Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Foresight: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Link is back to remind people why the Wii is for more than just party games.

To be honest, i wasn't really a fan of previous Zelda title Twilight Princess. Story-wise it just didn't feel right and the controls felt more like an unnecessary gimmick. While i can't say much for the story yet, new Zelda title Skyward Sword is taking the controls from flick fest to simulated sword-play.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword supposedly tells the story of a boy named Link (because what else would he be named?) born on the floating islands of Skyloft where he leads a happy life until the day he stumbles upon the Skyward Sword, which transports him to a forgotten land below Skyloft that is ruled by evil forces. The game will see Link trying to figure out what happened to this land and why it was separated from Skyloft.

Skyward Sword will require the Wii MotionPlus because one of the major changes is 1-to-1 sword controls. So if you swing your wii mote from side to side, so will Link. Swing up and down and Link will start with the vertical slices. This system will be utilised against enemies who will now require specific directional attacks to defeat. Also gone is the 'helper' from previous games... Sort of. No longer will you have a travelling creature / faerie with you, instead the Skyward Sword itself will provide you with help and information on your quest, taking on a female form as it does so.

Skyward Sword looks to feature a visual style that seems to sit somewhere between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, scrapping the dark and grittier look of Twilight Princess for some brighter and more colourful surroundings. While the game is brighter, it doesn't have the full cell shaded look of Wind Waker though. Link looks like his adult Ocarina of Time counter-part, but some of the enemies take on a far more exaggerated and cartoonish look.

Check out the footage from E3 below to see the game in action and some of the new features (such as the flying beetle, whip and rolling bombs). Skyward Sword isn't due out this year, but it will be something for Wii owners to look forward to.

No comments:

Post a Comment