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(Wii/GC, Nintendo, 1 Player, WATCH THE TRAILER HERE)

The Legend of Zelda series requires no introduction; it’s been a figurhead of gaming since it’s first legendary installment on the NES back in ’86 and has continued to dominate gaming franchises ever since. Making numerous appearances on every Nintendo console since it’s debut the series has immediately made it’s mark on the Wii on release day worldwide. Twilight Princess has been quite possibly the most highly anticipated Zelda title of all time; four years in the making and constant delays have created such a gargantuan amount of hype it’s hard to describe in words of just how much psyched people were about getting their hands on Link again.

And we do just that as Link prepares to leave his home town of Ordon and set out into the vast plains for the City of Hyrule. But thanks to some troublesome beasts on boar-back our hero is waylaid, transformed into a wolf and cast into the twilight realm! With the aid of Midna, an inhabitant of this unnatural realm, Link sets out on a new quest to restore light to the world, rescue his kidnapped friends and destroy this new evil plaguing the land.

Which brings us to one of TP’s biggest surprises; it’s storytelling. It’s darker than any Zelda before it and it’s direction is nothing short of spectacular. In previous title’s we’ve been treated to some pretty great narrative (however cliché this example is, I need only say ‘Ocarina of Time’ and it’s many twists, revelations and moments of awesomity will no doubt spring to mind) and we’ve not asked for more, but Twilight Princess not only delivers a kick-ass new storyline (It really is great and completely different from any Zelda I’ve played before) but the most dynamic, enthralling and simply awesome cutscenes we’ve seen in a Nintendo game. It’s seems as if they’ve taken a leaf out of the Final Fantasy books for cinematic cutscenes and it’s really worked in their favour.

The story evolves what we already know about the history of Hyrule and helps link in some more of the games, all whilst giving us some of the best characters the series has seen (Midna FTW) and a constantly changing, compulsively complelling and eerily dark storyline (an incredibly awesome but terribly creepy cutscene around 40% of the game comes to mind). This all comes together to create one of the best stories we’ve seen in the Zelda universe.

It pains me to say it, but there is a problem amongst all this praise however, and that is that whilst Zelda’s storyline is totally fresh the gameplay really offers nothing different. Nintendo has stuck to the ‘If it ain’t broke’ strategy and according to massive sales and brilliant reviews across the board I’d say that not many people are complaining. I myself am absolutely delighted with the latest installment but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed with the undeniable fact that I’d played it all before. When playing through the all too familiar dungeons, with their recognizable themes and puzzles, there is rarely a sense of originality. It honestly seems like a beefed up, graphically enhanced LttP/OoT.

Now let me clear up what I’ve said before it gets out of hand; for a newcomer this is definitely not a problem, and for the fans this is definitely not a problem. Both parties are going to love it, the latter regardless of if they’ve played it before (I ashamedly admit I’m part of this group). What you do in Zelda is fun, and it always will be, so the fact that Nintendo didn’t change the formula really isn’t as big a turn-off as I make out, but it is a thorn in an otherwise flawless side. The players who aren’t part of the two aforementioned groups may be put off by the fact that very little is different in Zelda’s execution in the beginning half of the game (for the familiarity lessens as you progress through the 35 – 40 hour adventure) Nintendo has hinted that Twilight Princess will be the last Zelda of it’s kind though, so those who do have problems with it need not wait much longer for a hopefully all new original adventure.

Gameplay in TP as a whole is as great as we’ve come to expect from the series, and the further you get through the game the better it becomes. There are some seriously taxing puzzles in the dungeons, which makes up for the complete and utter lack of challenge in the battles. Despite some of the designs of monsters and bosses being truly fear-inspiring, the fights with them are so easy it’s a crime.

Even this problem however is a minor one in the grand scheme of things and the rest of the game proves to be a highly enjoyable experience. The gameplay mechanics as both human and wolf are flawless and everything is enhanced with the use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck combo. It’s so beautifully comfortable in the hand whilst playing and not tiring at all, and there is an added level of immersion even though the controls are fairly simple (no need for realistic sword movements, just shake the remote a bit and Link will slash away) Fishing however is a massive improvement on Ocarina of Time’s engine (which is saying a lot, as that was awesome) and is far more fun in general. Other things like aiming with the Bow and other items are all welcome additions and there really is a lot of reasons why you should play this on the Wii rather than the ‘Cube. If you have a widescreen TV then the Wii version is a must simply for the 16:9 display mode which free’s up so much space that the HUD clogs up on 4:3 televisions.

Proclaimed by Nintendo themselves as ‘The biggest Zelda adventure of all time!’, TP is huge. After being forced to traverse a tiny area of Hyrule (compared to the rest of the world map) on foot you will be truly thankful that you get Epona straight away in this game. TP really doesn’t disappoint in the aspect of enormity. There is a dissapointment however in the amount of things to do outside of the main quest. Zelda and other adventure games are renowned for their side quests and the amount of things to do outside of your adventures path, but Twilight Princess really lets the side down in terms of mini-games and optional quests. There is hardly anything to do other than collecting heart pieces and two other little ‘collection’ quests, despite the world being bigger than ever before. After completing the game, (you don’t even get the chance to save for a second playthrough) there is little to come back for, which is a huge dissapointment and mistake on Nintendo’s part seeing as they created such an enormous world that they could have filled with loads of side quests and populated with dozens of interesting characters.

The graphics which make up this huge world are a point for discussion. For the Gamecube the graphics are amazing but they don’t push the Wii at all in terms of it’s ability (but it was developed for the Cube, not the Wii – this is just a port) Regardless, it’s still a beautiful world with beautiful graphics, and the style is what Zelda fans have been crying out for since the first Wind Waker trailer.

I wish I could be as forgiving about the soundtrack though, as it recycles countless Zelda tunes and still avoids voice acting. The music (Midi, not orchestrated) is good, but it’s the same music we’ve been hearing for twenty years. But that is alright, people love the Zelda soundtrack and rightly so, it’s got some great, memorable tunes in there (although I’m still to have my dream come true of the castle music from Adventure of Link put back into another zelda) The lack of Voice acting however is getting seriously annoying. I never want Link to be voiced, it would ruin it, but to have some of the other characters have more than an intake of breath as their voice acting would be very much appreciated.

We’ve waited for this game for four years, and the ultimate question is was it worth the wait? The answer is a resounding YES. I’ve spent a good few hours writing this review, calling the bad things about Link’s latest outing to mind, but even though I’m aware of these flaws the game is still a perfect piece of gaming. Sure, we’ve done and heard it all before, but who cares? This is Zelda at it’s finest, through and through. Every aspect of this game has a degree of quality that you can’t find anywhere else in the gaming market. It’s totally worth the hype, it’s totally worth the purchase and it’s totally worthy of being a part of such a legendary series that delivers games of such high quality time after time.

8.9/ 10