E3: Zelda: Twilight Princess Hands-On

It's the game we've been waiting a year to play and the stakes could not be higher. Come inside for our first hand thoughts on the new Zelda.

It's the spiritual sequel to one the greatest games of all time - perhaps Nintendo's last attempt to create a masterpiece that can be fondly remembered next to the GameCube. Could it ever possibly live up to expectations? Would gamers even notice it with all the PS3s, teraflops and 360s fighting for the spotlight?

Well, forget next gen: Nintendo has sent a clear message that the current generation isn't over yet with this deep, impressive Zelda title. So far, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is everything we imagined an Ocarina of Time beater could be.

We've had many hours of play time with the new Zelda, and upon entering Nintendo's private E3 Zelda dungeon my initial fears of the series going stale were put to rest; there's certainly more new ground broken here than in Wind Waker and Nintendo seems to know the challenge it faces in bringing a fresh feel to its revered franchise.

Raised as a wrangler in a small village outside Hyrule as the representative of his village, Link has been asked to attend the Hyrule summit. His neighbours wish him luck apart from his childhood friend and the mayor's daughter Llia, who refuses to allow Link to ride Epona to Hyrule after he jumps fences on the horse against her wishes.

Right off the bat you can tell that this game is very special; from the very start of the game in Toaru Village the gameplay is deep and the visuals are stylish and beautiful. Good texturing and gorgeous character models both contribute to the believable living world in Twilight Princess. The water physics are reminiscent of Mario Sunshine - the water realistically ripples and distorts as Link pioneers a boat along the Toaru Village stream. This isn't just a game gunning for photo realism; the art style is simply pleasing and stylish.

In Toaru Village, Link helps out villagers and rounds up goats on Epona in a fun mini-game. Of note, is the horse weed than Link now used to call Epona - it plays the familiar Epona song from Ocarina of Time. A man in the village challenges Link to take his sword from him, as Link used to as he was a child. If you follow the man and study him carefully you can grab the sword from him just as he yawns. The man decides Link is now old enough and allows him to keep the sword. One fun thing I noticed about Twilight Princesses sword play - you can now run and slash at the same time rather than stopping like you did in previous titles.

The horse section of the demo was very impressive; a young boy has been kidnapped from his village by marauders, and you must chase down the chieftain on horseback whilst fighting off marauders riding on boars. This section is visually stunning - the field is ten times the size of Hyrule field - I rode for 10 minutes and didn't encounter any boundaries, the sound of the the boars feet kicking dirt and mud into the air, and the pouring rain is almost deafening. The rain eventually clears and the sun shines through the clouds in a beautiful visual scene.

When you finally catch up with the chieftain and inflict the final blow, which realistically splinters and knocks off his armour, you'll find yourself in a dual situation on a bridge. There is no escape and the chieftain and Link are in a game of chicken; you must dodge the chieftain's charge and damage him with a swipe of your sword. Victory rewards you with a very stylish and cinematic cutscene - something with which this demo build is full to the brim.

The dungeon featured in the demo is the Forest Dungeon, which has been infested with monkeys who help Link navigate the fallen bridges and chasms. The combat seems to be more like Ocarina of Time than Wind Waker; spider creatures, armed lizards and Deku Plants are your foes here, and Link gases angrily at them with the facial expression system carried over from Wind Waker which looks amazing in this new game. The dungeon is reminiscent of Wind Waker's forest dungeon and has similar style music - the grass can still be cut and and plant spores fill the air.

Hidden inside the dungeon is the Gale Boomerang. It can lock onto multiple targets like in Wind Waker but now creates whirlwind which can carry objects. The Gale Boomerang is used to great effect against the giant Forest Temple boss, which has three heads and shoots toxic water at Link. You must use the Gale Boomerang to pick up bomb plants and carry them into the creature's mouth, stunning it temporarily so that in typical Zelda style Link can attack the creature's exposed eye. As you'd expect, this battle is visually very pretty, and a satisfying conclusion to the dungeon.

We're very impressed by what we've seen so far of Twilight Princess, even in this limited demo it appears a deep and varied adventure experience. It's almost certainly a contender for game of the show, and looks geared to be one of the best Zelda games ever.

Stay tuned for much more on Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, including extensive video footage and a presentation with esteemed creators Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma. The best is yet to come.

Andy Robinson
Staff Writer, Kikizo Games