At the end of the latest trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, we were bestowed with a brief but tantalising glimpse at a brand-new suit for long-time protagonist Samus Aran.
At first glance, the suit looks completely new; something we’ve not yet seen from the Metroid Series. Or is it..? Well, officially yes, it is, but taking a quick look through some of the concept art for Metroid Dread, we’ve spotted a few similarities with one of the scrapped suit designs from MercurySteam’s 2021 entry.
Observe in the below image: you can see distinct similarities with the helmet, the rounded shape of the shoulder pads (albeit not the size), and the three lights in the centre of Samus’ chest. The helmet design specifically is a particularly interesting one, as the additional ‘eye’ above the main visor seems to be the source of Samus’ new psychic abilities in Beyond. In other words, it’s not just some random cosmetic choice that Retro Studios decided to throw in for fun.
If we disregard the fact that the Dread concept art wasn’t used in the final game, could it be that the similarities point to some loose connection between Dread and Beyond? Could the latter actually be taking place much later in the timeline than we had previously thought?
Chances are it’s merely a coincidence. In fact, we’re almost certain it’s a coincidence, but it definitely raises a few questions and makes us even more excited to find out what happens when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond launches later this year.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was showcased in the latest Direct presentation, which also detailed the new Virtual Game Card scheme for Switch and Switch 2. We’ll be finding out much more about the Switch 2 next week during the big Direct showcase on 2nd April.
