I got a hands-on preview of the new Zelda title that has been creating so much buzz. With the release date being pushed back to 2011 (no surprise), I had to temper my impressions with the fact that this game has plenty of time to mature.
That being said, the game looks fantastic. It features a strangely bright art style that takes design cues both from the over-bright and cartoony Wind Waker and the realistic and dark Twilight Princess. The details of the creatures are impressive and they moved with all of the fluidity you have come to expect from a Zelda game.
Earlier in the year, Shigeru Miyamoto hinted that the new Zelda would take the franchise in a totally new direction. I did not get that impression when I saw the first demo, and after getting some hands-on with the game, I can say with some degree of happiness that this game is not completely different from previous Zelda games. What is different is that some of the problems with previous titles have finally been addressed.
The biggest improvement over Twilight Princess (TP), is in the sword control. In TP, the swordplay was largely just swinging the controller side to side with mixed results. Using the dueling technology in the popular Wii Sports Resort title, the developers of Skyward Sword (SS) are using the Wii Motion Plus to allow more control over the sword. Now you can swing the sword overhead, from side to side, at an angle, basically in any direction. This allowed the creators to adjust the difficulty of the enemies to make it more of a challenge.
For example, the boss battle I got to fight was a huge scorpion whose obvious weak spot was the eyes he had on the inside of his claws. As he attacked he would open his claws in different directions and you had to attack him accordingly. You also have to block with the shield and use a shield bash. It was a fun and challenging boss.
During the Nintendo press conference prior to E3, Shigeru Miyamoto took the game for a spin and there was a technical disaster that rendered the game unplayable. As the buzz of this event escalated, no one could wait to get their hands on the title to see if this was a problem with the game. Thankfully, it wasn’t, as I got to see for myself. The game did not control perfectly, but it’s still an early build, and all things considered, it still controlled pretty well.
Another welcome change is your ability to climb faster by waving the controller in an upwards motion. This has Link hop up on whatever he is climbing, speeding up what used to be a little bit of a chore.
Another neat touch is the way you throw bombs. In previous games, you could only set a bomb down, or throw it some random distance. Now you can draw a path for the bomb on screen and bowl the bomb to your target. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get a hang of it, you can do some pretty cool things with bombs. There will be some puzzle elements that revolve around this mechanic.
Other changes include a more detailed map, some new items, and some cool uses for returning items. You can now use the bow to snare items. You can still throw bombs, but now you use a throwing motion. The item selection is a much improved radial menu that makes use of the pointer. This game marks the first time you get to use the whip in a 3D Zelda. And finally, the “Beetle” is a cool new item that can fly and has pincers to grab items. You fly it by tilting the controller.
It may sound like so many changes could make this a completely different experience from previous titles, but believe me, it’s Zelda through and through. It has the exact same feel as previous titles, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. With so many improvements, it may very well be the Zelda we have always wanted. I don’t think that we will see voice-over work done for this game, but I do expect to have a fully orchestrated music score (not officially announced), and some amazingly creative puzzles.
With the release date to be sometime in 2011, we hope to bring you more coverage as we head into the holidays.
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