After viewing the famous Legend of Zelda Wii artwork (pictured above), it was incredibly difficult to perceive what exactly the new Zelda Wii game would end up looking like or play like going into this E3. From my thirty or so minutes with the demo for the new Skyward Sword, I can confidently say that it not only has a great art direction, but its gameplay thus far is fantastic and the new Wii Motion Plus dependent items and swordplay work very well and have the potential for a needed fresh and unique take on the franchise.
Right from the start of the demo it is apparent that famed Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and his team had heard the cries from fans that the legendary game series was in dire need of innovation. The graphics are reminiscent of the classic artwork for Ocarina of Time with an ever so slight and welcomed cel-shaded appearance that really brings to life the colorful world of the new game. Despite the fairly solid visuals, the inconsistency of the level's visual fidelity made it apparent in this E3 build that the Zelda team will need some more time polishing the graphics engine. Link himself looks great brandishing the iconic Master Sword and Hylian Shield, but the environments and several enemies lack the necessary polygons to match the quality of Link's design.
Click to make large.
Speaking of Link's design, with the addition of the Wii Motion Plus, players can fully control the hero's right arm as it replicates nearly one-to-one movement of the remote. The swordplay was silky smooth, with 99% of my arm motions perfectly reflected in the game -- it is that 1% that was just a tad worrisome. During one of the several boss battles available in the demo, there was a time that I needed to jab forward to hit the monster's eye, but for whatever reason the Wii Remote was not translating the motion correctly -- sometimes it would work, and other times it would not. Fortunately, all the other motion centric portions of the game like the slingshot, the whip, and the bow and arrow worked perfectly. I am guessing it had something to do with the Wii Motion Plus drifting off center since other people demoing the game who I later questioned reported no problems at all with the jabbing. I found out afterwards that the reason for this disparity was because Nintendo disabled IR pointing controls that normally are used to consistently re-sync Wii Motion Plus, something that will be implemented in the final game.
Other notable things about Link's new adventure:
- Link is now more acrobatic; he is able to sprint for a certain amount of time and bound over obstacles similar to mechanics used in games like Assassin's Creed
- Enemies seem much more difficult and intelligent than those found in Twilight Princess
- By pointing Link's sword to the sky, his sword charges up and enables the player the ability to unleash a sword "beam" of sorts as seen in classic Zelda titles
- The inventory has been stream-lined by mapping items to a wheel of sorts that is activated by holding down the B-trigger and moving the Wii Remote in the direction of the desired item
Link looks better than ever.
Unfortunately, besides the cool new demo, screenshots, and trailer, Nintendo is staying tight-lipped about the game's story and its now tentative 2011 release date. Here's hoping Nintendo doesn't keep us waiting too long for this highly anticipated entry into the Zelda franchise.
Look for more screenshots, off-screen video of the demo, and a t-shirt give-away in the coming days. Yes, that's right, I'll be giving away a sweet Zelda E3 t-shirt to one lucky reader. Check back later for contest details.
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