Rumor: Metroid Prime 1.5 design doc surfaces from Retro Studios
Given the sheer size and detail of the recently surfaced design document said to be for a Retro Studios-developed Metro Prime title, it's hard to outright dismiss as a fake. Then again, a nearly 7,000-word design document for an unannounced Metroid Prime game appearing on the internet out of thin air is hard to believe, to say the least.
But that's just what one Neogaf forum member claims to have found, supposedly on the now-locked Google Sites page of former Retro Studios level designer Tony Giovannini. The document is titled "Metroid 1.5 Design Concept," referencing the project's place in the Prime series' timeline -- between Metroid Prime 1 and 2 -- and has a completion date of November 18, 2002. The first Metroid Prime hit store shelves in North America just one day earlier.
A mess of sketches of enemies are included in the document, though no images of Samus or the game's environment are to be found. One paragraph describes the game's environment as building from the first game, saying, "The ship will take up the same real estate as the ruins and mines combined. These are two of the largest levels in the previous game and I think that by combining the size of the two, we will have a healthy amount of game space to course."
Perhaps most interesting is the inclusion of multiplayer and co-op concepts. "At a certain point of this adventure, Samus could have the opportunity to create an Android double of herself. In single player she can give it simple commands and it will fight alongside her. Perhaps we can even have a side quest on the ship where you have to retrieve the necessary components in order to create Mecha-Samus," the document reads.
The proposed "Metroid 1.5 Design Concept" was supposedly rejected, if it was ever a thing at all. At the very least it's quite a neat look at a concept that likely will never be. As the document's original host has been locked, the full document can now be found on the Metroid Wikia.
[Image credit: Metroid Wikia]
