Metroid Prime/Space Pirate Frigate

This area serves as tutorial stage designed to familiarize the player with the controls and the basics of gameplay in the Metroid world. Frequent messages pop up to explain what needs to be done, you should also take the liberty to mess around and explore. Many of the enemies here are easy to defeat.

Exporation
Samus, responding to a distress beacon, descends onto the deck of a desolate and abandoned frigate.

Exterior Docking Hangar
First get used to moving around and firing your weapon. Force fields prevent you from falling off the platform. For a bit of extra target practice you might try shooting the asteroids flying overhead.

The way forward is blocked by force field. Shoot the four red switches on its corners to deactivate it; this introduces you to the basics of L-targeting.

The next section has another force field with six switches, however these are offline. Follow the instructions on screen to switch to Scan mode and scan the nearby terminal to turn them on. The lower four switches are similar to the ones you've already done, but the upper two are too high to hit with L-targeting alone. Instructions appear to tell you how to target them if you haven't figured it out already.

Hop up the ledge; the game tells you how if it seems like you're having trouble. Follow the ramp to your first beam door. Shoot the door to unlock it, then approach and it will open, so go through. Follow the tunnel to another beam door and go through to the next room.

Air Lock
There is currently no atmosphere here and he far door cannot be opened until the air lock is repressurized. There is debris, including a couple of dead alien creatures, floating around so it appears that the artificial gravity is off as well.

Scan the terminal to fill the room with air and turn the gravity back on. Then proceed through the next doot.

Deck Alpha Access Hall
There is some structural damage to this hallway and several small fires have broken out. Continue to the next room.

Emergency Evacuation Area
The area is in shambles and partly on fire. Look around and do some scans to discover the reason; apparently there was a battle between Space Pirates and a large monster. Several Parasites are in the room feeding on Pirate corpses, however they can be killed with a single shot from the Power Beam. There are also crates of hazardous Phazon stacked against the walls. All escape pods have been jettisoned.

Go around the monster's corpse to find a Space Pirate still barely alive. It uses its last bit of strength to try to shoot you so finish it off; it will often yield a Small Energy. The door to the next room is just to the right of it,

Deck Alpha Umbilical Hall
Follow the directions on screen to blast through the rubble blocking your way with the Charge Beam and proceed to the other end.

Map Facility
When you enter you see some parasites scurry into a ventilation tunnel on the right. There are no instructions on screen to tell you how to follow them, but later on you're told how to activate Morph Ball mode. You can get instructions from the Inventory section of the Log Book though.

Using the Morph Ball, follow the Parasites to find a Map Station. Scan it for the Research entry then step into it to download the map for the frigate. Scan the panels here for other information; the Pirates call the monster in the Evacuation Area a Parasite Queen and there seems to be a second one still at large. Go back and continue to the end of the hall.

Connection Elevator to Deck Beta
Scan the terminal to activate the elevator then step into the Hologram to be taken to a lower deck.

Deck Beta Conduit Hall
Rubble blocks the way but there is a narrow passage open; follow the directions on screen and switch to Morph Ball mode to get through. Avoid the arcs of electricity sent out by a malfunctioning energy conductor.

Biotech Research Area 1
There are two wounded Space Pirates in this room and they attack on sight. You get an on screen tip about strafing which will be useful to defeat them. Scan the walls for more information on what the Pirates were up to. They were injecting parasites with Phazon to increase their offensive capabilities. You can see two broken canisters at ground level confirming that the two of the monsters escaped control. There is a third monster in suspended animation in a third canister. Follow the balcony to the next room.

Deck Beta Security Hall
You now encounter the first real enemy in the game, an Auto Defense Turret. You can often, but not this time, deactivate these by scanning a nearby security panel. It's located around the corner in this room and, if you can, scan it for its Log Book entry then destroy it from a distance with a Missile (two on Hard Mode/Hyper Mode) or the Charge Beam before it wakes up and starts shooting. If you do get close enough to wake it up then retreat back behind corner. Timing your movements to avoid fire, strafe around the corner to get an L-target lock on the turret and strafe back. Strafe around the corner again but this time let a missile fly.

Destroying the turret often leaves Missile Ammunition, so scan it and pick it up to replace the missile(s) you fired. The turret was guarding the door to the next room.

Biohazard Containment
Scan: Space Pirate Log 09.992.3: Zebes Falls

The first Space Pirate Log is located on terminals just outside of the door. If you neglect to scan it now, you will be unable to find it again.

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.

Blast the Auto Defense Turret or scan a nearby terminal to tell it to cease-fire (scan will say: Perimeter Defense Turret >> Off), activate the elevator and ascend. This next level has four Space Pirates, most are already injured, however there is one in perfect health that you will have to face.

Cargo Freight Lift to Deck Gamma
Right outside the door is an Auto Defense Turret, blast it to destroy it. 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


Scan the Parasite Queen immediately and you will be able to aim for her weak point, the mouth. This creature will attack by firing streams of acid, however this only inflicts a small amount 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.

The Charge Beam and Missiles are the most effective weapons against the Parasite Queen. Just continually blast her mouth and she'll be defeated in no time at all. The queen will then fall into the reactor causing an overload, leaving you with seven minutes to escape before the frigate's destruction.

Connection Elevator to Deck Beta
There is an Auto Defense Turret at the top of the elevator. A monitor allows you to deactivate it to avoid trouble. Proceed to Deck Beta.

Biotech Research Area 1


You'll find another awakened Parasite Queen that is being attacked by two Pirates, but you won't need to battle this one. Wait until an explosion kills all three then continue on and climb the rubble leading to the second deck where three more Pirates await. After dispatching the first two, head to the final Pirate to deal with it. The ventilation cap behind the last Pirate explodes soon after you approach it, killing the Pirate and granting you a passage to escape from in the process.

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. Using the Morph Ball in tunnels that slope downward can be used to speed up your escape.

Path: Subventilation Shaft Section A, Subventilation Shaft Section B, Cargo Freight Lift to Deck 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.

Main Ventilation Shaft Section B
You will have to defeat the two Auto Defense Turrets in this room before you may proceed.

Main Ventilation Shaft Section C
This section is your final chance to scan Parasites if you have not already done so.

Main Ventilation Shaft Section E
There is a large metal cylinder pushing through this tunnel, as it begins moving back follow it until you reach Main Ventilation Shaft Section F.

Biotech Research Area 2
Upon entering the room, Samus sees Ridley, now revived as Meta Ridley, awaken and fly out of the ship. The ledge on the far side of the gap is too high so use the Grapple Beam to cross it. Proceed to the Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha.

Connection Elevator to Deck Alpha
Scan the terminal just outside the door to deactivate the room's turret then continue on until you find another terminal to activate the elevator. After you scan this, an explosion will blast Samus into the wall damaging most of her equipment.

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

Air Lock
You'll have to wait until the room depressurizes before you can advance to the Gunship.

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