Samus Aran will be coming along for the ride when the Nintendo Wii arrives in stores this November. The bounty-hunter star of the venerable Metroid series of action-adventures will return in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, now confirmed as one of the system’s launch titles.

A playable demo build of the game drew quite a crowd to the Wii booth on the opening day of E3. Developer Retro Studios was showing off a 15-minute section of the game featuring Samus piloting her spaceship and exploring a planetary base to reactivate a defense cannon.

As with the other late-model Metroid Prime games (and unlike the earlier side-scrolling versions), the view is first-person; gameplay, a blend of exploration and action. In the demo, you wander corridors, scan objects, and battle interesting creatures that include metallic hornets, space pirates, and a winged boss.

Of course, as with everything Wii-related (didn't say "Wiilated" and you're welcome), gameplay shares centre stage with controls. And just like most other Wii launch titles, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption boasts a funky control setup thanks to the motion-sensing wireless Wii-mote plus the other-hand thumbstick that attach together to form what’s being called the nunchuk.

Basically, the two combine here to create a first-person shooter-style system almost as intuitive as a mouse-and-keyboard setup on a PC. You point the remote at the TV screen to aim Samus’ famous arm cannon and move by shifting the analog thumbstick on the secondary controller. This nicely splits up moving and shooting, and allows you to move the targeting reticle all over the screen. No longer is the cursor locked to the centre of the screen, as in the standard shooter.

The remote is also used for interactive puzzles in the demo. Whenever Samus needs to pull a lever, for example, you have her do so by pushing forward to reach out her hand and grab said lever, then back to mimic pulling it out.

Firing a grappling hook was even more involved, requiring the use of the Wii-mote and the analog stick to fire and lock it on a target like the shields of the aforementioned space pirates.

Nobody appeared to have any difficulty with the otherwise unfamiliar control scheme. On the contrary, it appeared the most intuitive way to interface with a first-person shooter in console form.

Check out the video footage at YouTube.com.