Metroid Prime Hunters Multiplayer Walkthrough: Competitive Techniques and Terminology
As a competitive Multiplayer game, Metroid Prime Hunters has a handful of competitive terms and techniques to help players refine their strategies and improve, in and out of the fight. Use this glossary for a quick reference about these terms as you recognize their uses in matches.
Aim Tracking: A universal FPS technique that rewards a mix of reads and reactions against who you’re shooting. Rapid fire weapons like the Power Beam and Volt Driver lean more on rewarding reaction-based tracking, while projectile based weapons like the Magmaul and Battlehammer lean more towards predicting your opponent’s next spot. With weapons that can headshot, it’s important to prioritize headshots for more damage. If you predict the opponent is at low HP though, bodyshots are naturally easier to land and worth going for more here on average. Lower aim sensitivities (around 2 to 3 in MPH) help tremendously with consistent aim tracking. There is a merit for higher sensitivities and doing flick shots, just understand the higher difficulty for aim tracking.
Alt-Form: Similar to how Samus has her iconic Morph Ball, each Hunter receives their own mobile transformation as well to even the playing field. Collectively, these are referred to as “Alt-Forms”. Thanks to an NES limitation for not having crawling sprites, one of the most iconic instant form changes in video games was made in 1986 with Samus’s Morph Ball. Now, six other Hunters bring their own respective versions, collectively known as Alt-Forms; these are mobility and close range combat options that allow Hunters to freely go in and out of fights to reposition and find their next bounty.
Alt-Form Drop (Spire, Trace, Noxus, Weavel): When a Melee-based Alt-Form attack happens, the Hunter instantly drops to the floor if in the air. This can be used for vertical ambush plays, but be careful in low gravity maps as you float above death pits.
Bomb Jump/Fly (Samus, Kanden, Sylux): Alt-Forms that drop bombs can use the explosion to propel themselves in the air without harm. Adding to a skill ceiling for tricky movement while retreating, fighting, and traversing maps.
“Bomb Fly” is a Bomb Jump performed on a low gravity map, allowing you to move great vertical distances. Samus and Kanden tend to use one bomb and transform out to start firing, while Sylux is known to consistently fly around with his Electric Bombs to swiftly move around the map, even without low gravity.
Charge Prep (Power Beam, Missiles, Volt Driver, Magmaul, Judicator): In a default situation where you’re preparing for an upcoming skirmish, it’s favorable to charge up your weapon if possible for more initial damage up close. There are rare scenarios where you might not want to, but those tend to be when a fight is already happening and you’re pursuing a retreating target.
Headshot (Power Beam, Volt Driver, Imperialist, Judicator): The FPS version of a critical hit, headshots reward both mechanical and intuitive skill with higher damage than normal. The risk/reward comes from how much smaller the head hurtboxes are on the Hunters compared to their bodies. Hunters in their Alt-Forms cannot be hit with a headshot.
Hurtbox: Each Hunter has the same hurtbox, the area where they take damage when a weapon hitbox registers on it. When a Hunter goes into their Alt-Form, their hurtbox changes (including during the animations!), making them overall harder to hit.
Map/Orb Control: Power-Ups are the backbone for keeping Hunters well supplied and healthy. Because a Hunter spawns with 99 HP and no Affinity Weapons or ammo, you can press the advantage by staying on top of health orbs and weaponry respawning for you to accumulate as your respawning opponent struggles to keep pace.
“Orb Control” is the specific term for having a route between at least two health orbs, and beating your opponent to those health orbs as you fire at them. While this is more effective in duels overall, it’s still important to keep tabs on Power-Ups and when they’ll respawn.
Shadow Freeze (Noxus): The vertical hitbox on Noxus’s charged Judicator shot has no vertical hitbox limit. As such, you can aim at the ground and freeze targets from far away if the hitbox paths to them. It’s worth practicing, as it drastically increases Noxus’s threat range to freeze and kill opponents across the map.