This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Retro Studios were enlisted to take on development of Metroid Prime 4 back in January, after development for the game was scrapped and restarted from scratch. As reported by VGC, the studio have now bolstered their ranks with the hiring of a new Lead Character Artist.

The chap in question is one Kyle Hefley, who’s notable previous work includes Halo 4 and 5, as well as Call of Duty: Black Ops. The Halo franchise feels very similar to Metroid tonally, and there’s no doubting Hefley’s talent, so we can’t wait to see what he comes up with for Metroid Prime 4.

Interestingly, under the heading of some personal work over on his portfolio page, Hefley posted a render of Samus sans-helmet around 4 years ago, along with a zero-suit model as well. Check them out:

Whilst they’re obviously very rough, could they perhaps inform the direction we’ll see in the new game?

With development restarting entirely less than a year ago, we’ll likely be waiting for some time before we get to see the famed bounty hunter in action once again. Still, needless to say, we’re on tenterhooks waiting for the next update.

What do you think of these Samus designs? Let us know down in the comments.

Source: ArtStation