E3 07: Phantom Hourglass Hands-On
Now, I get to write about one the best games I put my grubby werewolf paws on at E3, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I didn't go into this hands on with any pre-conceived notions other than what little I had played at GDC, which was actually only the multi player version. I had purposely stayed away from watching too many clips, just because I wanted to savor the sweet anticipation, and it was worth it.
Everything about this upcoming DS title is appealing from it's Wind Waker graphical style to the ease of movement and great stylus control scheme. Pretty much everything in the game is controlled by the stylus; running/walking, sword fighting and even sailing. The sword play works wonderfully. A tap on your enemy to stab, slash across the enemy for a sweeping motion and draw a circle around link to make him perform his spin attack. Sailing has been made much easier in comparison to Wind Waker. Instead of controlling the wind (which sometimes got a little time consuming in WW) you actually draw your course out on the map ahead of time, allowing you to sail a pre-defined course while looking around, jumping or eventually firing your cannon.
The combination of the old school 3/4 top down style camera angle and the cel shaded graphics is stunning and the sound effects seem like they've gone through a few tweeks in the trip to DS. Put all these things together with the classic Zelda storytelling, fun and interesting puzzles (again solved with the use of the stylus and in some cases by blowing into the mic) and you've got yourself a sure fire hit.
Like almost every game I checked out at E3, my time spent with Phantom Hourglass was woefully short. The time that I did play however, has convinced me that this will be one of the stand out titles on the DS as well as the Zelda series. I predict top marks for this game from most, if not all, of the major game review outlets. Take my advice and do your self a favor, pre-order this bad boy now or cry when you can't get your hands on it October 1.
Fruit Brute
Posted to E3, Hot Stuff, Video Games on 19 July 2007
Other stuff like this: ds, E3, hands on, link, Phantom hourglass, zelda
