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Nintendo are back on form, proving once again that it is not
the Final Fantasy series, nor the Dragon Quest
franchise that dominates the RPG genre, but The Legend Of Zelda.
Having been able to sneak nearly an hours worth of play out of the
four sections available (with the average visitor only being
allowed a single 15 minute play) I can honestly say that there is
nothing at the show that has impressed me quite as much as The
Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess. After dabbling with
horse-back fighting, helping monkey-pals in the
Forest
Temple
and discovering the amazing Gale Boomerang, I was left speechless
– and desperately trying to find some clean underwear…
The first arena was a simple jaunt around Taoru
Village
, with Link prancing about in his own attire. The arena was quite
limited, focussing on the story-driven aspect of the title and
character interaction. A second Level was available on the same
demo – featuring the much touted horseback fighting. Here, Link
had to fend off hordes of marauding goblins while trying to defeat
a boar-mounted Orc Warlord. The speed boost executed by whipping
your steed seen in The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
makes a grand return, executed by pressing the A button.  Link
attacks to both the left and the right sides by pressing the B
button and, in this demo, only a Sword was a useable weapon. A
potion was also available to be assigned to either the Y or X
buttons, much like in previous titles a cut-scene denotes Link’s
usage of the disposable item and left an empty bottle in place. The
enemy AI is flawless. Ranging from ultra-intelligent double-mounted
Goblins who race up alongside you, hacking and slashing with either
the rear riders’ sword or maintaining distance and firing flaming
arrows, to simpleton single riders who don’t seem to be to
maintain control of their steed quite as well as they should when
facing the indomitable Link. The steed was able to jump small
fences and walls in the usual fashion, but once again only when
charging head-on towards the obstacle.
The field in which the combat took place seemed almost
infinite – within a fifteen minute venture through the area I cam
across one single edge-limit, or at least I thought it was until I
ventured further and found that the ravine ended and the player is
able to charge back up the other side. The control of the steed was
flawless. With perfect analogue calibration and item selection now
on the D-pad, a lot of time had obviously been spent making sure
the combat was done just right. To top it all off, not only
will the day/night feature return, but also the game features
changing weather patterns. The sky roared and all-of-a-sudden the
floodgates opened – it began to rain. Upon severely whooping the
Orc Warlord’s spotty behind, he charged into a nearby castle, and
the scene ended.
After my cavaliering escapade, I was asked to venture to the
next room, through a twisting corridor featuring video scenes from
the title and a seven-foot-tall animatronics Stalfos behind bars.
The next room housed no less than thirty GameCubes with, to my
immense surprise, two more playable demos. Firstly, I entered the
Forest
Temple
. The Legend Of Zelda traditions such as pot smashing, long
grass blowing with the breeze, amazing architecture, automatic
jumping and the “do-dee-do-dee-dee” tune when gaining new items
from Treasure Chests remain intact, as the game retains the feeling
of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. After a small
amount of puzzle solving (of which I won’t spoil any) I
was greeted by a fleeing little monkey-dude. Being chased by a
large baboon – who looked rather like I.R. Baboon from the
cartoon, I Am Weasel – the monkey became an aid to my
endeavours in return for rescuing a trapped cohort of his.
Discovering the Gale Boomerang generated squeals of
excitement form the several press members observing my endeavours,
as I assigned it to the Y button and immediately discovered that by
holding the button, the weapon could be charged similar to Link’s
sword. A burst of wind was summoned which interacted with everything
it came into contact with, bringing back Rupees, bombs and dead
leaves with it also. With the Gale Boomerang usable as an attack
– first-person targeting remains and multiple targets can be
selected by pressing the R trigger - Link also had a new move –
the downward stab featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Context sensitive, the finishing move was executable by pressing A
when an enemy had been downed. The L-targeting remains intact as
does the slight pause when making contact with your sword, allowing
a brief examination of the action to organise your next move.
The final chapter encountered was the Forest Temple Guardian
– a bizarre plant-like enemy with an eyeball in its mouth. The
big baboon swings back and forth upon high carrying with it a bomb.
After much deliberation with the bystanders, we realised that by
selecting multiple targets, the Gale  Boomerang could be used to
grab the bomb and launch it into the boss’s eye – BOOM!
With truly amazing graphics and animation – the best
I’ve seen on this generation so far (and I’ve played a lot
of games on this generation) and a true feeling of adventuring
within just a 15 minute play section, it’s no surprise that The
Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess won the coveted E3 Game Of
The Show award. Truly groundbreaking work which raises the bar for
not just RPGs, but all adventuring games, and yet there was
still very little in the way of clues as to exactly what the
key-features of the title are. Nintendo once again have a gaming
gem on their hands, a dark, brooding gaming gem which will not only
encapsulate The Legend Of Zelda fans, but also the industry
as a whole.
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