Metroid Prime: Federation Force is a spin-off game staring Galactic Federation soldiers instead of the famed bounty Hunter, Samus Aran, but it’s also part of the same Metroid Prime universe and is planned to set the stage for a future Metroid Prime game. This is confusing to some, because the story of Dark Samus (the same entity as Metroid Prime itself) appears to be concluded after Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Could Dark Samus somehow return in a future game? Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe has weighed in on the subject while also explaining the role of Federation Force in the franchise’s story.

CG Mag: So for the story, will you be carrying over any of the story elements we saw in the previous Metroid Prime games into this one?

Tanabe: So the story around Basin and Dark Samus in my mind is already complete. The previous games completed those stories. But Are you familiar with the ending of Prime 3?

CG Mag: Yes.

Tanabe: Sylux is one of the hunters that was in Metroid Prime Hunters. So in Metroid Prime 3, there’s sort of hints where Sylux is sort of there. In a way to sort of create that potential for the story, between Samus and Sylux. I’d like to have that with a focus on the Federation Force as well.

CG Mag: So it is tying together a universe?

Tanabe: That is the focus of Federation Force. It works in a similar way to the Avengers where they had individual movies focus in on one hero and now this is the team up that brings it all together.

CG Mag: So kind of telling the stories of each hero.

Tanabe: So while we’re not carrying anything related to Dark Samus in the huge universe of Metroid Prime, I do have ideas on how to tie them with that universe of the previous games.