NintendoMetroid Prime 4 went viral with a clip showing how eerily quiet its desert is, with players discovering that the only way to add music is by buying the new Samus amiibo toy.
On December 3, GameXplain’s Andre Segers posted a video showing Samus riding her Vi-O-La motorbike through the desert. Besides the hum of the bike and the occasional noise from the boosters, the entire clip plays out in near-total silence.
Players quickly pointed out that the silence isn’t a bug or design experiment. You can break the silence by purchasing the new $30 Samus amiibo, a toy that can be scanned on the Switch 2, which allows you to change the background music when driving around the sandy dunes.
Metroid Prime 4 music locked behind $30 amiibo
The Japanese amiibo website confirms that scanning the Samus amiibo enables background music during desert bike travel, while players also get a shield that blocks up to 99 damage and fully restores her health once per day.
Those who don’t purchase the figure cannot currently listen to any background music, and instead must drive in silence. Those who own the amiibo mention that it unlocks a radio feature that allows you to switch through tracks like a radio station, choosing the theme that best fits your mood.
While some fans see these additions as harmless extras, others aren’t so pleased. One commenter wrote, “People need to call this out way more. This is literally just microtransactions at the price of DLCs,” while another joked, “The bike named after a musical instrument plays no music.”
Adding to this is another $30 amiibo (Samus & Vi-O-La) that lets players watch the full versions of the fragmented movies scattered throughout the story. So, if you want to listen to some music during your sci-fi adventure, you’ll need to add the new Samus amiibo to your collection or forever play in silence, during the desert section at least.
