Latest Previews

Tom Clancy's EndWar - Ears On
Icon

Midnight Club: LA - Multiplayer
Icon

Far Cry 2 - Multiplayer
Icon

Gears of War 2 - Hands On
Icon

Need For Speed Undercover

Toggle User Reviews on/off

User Reviews

There are currently 1 User Reviews for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Write your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.

Click here to register

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Preview

Chris Leyton

07/01/2003

We take an extensive first look at the opening scenes of Zelda...

After a perfect score from Famitsu, there was no doubt in our mind that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker would amaze; heck the fact that itâs a new Zelda title was enough to sell it to us!

Unfortunately The Wind Waker is dialogue heavy and places strong emphasis on story and narrative, more so then any other previous Zelda title; to this extent we WOULDNâT advise anyone to import the title, although youâll fight your way through most of the adventure chances are youâre missing out on a vital element of the game.

That aside The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is simply the most magnificent game Iâve played in years. After a heavy story sequence the camera pans down to Link having a conversation with his younger sister; to begin with everything is slightly intimidating â“ surely the game canât look this good â“ however youâll soon find yourself comfortably familiar with the game, much like watching an old classic the instincts and memories come flooding back.

Having talked with your sister and gained a telescope from her for your 12th birthday, youâll have the chance to go and explore your native village and talk to the locals. Itâs during these opening moments that you remember just how good the Zelda games are; everything that weâve come to expect from a Zelda title is here, from familiar tunes to Z-Targeting and Auto-Jump; if you enjoyed Ocarina of Time or Majoraâs Mask this game is going to make you very, very happy!!!

Because of the change in controllers the system has had a slight change but is fortunately as instinctive as ever; items and weapons are mapped to the X, Y & Z buttons, whilst the B button is used to swipe your sword and A acts as a context sensitive button. The L shoulder button now locks onto targets in a similar manner to the Z button in Ocarina of Time; itâs not quite as responsive or instinctive as the N64, however you shouldnât have too many troubles getting used to it.

Itâs not long before you realise Link has added a few new moves to his repertoire; for starters the scope for comboâs has been increased, which along with the rising tones that are emitted whenever you hit an enemy, combines to produce some very exciting and cinematic combat encounters. New to the move list is a counter attack of sorts, which allows Link to roll around his opponent when he strikes and deliver a deadly blow; this is activated by tapping A when the icon flashes and then hitting B at just the right point.

Combat as a whole has taken on a new direction, massively improved and refined from the button-bashing nature of Ocarina of Time and Majoraâs Mask; youâll find that every fight you take place in is a genuine delight to watch and take part in, as opposed to the slight monotony that featured in previous Zelda titles.

Within a short period that saw a rescue of a female pirate captain and the introduction of stealth mechanics (seeing Link tiptoe in a barrel is hilarious), the kidnap of your sister and what appears to be the first glimpse of Gannon; youâll find yourself flung onto a strange boat that appears to take the place of Epona. The game world in The Wind Waker is vast, however unlike previous Zelda titles this world appears to be mainly set amidst water with various island locations to sail to and explore. This moment also presents the first occurrence of the importance of wind, as youâll realise that certain locations can only be reached because of the direction of the wind. Weâve only been sailing a couple of times, however it appears that Miyamoto and colleagues have created some moments during these scenes that youâll never forget. Much like the first time you saw dawn break across Hyrule in Ocarina of Time the water world has a day/night cycle, our second trip saw night fast approaching and with it came a strong storm that sucked us in; rain buckets down, the waves grow higher and higher, whilst lighting illuminates the gloomy skies; if youâve ever suffered from sea sickness this may not be the game for you.

Having reached the destination your boat (which talks) will give you a strange device known as the Wind Baton. Itâs not until the end of this island/dungeon that youâll uncover the strengths of this mysterious device.

The first dungeon/island is classic Zelda faire; youâll explore various locations, whilst uncovering new items, fighting the enemy and solving some simply sublime puzzles. Ocarina of Time won such accolades thanks to the implementation of the various puzzles; The Wind Waker goes one better by implementing the puzzles in such a way that they feel a part of the adventure rather then some obscure task tacked onto task the player and extend the gameâs length.

We were surprised at the ease of this island and the relatively short length of it; having collected the compass, map and gained our first new weapon â“ the hookshot â“ we found the Boss Key and headed to our first Boss encounter. WOW, although weâd seen him previously at E3 the experience was breathtaking to say the least. The sound pummelled through our Dolby set-up rumbling the rest of the office out of their post-Christmas haze! As many will know, the first boss is reminiscent of a huge centipede that sits in a pull of lava, atop him is a friendly dragon whose stuck in the top of the volcanic chamber. Itâs that classic Zelda moment where the solution hits you right between the eye; we wonât spoil the surprise, suffice to say itâs genius and sets the tone for the rest of the adventure.

Having destroyed the lava monster we were given our first song to try out on the Wind Baton; using various directions on the C-Stick and the use of the analogue stick for more complex pieces you have to conduct a song in a similar manner to the Ocarina. Unlike with the Ocarina, timing is crucial so a handy metronome helps out; the key is to flowing with commands rather then just pressing the direction. Link appears to get into his stride as a composer; although itâs only early we can certainly see ourselves watching the hours pass by as we compose beautiful pieces!

Here we decided to stop playing, certainly many surprises lay in store and the game is certainly of epic scale, but we think it would be better to leave the rest of the game for the English version when we can fully understand whatâs happening.

Now if you thought that was enough praise, you havenât even heard the best part yet. A lot has been made of the cell-shaded visuals used in The Legend of Zelda, indeed the uproar witnessed after the games announcement was quite unlike anything weâve ever seen in the videogames industry. It was always going to happen; Zelda is one of the last few classic videogames that gamers truly care about, people by their nature donât take well to change and so controversy was bound to follow. Let me just ease those fears once and for all, by saying that The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker is the most accomplished and refreshing videogames Iâve seen in a very, very long time.

To begin with itâs likely that the simple look will put you off; simplistic textures, bright and brash colours and a âchildishâ look could mistake some people into thinking this game isnât gorgeous. However the more you play, the more you fall in love with this game; for starters the game looks like an animated feature film, games have tried to capture that feel in the past but none have come as close to this. The use of âcartoonâ visuals has allowed the developers to go OTT on the facial expressions, resulting in the most charismatic game weâve ever played; I certainly had high expectations but I didnât think it could be implemented as well as this, watch Linkâs face as he slips off a platform or when he encounters an enemy. The expressions also affect the gameplay, alerting players to secrets and the way forward; once again I was amazed by how subtly this was implemented and yet how much of an impact it has on the game. However itâs the attention to small details that really grabs your attention and completes the image; Linkâs hat flaps and curls realistically in the wind, objects such as cups and plates move according to a physics model and textures distort wonderfully in the heat-haze.

Beautiful animation and some of the best lighting/shadowing effects weâve seen on this generation of hardware completes the package; and if you were worried by the lack of next-generation special effects, let me just say that the subtle depth-blurring gives this game an overall look and style that is leagues above anything that has come before it.