Metroid Prime™ - Sunken Frigate

Head for the Main Plaza with the goal of arriving at the Magmoor Caverns North transport. Before you head down to Magmoor, visit the Sun Tower. Scan and locate the cordite shields in between the wasp hives (which can be destroyed with missiles). Use a Super Missile to blast each cordite shield. This will reveal two runes. Scan them and activate them. There are two more runes remaining, located on the upper-backside of two pillars in the room. Once activated they will uncover a Spider Ball track. Bomb your way up it and find your way to the Sunchamber. Several Chozo Ghosts will appear. Destroy all of them and you will find the fourth Artifact of twelve: Wild. It sits atop the bloomed corpse of Flaaghra. Jump up to collect it and then return the same way you entered, arriving back at the Magmoor Caverns North tranport.

Step down into Magmoor Caverns and head straight to the Monitor Station. Then roll right through to the Phendrana Drifts North transport and travel up to the snowy region. Position yourself in front of the Chozo temple in Phendrana Shorelines. Scan and locate the cordite shield, then remove it with Super Missiles. This will reveal a Spider Ball track next to you, which leads up to a Missile Expansion. Afterward, turn around and head for the Ruined Courtyard. When you arrive, you need only use the Spider Ball track to reach the top; no reason to fill up the place with water again. You may also want to use the save station and replenish your energy. From that point, take a turn into Specimen Storage. Press forward and when you arrive in Research Lab Hyrda, work you way to the top level. If you are facing the main computer terminal, the pillar to the left is composed of weakened cordite. Super Missile it into oblivion and pick up another Missile Expansion.

Your next goal should be making it to the Research Core. Located at the bottom you can use your newly acquired Ice Beam to enter the Pike Access and then Frozen Pike. Quickly jump up to the top and reveal the path through the Transport Access, which leads to the Magmoor Caverns South elevator. With your Spider Ball and Ice Beam you could have used this way to get here more quickly, but then you would have never picked up those missile expansions. Keep it mind for later, however, as you can see an energy tank hidden behind an impassable sheet of ice in the Transport Access. Go back to the Frozen Pike and enter the Wave Beam door that sits about middle height in the tall cavern.

Just one more door past it should lead you to the Frost Cave. It is time to meet some new creatures: a Hunter Metroid and Glider. The Hunter Metroid is a dangerous foe, so be quick to dispose of him by freezing him with the Ice Beam and using a missile on it. As for the Glider, never mind him for now. he will come in handy much later in the game. Look at the ceiling and locate the two stalactites. Send them crashing to the floor as new platforms with the help of a few missile blasts. First enter the slightly higher of the two doors, which leads to Save Station C. You do not want to lose your progress. Return to the Frost Cave to pass through the other door into Upper Edge Tunnel where you will have to roll along a lengthy tube of ice. You should arrive in Phendrana's Edge, and since you cannot very well jump up to the top, move down into the icy water below and turn on your scanner. You should spot a Jelzap. You can only kill these creatures with a charged beam when they expose the energy core that sits between its two body halves. Access the Wave Beam that is submerged in this water, leading you into the Lower Edge Tunnel. This leads into the Hunter Cave, which has three stalactites hanging from the ceiling you must shoot down. Use the two that fall down into the water to make it across the icy pond. Then jump on the last of the three to access the door to the Lake Tunnel. When you arrive in the Gravity Chamber there is a deep pit with Aqua Reapers in it. Freeze the Reapers with your Ice Beam and run by them. Then work your way over into the next pit. At the rear of it you will find your Gravity Suit.

With the suit on, you will notice that your vision in the previously murky water is now more capable. Furthermore, and most important, you can jump freely without the heavy drag from the dense water. To test the suit, you must escape the watery depths by jumping onto a trickily located platform, located above elevated gap between the two pits. You should then be able to exit through the Chamber Access and arrive back in the Hunter Cave. Hug the right wall and exit the unopened Wave Beam door, leading you back to the Frost Pike. From there, climb to the top and seek warmer refuge via the Magmoor Caverns South transport. When you arrive, there is a convenient save point right behind you. From there, your next stop should be the Tallon Overworld West transport. Head back to the Landing Site in Tallon Overworld. If you have been following the guide exactly, there is an unopened door — the lowest in the area. On the other side is the Waterfall Cavern. Roll into a Morph Ball and take a dip in the small pond. A grouping of rocks allows you to pass under it and access a Blast Shield protected door on the other side. This leads to Crash Frigate Site; at the center lays a huge pool of water. Submerge into it and work over to the other side. At one point you will need to roll into a Morph Ball to access a small tunnel. Arriving on the other side, you will find a few injured Space Pirates. Blast by them and through the Ice Beam door that leads into the Frigate Access Tunnel. Drop down the Main Ventilation Shaft Section C ahead. you are getting into the sunken space station now, and you will probably recognize some of the surroundings.

In Main Ventilation Shaft Section B the door has no power. Flip on your Thermal Visor and locate the power conduit — this will become a staple of exploring the submerged station, so get used to it. You can now open the door to Main Ventilation Shaft Section A, which contains the new creature Tallon Crab. It does little harm, so run right by it and into the Research Core. This deep vertical room is home to a few surprises. The first being the Aqua Pirate, just an underwater replica of the Flying Pirate. As well, the only door in the room has no power. Use your Thermal Visor to locate the four power conduits; three of them are pretty obvious (one right next to the door), but the fourth is hidden at the very bottom by the sand floor. With all four activated, step into the Reactor Access and repeat the same process with your Thermal Visor activated. It would also be a good idea to use the save point located off of this room. The next area — Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma — holds an Energy Tank in broken elevator that rests on the floor. Charge your beam to shatter the window that stands between you and your sweet new tank.

Platform your way up to the top of the lift tunnel. you will find out that the door at the top has no power (of course). So, jump all the way back down to the bottom where you found your energy tank and use your Thermal Visor/Wave Beam to send power to the first power conduit of three. The second is on the backside of a wall about midway up the lift. Lastly, the final conduit is right next to the door. Enter the Biohazard Containment and jump down into the water that fills the lower level. Greet and destroy the Aqua Drone. With that confrontation out of the way, flip your scan visor back on again and check the containment units on that same lower level. One of them is made of cordite, and, naturally, weakened by the stress of the crash. Use a Super Missile blast to split it open and grab the Missile Expansion pack. And, surprise, surprise the door you need to go through is without power. Time for the Thermal Visor/Wave Beam combo again, there are three power conduits to activate. Same story for the Biotech Research Area 1; three power conduits, two of which are on the lower level of the room. Eventually, you will arrive in the Connection Elevator to Deck Beta, where you can enter the Aqua Sac into your Log Book; the creatures are connected to the walls and pose little harm. Drop to the bottom of the shaft and enter the Hydro Access Tunnel. Home to another great ball puzzle, it is one of the niftier parts of Metroid Prime, so enjoy it. As you roll into the tunnel the camera will give you a more 2D-type view. Use your bombs to propel you upward over the ledges. As you will notice, there is air pressure bubbling up from below and with so little gravity you can use your bombs repeatedly to push yourself upward. There is a longer vertical stretch that leads up to an Energy Tank.

Finally, after activating all those power conduits you will arrive in the Great Tree Hall. Get out of the water for a bit and explore the area. Follow the platforms, which lead you to a Morph Ball spinner. This will open a gate, which will aid you later. For now, exit the lowest Ice Beam door into the Transport Tunnel E. You will cross a bridge over a pool of Phazon. do not fall in it, it hurts just like lava would. Continue forward and take the Transport to Phazon Mines East.

There is a save station located just off of the Main Quarry. You can spot its location easily because you must use a Spider Ball track to roll up into it from the ground floor. Before you get into any fights in this place it would be wise to save your progress. With that safety cushion in place, head back into the Main Quarry and take note of the large orange force field blocking your progress. Begin the search for two scan reticles, which are located parallel to each other straight in front of the field; one is farther back than the other. Before you proceed through that path, however, take the walkways up to the crane control station. Naturally, it requires power. At the base of the main crane arm you can locate the power conduit with your Thermal Visor and send power to it with your Wave Beam. Scan the controls once more to change the crane's position, whereupon it will crash into the rock-face and reveal a Missile Expansion. Use the Spider Ball track attached to the underside of the arm to grab it. Put the arm back in its original place and scan the underside of the crate hanging from the crane. It has a Grapple Point connected to it. If you scan it, you should get the research entry in your Log Book.

Exit the Quarry and move through the Ice Beam door that was behind the force field, entering into Security Access A. There is a Mega Turret set awaiting your arrival. Instead of blasting them to pieces, freeze each of them with your Ice Beam, and then use your Scan Visor to disable them via the reticle in the back of the room. Then be sure to scan them to acquire their data for your creature log. Moving into the next room, Mine Security Station, there is much opposition; first Shadow Pirates and then a group of Wave Troopers. The latter new fiend is extremely aggressive, but weak to the Wave Beam. Several charged shots are most effective against them. Assuming you are successful, head into Security Access B. you will have to blast through a few gates, but it is a straightforward area otherwise. In Elite Research, just ahead, you should spot a giant stasis tank that houses an Elite Pirate Alpha — a sign of things to come, perhaps? Flip on your scan visor and acquire the Pirate Data located on the terminal near the pirate. Another terminal must be scanned to activate nearby platforms. Work you way up the platforms, defeat the Wave Troopers, and scan the next computer terminal on that level to activate more platforms. Keep your scanner on as you head up the platforms and acquire data on the newly sighted Power Trooper. It is very potent and must be destroyed with the Power Beam.

Once you arrive on the third floor of Elite Research, you will find there is a terminal that controls an Industrial Grade Pulse Beam and a Morph Ball spinner. Use the spinner to point the gun at the wall surface with 8% integrity. Behind it is a Missile Expansion. Then use the beam to blast the wall directly ahead of the terminal, which reveals an Ice Beam door. Take this to Research Access and use the Spider Ball track to avoid the machinery. Get your Power Beam ready as you head into Ore Processing. There are more Power Troopers. They are incredibly fierce and team up, so use Super Missiles to dispose of them quickly. After they are removed, it is time to focus on another Morph Ball puzzle. This one revolves around the giant pillar in the center of the room, which happens to be lined with color-coded Spider Ball tracks. Locate the rotation control unit, which must be bombed to turn the pillar. The holographic display next to it shows you how things are lining up. First line up the blue track to take you to the second level; you should be a branch that sticks out connect. Then roll up to the second level and connect the red track. You cannot go up yet, so roll back down to the bottom and bomb the rotation control unit a few more times to line up the bottom half of the red track.

This allows you to roll all the way to the third floor. You cannot use the yellow track track yet, so just exit through the Ice Beam door which will lead you through to Elevator A, the transport to Phazon Mines Level Two. You should land in Elite Control Access. Flip on your Thermal Scanner and notice the square yellow and purple signatures located in a ventilation shaft. One of them is an explosive crate. Shoot it to reveal a Missile Expansion hidden in the vents. It is a tight squeeze, but you can jump right over to it. As you enter Elite Control, get your bearings straight and your Power Beam ready. It is time for a major battle.

Boss: Elite Pirate

This Phazon-infused Frankenstein might be the result of years of work by the Space Pirates, but he is much weaker than he looks. He can absorb shots from your Power Beam, so try to hit him with Super Missiles. Dodge his shots by hiding behind the pillars in the room. Also, if he slams his fists to the floor sending out a shock wave, just double jump to avoid it. Nailing him with two good Super Missile shots should do him in.

Once he has fallen, [if you are facing the direction you entered] scan the computer terminal to the right and download two new Pirate Data entries. Then to the left of the stasis unit is another terminal near a set of walkways. This too contains Pirate Data. Head up that walkway and you will be attacked by a new creature: the Ice Trooper. These are the weakest of the weapon-specific troopers because they can be easily frozen with a charged Ice Beam blast and blown to bits with a missile. The second floor contains a grouping of terminals with some interesting, but optional data downloads. The third and highest floor is full of new Pirate Data; five new entries, in fact. Scanning one of the terminals should take the force field offline. Behind it is an Ice Beam door. Jump up into it, arriving in the half-pipe shaped Ventilation Shaft.

As you enter the pipe gas will begin to pour from the ceiling. Ignore it and continue forward into Omega Research. You will be attacked by a few Wave and Power Troopers, but that should be the extent of the attacks in this room. Work you way down to the bottom floor — scan the reticle to deactivate the force field if need be — and examine the terminals your first piece of Pirate Data about the Omega Pirate. Then drop down into the Dynamo Access via the Ice Beam door. This will lead you into the Central Dynamo. Take things slowly here. As you jump down to the center of the room, an invisible Drone will appear. Shielded by cloaking technology, you will not be able to scan it or lock on to it. So, use your Power Beam and missiles combined with manual aim (R-trigger) to take it out. As you defeat it, causing it to explode, it will reveal a hole in the grating below — just big enough to slip your Morph Ball into. Basically, it is a maze and the borders are harmful bolts of electricity. Avoid them and make your way through the maze. Look for puddles of water. When you lay bombs in it, it will splash the power conductors opening up a new path. In the center of the maze you will find the Power Bomb.

The doors will also unlock. The Ice Beam door with no fallen wreckage in front of it opens up to a save station, which by now you should have dying to use. Subsequently, head back into the Central Dynamo and directly across the room is an Ice Beam door with collapsed bendezium in front of it. This material can be conveniently blown away with a Power Bomb. [Note: Be on the lookout for glowing Power Bomb Ammunition to enter as research data.] It leads to Quarantine Access A, and there will be a row of turrets. You can slowly dispose of them one by one, or you roll into a ball and access the Morph Ball hole on the right edge of the hallway (by the stasis tank). As soon as you roll out of the other side, flip on your scanner and disable them via a reticle on the wall ahead. You should be able to accomplish this without losing any energy — stay close to the wall. The next room, Metroid Quarantine A, is home to a few Space Pirates which you can teach a lesson. As the cut-scene hints, a force field is all that sits between them and the Metroids outside. Use your scan visor on the computer terminal to deactivate the field — then sit back and enjoy watching the evil fiends suffer. But, when the Metroids are done with them, they come for you — have your Ice Beam ready. On the other side of the field, where the Metroids are held in captivity, you will be met with an impassable pool of Phazon. You cannot cross it for now, but remember this place and examine it. There are no grappling hooks, no secret Morph Ball tunnels, and even if you could walk across the other ledge is too high.

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