The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Wii Review

Twilight Princess is an epic masterpiece that Wii owners simply must play.

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Ever since the beginning of time, a Nintendo console has had a Zelda made for it. Zelda is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises and probably only behind Final Fantasy in terms of popular RPG titles. With the Wii coming out, Nintendo had a chance to revolutionise Link's adventures but for the most part they haven't. It's still the same old Zelda with the same old quests but there is nothing wrong with that and Twilight Princess is still an excellent demonstration of what we can expect from the Nintendo Wii.



As you would expect the game is set in the land of Hyrule, a fantasy land where young boys become legends and grow up to be powerful soldiers to defeat those who plot to destroy the land. Hyrule however is in trouble, with the Twilight being taken away and the region plunged into darkness. This darkness turns all but Link into spirits and stops everything in its path. Link, being the chosen one, can survive in the twilight and through both Human and Wolf form, the storyline takes you from the time the Twilight is taken, ultimately through to Link's victory



The game itself plays very much the N64 Zelda's with a few notable changes. The camera is of course a third person perspective as expected, but the camera is also one of the most frustrating elements of this game. For some reason Nintendo has forced a fixed camera into the game and it is not possible to change it. This leads to you seeing rocks on the screen, Link being hidden, and enemies getting cheap shots in as you just can't see them. That's our main gripe with the game, and with that out of the way, now onto the positive comments.



Twilight Princess is an epic masterpiece that Wii owners simply must play. As we said before Nintendo hasn't changed too much in that generally the game is adventuring between towns, encountering dungeons, beating boss characters and leveling Link up, however they have changed the combat. The Wii controls have been used well by the developers and it really enhances the game, it makes you feel part of the title rather than just pressing buttons. To slash Links sword for instance you slash the Wii remote and the Nunchuk is used to move him around. It's funny in a way because sometimes you may forget that the Wii remote is slashed and instead be trying to find a button. That's generally the extent of the Wii remotes usage in the game in terms of motion sensing, but it's such a crucial element and Nintendo got it one hundred percent right.



To be honest there is a few more problems with the game but they aren't overly bad and only some people will see them as such. One thing we have against the game is the 'collect everything' mentality which is part of the menial tasks in each area. For instance, to get the Twilight back you have to find the tears to put in a Vessel. The tears are hidden in particular enemies which themselves are very well hidden throughout the map. The first time around this isn't so bad, but by the third time you're wanting to just get through and wonder why it's happening over and over again (although the storyline does explain it).



You may find yourself using a guide as well, especially if you are not a Zelda veteran as the game doesn't do the best job at telling you what you should do next and chances are you will stumble upon it while getting lost rather than actually knowing where to go. Zelda veterans will be used to this style of gameplay, but that doesn't make it right and it makes the game inaccessible to those new to the series.



Also, the visuals of the game are very disappointing. The Wii obviously is not going to match the PS3 and Xbox 360, but Twilight Princess could easily be mistaken for a PS2 game. There are some truly awesome cut scenes and storyline sequences throughout the game but they would have looked so much better with improved graphics. The sequences with Link as a wolf stand out as does the detail of all the characters. It also helps that the storyline itself and the way it's presented is stunning to say the least which is a nice trade off for poorer than expected graphics.



Twilight Princess still remains one of the best games on the Wii so far and probably will do so for a while. It has its problems and it's a bit of a let down considering the next generation console, but what Nintendo have done is used the Wii's strengths well with this game and that along with an excellent storyline, makes Twilight Princess a must have for early Wii owners.

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Simon joined the TweakTown acquired 3DAvenue in 2003 as the senior console writer, and quickly worked his way into more managerial roles on top of his writing responsibilities, such as managing most PR contacts and organising new content for the website. Although Simon is more acquainted with the console market, he also likes the odd crossover, and will occasionally check out the latest PC gaming has to offer. Simon, our senior gaming editor, will continue his responsibilities from the former 3DAvenue via regular reviews.

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