The Reactor Core is a room in Metroid Prime. It is found in the Frigate Orpheon, and encountered twice, before and after the ship crashes. The first visit to the room provides a battle with a Parasite Queen, the first boss in the game, who is partially protected by a moving cylindrical barrier. Killing the creature initiates a sequence in which the frigate begins to destruct before crashing into Tallon IV, a nearby planet. Samus is given a few minutes to escape before this happens.
Later, when Samus explores the wreckage of the Orpheon she comes across this room again. Now completely underwater, the Reactor Core has multiple floating platforms to get to the top and bottom of the room. The bottom of the room is covered with sand and a bunch of rocks pierce through the room. Several Power Conduits need to be activated with the Wave Beam to energize the door out.
Connecting rooms[]
- Reactor Core Entrance/Reactor Access (via large door with Ball Clamp/powerless door)
- Deck Gamma Monitor Hall (via Blue Door) (before crash)
- Main Ventilation Shaft Section A (via Blue Door) (after crash)
Inhabitants[]
Pre-crash[]
Post-crash[]
- 3 Jelzap (before obtaining Gravity Suit)
- Aqua Reaper
- 2 Aqua Pirates (after Gravity Suit is obtained)
Data[]
Logbook entries[]
Parasite Queen
Morphology: Parasite Queen
Parasite female, genetically enhanced by unknown means.
A weak spot has been detected in this creature's mouth. Use your auto-targeting to acquire this new target!
Scans indicate the presence of a potent mutagen, origins unknown. Creature exhibits the ability to fire weapon-grade blasts of energy from its mouth, a trait not present in the standard parasite genome. It appears the Pirates have begun a bioengineering program, with considerable results.
! | This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters. |
Scans[]
Pre-crash
Please note that these scans are before the elevator down into the room.
Space Pirate
These creatures still contain a heat signature. They have not been here for very long.
Analysis detects large amounts of blood missing from the carcasses.
These bodies may have been used for nourishment. Pattern consistent with predator behavior.
No life signs detected.
Post-crash
- Powerless door
- "This door has no power.
Four nearby Power Conduits must be energized for it to open. Blasts of electrical energy will energize the conduits. The conduits radiate some heat that is invisible in the normal spectrum."
Unused[]
Unused scans in this room have been found through datamining of Metroid Prime Remastered.
Pre-crash:
Reactor core critical!
Evacuate immediately!
Post-crash:
Emergency channel>>Tallon IV exosphere penetrated. Reactor irreparable due to Queen Parasite corpse. Crash procedure AA3 initiated.
Emergency channel>>Majority of crew killed or evacuated in Queen specimen breach. Hunter infiltration confirmed. Reactor critical. Ship foundering.
Emergency channel>>All crew inside the ship are dead. Surface survivors are activating the remote distress beacon. Glacier One please respond.
Emergency channel>>Rescue. Four known survivors. Rescue. Ship interior flooding. Rescue beacon active. Life support inoperable. Rescue.
Emergency channel>>Rescue beacon activated. Ship impacted near body of water in northern hemisphere. Near total mechanical failure throughout.
Messages[]
"Use / and tap / to dash while locked on."
"Scan this enemy to find its weak spot."
"Reactor Core critical! Evacuate immediately!"
LeRoy Strauss design notes[]
What is of most interest about the environment design on Metroid Prime is the fact that the modelers of each area created their own concepts, instead of having concept artists design them. "Well the way I approach building a level is I start by doing little thumbnail sketch's," described Strauss. "That way if I decide I don't like the look of something I can just draw a new thumbnail sketch rather than scrap a few days of work. If I like how the rough drawings are starting to turn out, I have a good idea of how I want the room to look, so the blueprint is now on paper and in my head. Then I plan on how I can best use my time and what pieces can be re-used in the same room without being to overly redundant."
According to LeRoy, modeling and texturing of the queen's boss chamber took between two and three weeks. When questioned on the polygon count, he became a little vague due to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) imposed by Nintendo and Retro Studios. "I know we pushed the GameCube very far and still tried to maintain 60 fps. Lets just say lots of thousands. [laughs]"[1]
Trivia[]
- The Reactor Core is known internally as 07_intro_reactor before the crash and 07_under_intro_reactor after the crash.
- Before the crash, this room is shown as the southernmost one on the Orpheon. After the crash, it becomes the easternmost point on Tallon IV explorable by Samus. Finally, if the simplified World Map of Tallon IV is taken at face value, the Reactor Core appears to be the deepest room on the planet even though parts of the Phazon Mines and Impact Crater reach even lower.