Guide: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Image: NintendoIf you’ve been following the development of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond since its initial announcement in 2017, then chances are you’ve heard the name ‘Sylux’ mentioned in passing along the way.

If you’re not completely up-to-date on your Metroid Prime history (and not everyone is, that’s okay), then you might not know who this enigmatic bounty hunter is. Given that it shows up at the end of the latest gameplay trailer for Beyond, however, it’s clear that Sylux is due to play a pretty prominent role in Retro Studio’s upcoming FPS.

With that in mind, we thought we’d shed a little light on Sylux and get you caught up so you’re ready to face it when Metroid Prime 4: Beyond launches for the Switch in 2025.

Who is Sylux?
Truth be told, not a great deal is known about Sylux. Although it’s appeared in three Metroid Prime games to date – Metroid Prime: Hunters, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force – two of these were little more than short cameos.

However, what little we know about Sylux’s background is more than enough to get us excited about his upcoming appearance in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. The official description within the Hunters manual says that Sylux harbours an ‘intense hatred’ for the Galactic Federation along with Samus herself by association. Why? We don’t know.

What this means, though, is that unlike previous ‘Big Bads’ like Ridley, Kraid, or Metroid Prime itself, there’s real potential for some genuinely intense and emotional encounters between Sylux and Samus. What happened to Sylux to warrant such disdain toward the Galactic Federation? Is it seeking revenge for some traumatic past event?

It’s all very intriguing, to say the least.

In addition, we don’t know Sylux’s gender nor even what species it belongs to. A description attached to Sylux’s trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl refers to the character as ‘it’, so for now, these details are ambiguous.

Image: Nintendo Life
Metroid Prime – Every Sylux Appearance
As mentioned, Sylux has appeared in three Metroid Prime games. Now, the best way to get caught up is to go back and play the series for yourself, if you can. However, rather cheekily, the three games in question are not available on the Nintendo Switch, so we understand if getting your hands on these titles might prove to be somewhat tricky.

So to help out, we’ll briefly go through each of Sylux’s appearances and what they might mean for its upcoming starring role in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Metroid Prime Hunters (DS)

Sylux’s most prominent role came with Metroid Prime: Hunters for the DS. Here, it appears as an opposing bounty hunter within the main campaign but is also a playable character in the multiplayer mode. Its main weapon is the ‘Shock Coil’ prototype stolen from the Galactic Federation, which effectively drains its opponents of energy (not entirely unlike the Metroids themselves). It can also transform into a ‘morph ball-esque’ alternate form called ‘Lockjaw’.

At the end of the game, Samus effectively saves Sylux from a being known as Gorea, however, this does nothing to assuage Sylux’s hatred for Samus, and it ultimately escapes.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

Sylux is only present in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption if you manage to obtain 100% of the available items and log book entries. Even then, we don’t see it in person.

Instead, just after Samus pilots her Gunship into space after the game concludes, Sylux’s ship comes into view. It hovers for a brief moment before zooming off into the distance, presumably to pursue Samus.

Metroid Prime: Federation Force (3DS)

In another secret ending – obtained after successfully extracting a Metroid egg during the ‘M-17: Infestation’ mission – Sylux is seen breaking into a Federation Facility. There, it successfully hatches the Metroid egg.

Now, in the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer, we see a couple of Metroids flanking Sylux as it faces off against Samus. Presumably, when the Metroid hatches at the end of Federation Force, it imprints onto Sylux in a similar way that the ‘infant Metroid’ does with Samus toward the end of Metroid II: Return of Samus.

So there you have it. Hopefully, this has provided a bit of context behind Sylux as a character and what its previous appearances might mean for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. We’ll keep a close eye on any subsequent trailers in the run-up to the game’s release, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Sylux in the coming months.