Metroid Prime™ - Tallon IV

The rain-drenched overworld of Tallon IV is a beautiful place, but before you go gawking at the scenery scan your Gunship. It is a nice trophy piece that's easy to forget to enter in your log book. Head directly to the door on the right, into Canyon Cavern, Tallon Canyon, another right into Transport Tunnel A and take the elevator up to the Chozo Ruins West. Scan your first bit of Chozo Lore at the Ruins Entrance, located above the door.

Head to the back of the Main Plaza, keep low on the ground, and turn left into the Nursery Access. do not worry too much about the Scarabs. Just blast right through them and head into the Eyon Tunnel. To no surprise, Eyons line the walls — just blast their eyes closed and you can move right through. Press onward into the Ruined Nursery (Save Point available), North Atrium, and Ruined Gallery. Once in the Gallery, stay elevated and follow the platforms the line the right wall. Through the doorway ahead enter the Totem Access. Here Plazmites will populate the area. They provide light, but are also an annoyance. Avoid them or exterminate them and deal with the dim lighting. Once you enter the Hive Totem, jump up onto the circular platform in the center of the room and cross the bridge, but prepare for a boss fight.

Boss: Hive Mecha

Thought you could have those missiles for free did you? Think again. you have got to earn your power-ups. In this case, you have to take on a machine that spits out Ram War Wasp — do not forget to scan them. The same goes for the Hive Mecha, but you will have to aim your scanner just underneath the water to access its data. After you have finished those important scans, focus on the battle at hand. The Hive Mecha will spit out numerous Wasps which can knock you into the harmful acidic water around you. Fend them off by manually aiming at them and locking on to them when still. Once they are gone, the Hive Mecha will reveal its weak spot when it prepares to expel a new batch. It is a giant red light, so it is an easy target. Just be sure to shoot it as soon as you see it; it disappears fast. Once you destroy all four of its weak spots, you will be able to pick up the Missile Launcher across the bridge.

The Blast Shield in front of you is begging to be blown off. Tap the Y-button and unleash your newfound power. In the next area, Transport Access North, you will find your first Energy Tank waiting for you. This is as far as you can go for now. Morph Ball ability is required to advance further in this area. Return to the Ruined Gallery. In the middle of the acidic water, clear the platform of Blastcaps. Jump out on to it and scan the nearby walls. You should find a Brinstone wall, which can be cracked open with a missile blast. Do so and you will be rewarded with a Missile Expansion. Next, cross back over towards the foul water and stay on the ground. Under the stone walkway that leads to the door to North Atrium you will find a Blast Shield. Blow it open to access the Map Station for Chozo Ruins. With the handy map data downloaded, head back through Main Plaza and with the large tree behind you, blast through the only missile door in that room.

This leads into the Ruined Shrine. you will find the Morph Ball just ahead of you, but as usual you have to earn it. Fight against the horde of Beetles and then face off against the Plated Beetle. To defeat the Plated Beetle, scan it and you will see that the description indicates you can only harm it from behind. Lock on to it and use the sidestep to maneuver yourself around it. Missiles are slow, but if used properly you can defeat it with two simple shots. After you have laid it to rest, pick up the Morph Ball upgrade.

Now would be a good time to run back to the Ruined Nursery and save. Now that you have this newfound ability, go back to the Main Plaza, cross the bridge that runs above the half-pipe, and move into the Ruined Fountain Access. There is a set of branches that grows in this tunnel. Only with the Morph Ball can you roll beneath it and enter into the Ruined Fountain. It is a dark area filled with acid, so watch your step and avoid putting out the Plazmites if you do not have to. Carve your way around the edge to the sputtering fountain that is centralized in the room. Behind it scan the Chozo Lore. Continue leaping around to the door that leads to the Arboretum Access. Get your scanner ready, because Shriekbats will be hanging from the ceiling. Use a missile to open the Blast Shield at the end of the hallway. Get your scanner ready as soon as you enter the Arboretum. The whip-like Reaper Vines lash at you from the wall. Ignore the rest of the details in this room for now; instead, jump up the platforms and cross the orange bridge. Follow the path back down towards the acidic water and you will find a Blast Shield. Shatter it with a missile and move into the Gathering Hall. It would be a good idea to access the Save Station to the right.

Walking straight out of the Save Station, keep on the same level and open the door ahead to the Watery Hall Access. This hallway may appear to be just a regular tunnel, but it houses a secret. Search the left wall. Remember the Brinstone you blasted through before? You should see another wall just like it. Shatter it and grab the Missile Expansion.

you will need the missiles, too. Crush the Blast Shield and enter the Watery Hall. Stay low to the ground and turn slightly left to jump on a nearby platform. you will see a Reaper Vine in front of you. Turn directly around and flip on your scan visor. You will activate the Rune on the wall -- this is one of five you must find in the room. Stay low and run by the Reaper Vine. A small grouping of Blastcaps ahead covers the next Rune. Destroy them and scan it. Keep pressing forward. The third Rune lies at the end of this path. After scanning it, backtrack and return to jump on the platforms that began at the entrance to the hall. Follow the platforms to the end, but be wary of the Reaper Vines for they will knock you into the acid below. The last vine in particular takes several shots before retracting. Once at the end, scan the Rune to the right and then the last one which is revealed for you just ahead. Before you go charging in past the gate to your upgrade, scan the Chozo Lore on the back wall. Okay, now grab the Charge Beam and prepare to do some major damage. As you see the nearby Eyons become active, try the Charge Beam on them (hold A). you will see it totally obliterates them.

Now move back into the Gathering Hall. This time you are going to go up. You should see some piping lining the outer edge of the wall. Near them, there is a set of platforms that begin over the entrance to the Gathering Hall Access. Jump all the way to the top where you will eventually need to use ball form to curve around to a half-bridge. Jump across to the door and enter the East Atrium. Continue into the Energy Core and take an immediate left. As you curve around you should see an entrance for the Morph Ball, but before you take it, survey the little alcove just before it. A Stone Toad is sitting there. He will not harm you, but you will be able to interact with him shortly. Okay, now press on through the Morph Ball tunnel. you will soon reach a door, and as soon as you breach through it, say hello to another boss.

Boss: Incinerator Drone

Scan. Scan. Scan. you are forgetting already, aren't you? Do you want that 100% complete? Do you want those image galleries? Then take a brief moment to scan the evil mechanism. Basically all you have to do is lock on to it and avoid the fire streams. Eventually a red target will protrude out of the top. Lock on to it and open fire. This will cause the drone to spit fire upward into a wasp hive. Out come a group of Barbed War Wasps. Do we need to tell you to scan them? Hope not. They will cause a little trouble, but be more wary of the fire streaming out of the drone. Sidestep and jump to avoid it. Repeat the process of shooting the red target, and eventually the machine will malfunction.

Your reward is the Morph Ball Bomb. This one is going to come in very handy. Before your leave the room, scan the area for a Sandstone weakness. This is the material that your newly acquired bombs work so well on. Roll through the Morph Ball path behind it and grab a Missile Expansion. After that, head back out the way you came in. Only this time use your bombs to propel you upward into the pipes. Remember that Stone Toad. Roll up into a ball and set yourself in front of him. It just so happens he loves to eat small creatures, and Samus's ball form is just the right size. Blast his innards with a few bombs to teach him a good lesson. This will reveal a Morph Ball puzzle.

Begin by bombing up into the Morph Ball Slot. Set off a bomb. This will lower the acid pool in the next room. Roll out of the pipe that feeds into that same room. As the acid lowered, it revealed another cavity to bomb. Locate it and repeat the same process. Now the platforms will rise. Follow them to yet another room. Bomb the last trigger and the platforms will rise to their final destination. Follow the path created and you should end up in the West Furnace Access. Once in the Furnace (ignore the magnetic track on the wall), you will have to roll through a simple ball maze. At the end you will find an Energy Tank awaits you.

Return to the Arbortetum (do not forget to save on the way). Once there, head to the top. Remember those runes we told you not to scan? Well, now's the time to begin looking for them. The first is located on the large tree trunk. The next is hidden on the ground under a patch of Venom Weed. You cannot scan it yet because of the rune beneath it, but do not worry, there's some just ahead of us. After activated, start climbing for the top of the area. After rolling through a few Morph Ball passages, you should see the rune on the side of the wall. Okay, scan it and keep moving upward. Just a few steps ahead you should see the red-tipped Venom Weed blocking your path. Scan it and then blast it with your Power Beam to clear the path. Once you reach the top, you should see the rune-covered door. Turn 180 degrees and on the tree is the final rune. Once activated, you can be on your way. It leads to the Sunchamber. Ready for another boss?

Boss: Flaahgra

Not only should you begin by scanning him, but the little Flaahgra Tentacle that is protruding out of the base of where he is rooted. Yes, these are both required log entries. Combine that data with what you learned during the cut-scene that introduced him, and you well on your way to defeating him. The photosynthesizing beast draws his power from the sun. It is your job to knock the mirror arrays shining light on him offline. Initially there is only one array pointing at him. Lock on to Flaahgra and rapidly fire at him until he is stunned. During this period, charge up your Power Beam and shoot the base of the array, which conveniently is marked with a red target on the rear side of it. He will fall and retract one of his tentacles. This reveals a Morph Ball slot. Race to the end of it and set a bomb. The stakes will become higher; next you must deactivate two arrays, then three, and then all four. It is a repeated process, but the difficulty ramps up. Yea, and Flaahgra does not like that. So if you cannot keep him stunned long enough, he is going to hit the arrays you have taken offline, back down to reflect the sun upon him. The best advice we can offer is to try to position yourself in between two active arrays, use ball form to speed up your travel, and, most importantly, use missiles! do not forget about this very valuable firepower. Just a few well placed shots, and Flaahgra will be dizzy from the concussive blasts. Repeat the process of bombing down the Morph Ball slots and you should have little trouble.

All the trouble was worth it, though, because you will earn yourself the Varia Suit. It protects Samus from extremely hot environments. You cannot go jumping in lava, but you can explore plenty of places that contain it. Head out of the back door and into the Sun Tower Access. Be on the look out for Ultra Energy. It will replenish 100 of your health, and you also need to scan it. As you head down this access tunnel, you will see a Pulse Bombu. You cannot defeat it with your current weaponry, so just do your best to avoid the energy pulses it rains down from above. And, whatever you do, do not go charging your beam. It creates a magnetic pull on it. On the other side, you will find yourself at the top of the Sun Tower. Samus's Power Suit is so powerful, it is completely safe to drop down below. Do so and scan the bit of Chozo Lore on the wall. Also, you will see a long magnetic track along the wall. Use manual aim to look up it as high as possible with your scan visor on. You should be able to get data on the Oculus , even though you will not face it until some time later.

Continue forward and you will see the entrance to Magmoor Caverns North. Bypass it right now. you have got a few goodies to collect. Head through into the Vault, where you fill find more Chozo Lore on the wall. This room is called the Vault for a reason. you will find a Missile Expansion. It is a lot easier to get into than it may seem. Just change into Morph Ball and bomb into the three slots. you will have to blow the covers off of them with an initial bomb, but after that you can fit in and begin to unlock the cage by setting bombs inside the slot. The third and highest slot is the toughest, as you will have to master the double bomb jump. To perform it, simply lay the first bomb and right before it explodes set another. At the peak of your thrust, set the last and third bomb — this will propel you doubly high. After you garner that, exit towards the Main Plaza and you can equip one more Energy Tank. Go ahead and continue across to the Ruined Nursery, as it is a perfect lace to save and there are even more power-ups that await you.

Examine the walls in the Ruined Nursery. you will find a large Morph Ball maze embedded into the wall. The reward at the end of it is a Missile Expansion. It is pretty easy to solve. The only hurdle is that a metal block cannot be bombed through. Start by bombing the lowest piece of sandstone, which you can access from the floor. The metal block will slide down, allowing you to access the full path above. Now, go just a few rooms back to the Ruined Gallery. Look closely at the map diagram of that room. you will see a strange tube archway. Find the small, slightly elevated Morph Ball tunnel and bomb up into it. Another Missile Expansion awaits you.

Now, continue to Magmoor Caverns North elevator. Jump down the huge column and just ahead in the forthcoming hallway you will, see a Blast Shield. On the other side is a convenient save point. Keep pressing forward and you should see your first pair of Grizbies. They pose little harm, but if you must get rid of them use missiles. In the next room Lake Tunnel, you should get your first glimpse of the Burrower. Lava Lake, the next room, holds even more creatures. Perhaps the most popular enemy of this place, the Magmoor, is a giant fire-breathing lava worm. Keep your distance and keep pummeling it with shots until its head comes off. Platform your way across the lake, and be wary of Puffers, which leave behind a cloud of caustic gas. On the other side, you will find a grouping of boxes. Blast them out of the way, and bomb the sandstone wall behind them. There is a hidden Morph Ball tunnel here. Cross the next part of the lake and find your way into the Pit Tunnel, which is infested with the Triclops. They are underneath the metal grating. You must change to Morph Ball form and roll under it. The Triclops will vacuum you up and spit you back out the starting point. The trick is to lay a bomb just before they get to you so they vacuum it up instead, exploding shortly after. If they catch you, twirl the analog stick to break free more quickly.

Enter the Triclops Pit. Before you jump on the platforms in front of you, head directly below them, spin around, and access the hidden passageway at the bottom. The Morph Ball tunnel there will lead you underneath the grating and eventually you can find an exit, which puts you squarely in front of the door to the Storage Cavern where a Missile Expansion awaits you. After nabbing it, turn back around and head over those platforms and into the Monitor Tunnel. When you enter the Monitor Station be wary of the Defense Turrets. Try disposing of all of them as soon as you enter. Jump over to the center of the room and continue up towards the station. There is a bridge that leads to an elevated door — this is where you want to head for now. do not worry, you will be back soon. Move out into Transport Tunnel A. While it may not be apparent, you can use your double bomb jump to access an Energy Tank above. Take heed: This particular challenge is very difficult. We advise you to save first (at the station just ahead) and return. It is very easy to get stuck in the lava below and die. After you do save, you can feel totally confident to complete the challenge. Use the elevator to go to Phendrana Drifts North.

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