Metroid Prime/Space Pirate Frigate

Following the explanation as to why Samus is touring the space around Tallon IV, Samus descends onto the deck of a desolate and abandoned frigate.

As with all Metroid games, the initial level is actually an introductory stage, designed to familiarise the player with the controls, the methods, and basics of gameplay in the Metroid world.

Although self-explanatory, frequent messages pop up to explain what needs to be done, you should also take the liberty to mess around and explore.

The enemies you face are reasonably simple to dispatch and should not challenge even a new player. Parasites make up the bulk of the foes, and these can be killed with one or two shots from the power beam. Injured space pirates are also common, but most are already heavily injured so are not very tough and their aim is impaired. There are several which are uninjured and hence much more dangerous but these can be identified by the commando roll they use to get into combat. Auto Defense Turrets are also positioned in some rooms and the best method to kill these is to dash out from round a corner and fire a missile to kill them in one shot (a charged Beam will also work). Sometimes there are CPUs nearby to deactivate turrets. Keep this in mind for later.

Exterior Docking Hangar
The way is immediately faced with a force field. Turn it off by firing on the four red switches at each of its corners. The next force field has six switches, which are turned off. Turn them on by scanning the terminal directly in front of the field. Fire. Proceed to the Air Lock.

Air Lock
The door cannot be opened until the air lock is repressurized. Scan the terminal and proceed to Deck Alpha Access Hall, then Emergency Evacuation Area.

Emergency Evacuation Area
Scan: Parasite

An area in shambles and partly on fire. The reason, a Parasite Queen, lies dead along with a number of Pirates. Parts of the room are on fire and all escape pods have been jettisoned. One wounded pirate sits in the end of the room, and you'll have to kill him. Proceed to Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall.

Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall
Blast through the rubble blocking your way with the charge beam. Using the Morph Ball, take a side route to the Map Facility.

Map Facility
Scan: Map Station

Enter the Map Station. This will give you a map of the entire Frigate. Exit to Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall, then proceed to the Connection Elevator to Deck Beta.

Elevator to Deck Beta
Scan the terminal to activate the elevator. Step into the Hologram. Proceed to Deck Beta Conduit Hall.

Deck Beta Conduit Hall
A malfunctioning energy conductor unit is sending out arcs of electricity. Avoid them and proceed to Biotech Research Area 1, via Morph Ball through the rubble.

Biotech Research Area 1
Kill two wounded Pirates and proceed to Deck Beta Security Hall.

Deck Beta Security Hall
Scan: Auto Defense Turret

An Auto Defense Turret starts firing at you. Take it out with a missile. Proceed through the door.

Biohazard Containment
Scan: Space Pirate Log 09.992.3: Zebes Falls

A two-story room holding numerous monitors on the right and a dead Parasite Queen in a tube in the middle. Hermetically sealed lockers line the walls. You can scan them for extra info, but best to just look at them.

Blast the Auto Defense Turret or scan to tell it to cease-fire (scan will say: Perimeter Defense Turret >> Off), activate the elevator by scanning the terminal, and ascend. Kill four Pirates (one having impairment of shooting and the other unable to walk), and proceed to the Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma via the Deck Beta Transit Hall.

Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma
Kill the Auto Defense Turret while still behind the door in Deck Beta Transit Hall. Scan the terminal to activate the lift, then enter the hologram to descend. Once you reach the bottom, an unharmed Space Pirate jumps down in front of you and attacks.

To proceed to the Reactor Core Entrance, you must first activate the door lock by scanning its terminal, then enter the lock clamp in Morph Ball form. The door opens.

Reactor Core Entrance
Scan: Save Station

Blast the defense turrets in this room. Proceed left to the Save Station. Save, return to the Reactor Core Entrance, and unlock the door via Morph Ball. The hall to the Reactor Core is lined with more Pirate corpses than usual and green blood is splattered all over. Take the elevator down.

Reactor Core
Scan: Parasite Queen.

As you approach the reactor, a live Parasite Queen climbs down from the shaft, roars at you and climbs into the reactor.

Boss Battle: The Parasite Queen
Upon beginning the fight, you should scan the Queen straight away. This reveals that the Parasite Queen has a weakness in the mouth and as such your auto aim readjusts to target from the belly to the mouth, and increases the amount of damage you deal. To kill her you must simply shoot her enough, with charged shots being the most effective method of harming her. You should only use missiles when you have a clean shot.

The Parasite Queen attacks by firing a stream of acid at you, which, if she scores a direct hit, can do between 10 and 20 units of damage. Her main defense is the two-layered reactor shield with only a small opening and stops all attacks. Occasionally, the shield will suddenly spin rapidly and block almost all incoming shots but single power beam blasts can still get through, or you can simply run round avoiding the incoming attacks which you can do by dashing as the shield quickly settles. Maintain your aim, charge your beam, and continually dash to the opening in the shield to fire.

After beating the parasite queen, she loses her grip and falls into the reactor, critically damaging it. Now you have 8 minutes to get out before the frigate blows up. Proceed to the Elevator to Deck Beta via Deck Gamma Monitor Hall.

Elevator to Deck Beta
There are turrets at the top of the elevator. A monitor allows you to turn them off to avoid trouble. Proceed to Deck Beta.

Deck Beta
A Queen has woken up in it's tube, and two pirates are taking care of it until the tube explodes, killing them all. Climb up the broken stairs, kill three Pirates, and proceed.

Ventilation Shaft Pathway
This part of the frigate is very linear so there is no difficulty in simply following the path to your ship. Clearing the halls of the vast swarms of parasites is not necessary and simply wastes time, so just run through them. Morph Ball is better than walking down, since it takes forever for Samus to walk all the way down and since the Morph Ball speeds up on slopes.

Path: Subventilation Shaft Section A, Subventilation Shaft Section B, Cargo Freight Lift to Dedck Gamma, Main Ventilation Shaft Section A, Main Ventilation Shaft Section B (2 Turrets), Main Ventilation Shaft Section C, Main Ventilation Shaft Section D, Main Ventilation Shaft Section E, Main Ventilation Shaft Section F, Biotech Research Area 2.

Biotech Research Area 2
Upon entering the room, Samus sees Ridley, now revived as Meta-Ridley, awake and fly out of the ship, to Samus's anger. The bridge over the gap is out, so use the grapple to cross. Proceed to the Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha.

Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha
Activate the elevator by scanning the elevator. But then, the hallway behind you explodes, sending Samus flying against the wall and bringing her Varia Suit and most other functions offline. Looks like you once again have to track down those power-ups once you get down to the planet. Now enter that elevator.

Path: Deck Alpha Mech Shaft, Air Lock, Exterior Docking Hangar.

As you exit to the hangar, Samus sees Ridley making his escape and runs to her ship, pursuing him to the same planet the frigate is about to crash-land in: Tallon IV.

Available Scans

 * Creatures Scan - Parasite: These first appear in Emergency Evacuation Area (They are a one time only scan, but you cannot miss them; your last chance is in the ventilation shaft pathway)


 * Research Scan - Small Energy: Intentionally lose some health before you kill the first Space Pirate. When it is killed it will leave behind this pick-up. Don't worry if you miss this; there are loads of chances you can get this scan.


 * Research Scan - Map Station: Located in the Map Facility.


 * Crestures Scan - Auto Defence Turret: First seen in Deck Beta Security Hall.


 * Research Scan - Small Missile Ammo: Destroy the first Auto Defence Turret with a missile. It will then leave behind this pick-up.


 * Space Pirate Data - Fall of Zebes (NTSC/PAL): Located in Biohazard Containment.


 * Research Scan - Save Station: Located through a small door in the East wall of Reactor Core Entrance.


 * Creatures Scan - Parasite Queen (also explained above): Located in Reactor Core.