Chances are, if you purchased a Wii at anytime in its lifespan so far, you came home with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, flopping around in the same bag. For the non-casual gamer, that was - and still is - the system's killer app and the most purchased game. The problem is, regardless of what you think of Twilight Princess, when you peel back those motion controls, you'll find that it bleeds Gamecube - circa 2005 no less - and really isn't a Wii game at all but, dare I say it, a port.

Just a little over eight months have passed since then and with them has come very little in the way of first party titles from Nintendo. What we have received so far has yet to really distinguish itself from what was, or at the very least could have been, developed for the Gamecube. I am here to say, with all the confidence in the world, that the wait for the first true next generation Nintendo title is finally here with the launch of what may be the most important title the Wii has seen yet - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Sporting the most impression graphics to ever grace a Nintendo system, a control scheme that stands unrivaled when compared to any of its peers and a lengthy adventure that blends adventure and shooter with a near perfect formula, the only question left unanswered is this: why are you wasting precious playing time reading this review?

When Metroid first became Metroid Prime, it was met with open arms by both gamers and the press, despite more than a few miscues and hiccups. Praised for its blend of third-person adventuring and first-person shooting, the title went onto to be one of the best selling titles for the Gamecube and one of the few mature(er) series to grace the 'kiddie' system. But for all the accolades it acquired, it did not win over this reviewer. I found the constant backtracking and easy to defeat enemy forces counterproductive to fun. For every enjoyable boss fight, I had to wade through hours of boredom. I never even gave its sequel, Echoes, the time of day.

So what made me even bother to try out Corruption, let alone lavish it with such love and affection? Short answer - it does everything not great but amazingly: graphics, sound, the story and its telling, control, action, adventure, the whole shebang. Retro Studios did not miss a beat on any individual aspect of Metroid Prime 3. Those of you looking for the long answer, here we go!

What can I say about the graphics that can effectively portray just how awesome they look? To be honest, I'm not sure that is possible, because seeing is believing, but I'll try anyway. Think of what you expect to see in a Wii game - Gamecube to Xbox quality at best - and throw it out the window, because Corruption vomits better looking games than that. Though it still can't hang with the likes of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in overall beauty, the gap between the two groups has never felt smaller. Each mammoth level is filled to the absolute brim with detail, from sprawling backgrounds with action, such as birds or ships fighting, happening out in the distance, to the spectacular lighting and particle effects to what feels like a never-ending bag of textures to pull from. Every time you think the game has reached its graphical peak, it pulls out yet another surprise.

Not only is there a huge amount of texture variety, but more often than not they stay in focus when you come in close contact with them, instead of blurring into eyesores. That is just not a feat I expected from a Wii title, as until now the Wii not even slightly produced such results with consistency. Enemies, of which there are many different types, are each unique in style and model, taking very natural tones and body features that correspond with the planet they can be found on. All the characters receive a healthy helping of attention, but none can stand next to the beauty that is Samus in her suit. Each piece of her suit, no matter the size, is painstakingly recreated, making for the most realistic version of the famous bounty hunter that has ever been seen. Each time she comes out of her ship, which is shown from a third-person view, she's an utter treat to behold. What may be even more amazing than all of this is that the entire game runs at 60 frames-per-second. 60 FPS! How it's possible to craft a game as visually brilliant as this one and still stay at 60 FPS is mind-boggling, and it sends a very clear message to developers who have been down on what the Wii can actually do. This white box is much more than it appears if you are willing to invest the time, money and manpower.

The sound department doesn't miss a beat either, feeding off the graphics to create a near perfect tag-team, ready to manhandle your senses. Kenji Yamamoto's soundtrack is magnificent, keeping the mood just tense enough to never let your guard down but never thick enough to make you feel paranoid. Sound effects, from weapons fire to enemy noises and explosions, are all created with success, screeching out of your speakers at all the right volume levels - except that they oddly top out at a decimal that is abnormally quieter than one would expect. The voice acting, a Metroid first, is top-notch, but I'll get into that later.

Corruption opens with our tried-and-true hero, Ms. Samus Aran, awakening in her ship after a nice cryogenic nap. She pulls into the space of a fleet of Federation ships, led by the S.S. Olympus. After docking, she learns about current Space Pirate activity before being asked to look into the current rumor of a virus they may have spread to the Aurora Unit, a computer that has been malfunctioning. Just as she prepares to leave, a Federation base is attacked by the pirates as they attempt to disable its defense shields. With little time for contemplation, Samus heads off to join the battle. Eventually she is attacked by her nemesis, Dark Samus, causing the proverbial crap to hit the fan.

What really makes Corruption's story stick out as exceptional is not so much the story itself - which is solid, albeit shallow, action fare - but how it is told. The game switches back and forth between videos and interactive moments - both rendered within the phenomenal in-game graphics engine - that balances being in Samus' head and watching her from afar with intelligence and skill. This is especially true for the interactive scenes, where the story simply plays in-game, allowing you to look around and/or interact with the scene. The perfect example of this happens in the very first scene of the game, where Samus is asked to identify herself to the S.S. Olympus to obtain docking clearance. You're not left to watch as everything is handled automatically; instead you must select the right buttons and engage the thrusters for the scene to continue. These contextual moments may seem elementary in nature and execution, but what they do for the ambience is unquestionably vital to the Samus experience.

Another wondrous feature to these scenes are the addition of a full voiceover for every character other than Samus. For a company that has flat-out refused to provide their marquee games and characters with anything more than one-liners and grunts, it's not only refreshing to finally hear some speech but reassuring to see that it has been handled with such care and professionalism. Each of the voice actors are capable and comfortable in their role, bringing each character to life. This isn't your run-of-the-mill RPG cast.

Now its time to dig into the real meat of the game! All of the hype, praise and love poured all over the Wii controls, I am here to reiterate, is all deserved and justified. As a gamer who's more at home with a controller than a mouse and keyboard when it comes to the FPS genre, what Retro Studios have set up here is as effective and accurate as I imagined the perfect Wii FPS controls would feel. I can only speculate on the amount of time and effort that went into perfecting these - all I can say is that is was well spent and any other shooters to grace the system from here on out have their work cut out for them.

How do they work? If I said 'about exactly as you'd imagine they would,' would you be surprised? You shouldn't be. Each of your hands represents one of Samus' hands - nunchuk for the left hand, Wii remote for the right hand. This does change during moments where Samus needs use of a hand, as the big cannon on her right arm doesn't have a hand attachment, but you get the picture. The nunchuk deals with movement with the analog stick, as well as having lock-on mapped to its Z Button and the Morph Ball to its C Button. Not very exciting, I know, but I'm not finished. One of the coolest gestures in the game has been given to the nunchuk, a phrase I don't have the opportunity to use very often. When you lock onto certain icons throughout the game and thrust forward with the nunchuk, Samus uses her grappling tool to grab onto the selected object. This is far from cheesy or tacked on though, as its utilization does a wonderful job of keeping it relevant. You can pull shields away from enemies, swing around from point to point, break objects and more. There is just something fun about hooking out to something and ripping it off - literally!

The Wii Remote is in control of quite a few things (missiles, Scan Visor, menu, etc.), including the most used portion of the controls - looking and firing. With a crosshair on-screen that moves with a mathematician's precision, aiming and looking has never felt so natural on a console before. The smoothness and accuracy with which the game reads your movements is astounding, as it seems to never miss a beat, yet also adds a difficulty curve that will temporarily effect even the sternest FPS vet. With the first hour or so paced with more adventure than action to help you get used to the controls, most gamers should be ready to blast anything they come across once they reach the first boss fight, with an old Metroid favorite. But if you are part of that casual gamer crowd and have limited FPS experience, you're probably in trouble. You can adjust the sensitivity of the crosshair's movement, but with the game demanding such a high level of accuracy when it comes to aim - your aiming reticule is the size of the tip of a pen - I'd say it's more to help the seasoned gamer to achieve perfection than the casual gamer find their bearings.

Fantastic controls do not make a fantastic game though, as the developers still need to implement them into the grander scheme of things to achieve noteworthy results. Corruption does just that. As Samus has to discover the cause behind this spreading virus, as well as track down Dark Samus, she is forced to travel all over the solar system, allowing her to visit more individual areas than ever before. From the cold, sterile base on Norion to the long lost civilization and wild vegetation filling the planet of Bryyo, there is always something new to see and experience. Missions are rarely, if ever, new to the scheme of action-adventure titles, but they are executed so well based on pacing, enemy placement, level design and thought-provoking puzzles that you will hardly notice the game's repeated requests to turn another reactor on. There is still a decent amount of backtracking to be done on some missions, but it doesn't feel as painful and boring to revisit areas as was seen in the first Prime game.

Another of my bigger complaints from the first Prime was the lack of enemies to kill, but Corruption seems to have struck a greater balance between eerily empty halls and indulging itchy trigger fingers. Though hardly on the level of a horror title, enemies popping out of cover happens far too often to allow you to sink into a level of complacency and boredom. Just see what happens when Ridley first graces the screen - you can't tell me that even for a second you knew that was going to happen! Boss battles are fast-paced and fun, but much like the missions, they fall quickly into clichéd patterns (this guy runs at you, these guys teleport and shoot, etc.)

Replay value can be a make or break for gamers who are accustomed to their FPSs having both a robust single player and multiplayer mode. In Corruption, there is no multiplayer of any kind, as Retro Studios feared that splitting their focus would detract from the game's overall quality. Personally, seeing how wonderful the game turned out as a single player experience, I don't miss it at all. A lengthy quest - at least twenty hours without any dillydallying- that never sags or sets the player into sleep mode, multiple difficulties to encourage return visits (not that the game really needed any more help doing that) and a set of Xbox 360-like achievements to keep the collectors busy provide more than enough substance, again, if you can look past the missing multiplayer.

There have been some concerns throughout the Internet regarding Nintendo's lack of advertisement for what is supposed to be a big title for them. They decided to try something new this time around, keeping the awe and shock that a triple-A title should bring to those who purchase it under wraps, preserving the surprises that a world of connectivity and instant access to information has made essentially impossible. The decision was for the fans and by not spoiling any of the wonder and gratification, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption provides, the Wii's best game - by far - is also one of its biggest surprises. Third party developers who have scoffed at the Wii as nothing more than an underpowered, casual system - you've just been served.

Reviewed by Tony Peters for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).