players who say that they need at least an hour of free time before they will play the game. While I understand why the save points are so scarce -- saving your game replenishes Samus' health and weapons, so they can't be too prolific -- this gameplay design makes it frustrating for quasi-casual players like myself with erratic schedules.

That said, let me iterate for the undecided that Metroid Prime 3 is a great sci-fi adventure title (and a steal at $30 ). The controls are effortless, the graphics and sound are amazing, and the game has oodles of exploration and discovery that are the hallmarks of the series. It's fairly easy to pick up for those new to the series, but be warned that this is not a first-person shooter like Resistance: Fall of Man or Halo. Rather, it's an adventure game with a first-person view that happens to be interrupted by bouts of shooting. And aside from one muttered profanity near the beginning of the game, there's nothing really objectionable about the game, short of seeing space pirates and alien insects explode in bursts of purple blood.

But yeah, while it's a great title and comes highly recommended, it's just not my cup of cocoa. I'll probably end up selling this on eBay and putting the money towards a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl instead -- now there's a game I can play in ten-minute bursts...

(Abandoning a quality hardcore title due to lack of time and patience? I guess this is the gaming geek's equivalent of admitting he's over the hill )