Multiple Gaming Outlets Go Hands-On with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

The big Metroid Prime 4: Beyond preview day has finally arrived! Adding to the hype created by the overview trailer released yesterday morning, multiple different news outlets, gaming pundits, and content creators had the chance to test out the preview build of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and share about it. The hands-on demo spanned roughly the first two hours of the game, though the exact time allotted varied by outlet. Previews were conducted on the Switch 2 version of the game, and outlets were invited to play in both handheld mode and docked mode with mouse controls.

Over two dozen gaming outlets have shared their impressions of the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond demo as of the time of writing. Here we’ll give a broad rundown of some consistent themes we noticed amongst all the different previews.

 

The Good:

Nearly every preview article and video was glowingly positive about how familiar the new title felt when compared to the Prime series that we all know and love, while still remarking on how well the new features and new psychic abilities blended in to the gameplay. The music, setting, early puzzles, and combat also all saw pretty much unanimous approval and praise. And based on our observations, Sylux and Samus look better than ever, the bosses look engaging, and the cutscenes look fantastic and grander than ever.

 

The Bad:

While there was certainly a lot of positivity in the previews, there was also some consistent aspects that people either didn’t love or straight-up complained about. The biggest gameplay concern, for example, was the inexplicable lack of the Vi-O-La bike or Sol Valley gameplay at all. Others couldn’t resist comparing what they saw in the Fury Green jungle or waterfall area to games on the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, console experiences a dual-release Switch 1/Switch 2 game can’t truly compete with. Some previewers also felt that the game was too similar to prior Prime games, where even new content didn’t feel revolutionary enough in 2025.

 

The Ugly:

There was, however, one thing nearly all previews had in common: hate for the entire existence of the new NPC engineer Myles Mackenzie, who will accompany Samus during part of her journey through Fury Green. Some said his constant quips ruined the atmosphere for them, while others said his insistence on pointing out obvious Save Rooms or ways to defeat enemies was too hand-holdy. Some even worried he would be a persistent companion throughout the game — this however doesn’t seem to be the case as he seems to stay at “Base Camp” following his initial section, but we may see similar NPC companions join Samus later in the game. While not everyone was negative about Myles, it seems to be the unfortunate takeaway in many sections of the internet right now.

 

Check out the video previews below by IGN or EuroGamer for more direct information:

How is Metroid Prime 4: Beyond looking to you? With less than a month away until release, has it met or exceeded your expectations so far? Do you have serious doubts about the Vi-O-La bike or having a Federation NPC squad accompanying Samus on Viewros? Share with us your feelings in the comments below or join the larger conversation over on our discord server!

Sources: IGN, Eurogamer, GameSpot, Nintendo Life, Rolling Stone, Yahoo! Tech, Stephen Totilo