E3 2004: Legend of Zelda Extended Trailer
We feast our eyes on the top-secret two-minute-plus Zelda trailer and live to tell about it. Read our impressions.
May 14, 2004 - It's the last day of the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2004. Just a couple of hours left until the event shuts its doors and the construction crews begin to disassemble the glitzy displays by hundreds of publishers and developers. And -- sitting in a small, white room behind closed doors at Nintendo's booth -- we can hardly contain ourselves. After much pestering, the company has agreed to demo to us the much talked about (but never shown) extended Legend of Zelda GameCube trailer, which runs almost two and a half minutes in length (as opposed to the publicly released one, at about a minute).
There are no cameras or microphones allowed. A Nintendo representative inserts one of only three existing DVDs (all tracked by producers Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma themselves) with the extended footage on them. The video begins to play and we watch, amazed. When it's all over, we ask to watch it again. And then one more time. And another time still. The extended cut, which shows off never-before-seen areas in the game as well as more of Link's abilities, only reinforces our previous opinion of the anticipated action-adventure. It is, put simply, totally kick ass.
The trailer opens on the red-hued sky, clouds swimming by in the distance, the sun shimmering with a real-time heat warp effect, as mounted riders approach from the horizon. They're Bokoblins and there appear to be about 25 of them. Some are on foot and others are riding boars -- two per beast. And these aren't of the pink, cel-shaded type, either. They look mean. The camera pans by and we can see their horned heads and their red eyes. They look ready for war. And that, it seems, is exactly where they're going. Suddenly they all charge ahead, the riders galloping and the on-foot soldiers ferociously wobbling. The animation is fluid and realistic.
Original orchestrated music plays -- entirely different from the music in the publicly released trailers. It sounds Zelda-like, but it's nothing we've heard before. It could be part of the game's score. Naturally, it sounds great.
The scene cuts to Link as he rides away from a castle on horseback. He looks fantastic. As he races away, the camera pans over and shoots the hero from a downward position, showing the sky in the background. It's dark outside. It's clear that there will be a detailed day and night system in the game. Torches flicker by on the sides. Stars shine in the background and the moon hangs over everything, illuminating it.
Another location. Link could be in the Lost Woods. The scene switches again and the hero sits atop his horse on a hill, rain pouring down all around him. It seems certain that the game will employ a deep weather system. A group of small, friendly dogs surround his horse, which may or may not be the legendary Epona, according to Eiji Aonuma.
Next, we catch our first real glimpse of the reported top-down view in dungeons. Link appears to explore a Fire Temple. Flames flank the perimeter of a room. The camera shoots the action from a ceiling viewpoint so that it's very easy to see much of the level. It flawlessly pans in for a close-up behind-the-back view when Link engages in battles and then changes dynamically again when he approaches an object. Very dynamic and polished view points. Link first walks across a metal walkway, suspended a few feet above the ground floor. As he pushes a stone block, we can see the subtle lighting and self-shadowing effects upon his face, the incredibly crisp and realistic texture skins that make up his costume, and the fluid animation that makes him move silky smooth. It even looks like his suit features some degree of real-time cloth physics, though it could just be solid animation. To top everything off, Link's shadow is projected around him. Gone are the days of circle shadows. Link also squares off with the same Moblin seen in the official trailer, as he slashes at the hulking beast, the creature's drool flies through the air.
A medley of scenes is unveiled. They show Link engaged in battle with a group of Lizalfos and the back-flips away from them with his sword in hand. The Lizalfos don't all look the same. We spotted one with a bone helmet and another one with shimmering steel armor plates on his head. Next, Link creeps through a forest slowly and a new type of creature falls from one of the trees -- an almost blob-like black creature with an animated, pulsating skin texture. The creature attempts to lash out at Link and the hero blocks the oncoming attack with a flick of his sword. It seems as though Link might be able to counter with his weapon when he's not using his shield. The forest is seen once in the middle of the day with light beams falling through the canopy and also at dusk, with fireflies whirring about in the air. A quick familiar sequence shows Link blocking fire arrows shot at him -- and some burning stray arrows actually stick in the trees around him. In the next scene, Link fights two characters at a time and a torch's heat shimmer warps the foreground. In the background, the classic Zelda clay pots, more torches and a large flaming metal bowl. Real-time lighting effects illuminate the characters' edges and sparks fly in all directions as their swords crash together.
Next, new footage of Link riding his horse. He walks it slowly. We can see the detail on the animal. Its reigns are modeled and animated. Link halts the horse, pulls back on the reigns and it rears on its legs. The maneuver pleases everyone watching. Link can also dismount his horse, which also looks great. In a related scene, Link races his horse ahead of trailing enemies. They ride boars and fire arrows after him. One of them swings a heavy looking morning star. Link holds out his sword horizontally and races onward. In the next sequence, Link rides around and chops enemies off their boars. He manages to knock an entire group from their animals by running through it with his sword slung out. A quick scene has Link on foot, facing at least four mounted boars speeding toward him.
Next cut. Link fights the giant fire boss, who towers tens of feet above the hero and is surrounded by lighting effects. The boss character is bound in chains, which are heated and dirty, and it uses them as a weapon. Next, Link stands from a ledge in a dungeon. He draws his sword and leaps down to the ground floor, his blade outstretched. He lands directly in front of an enemy, his sword crashing into it.
In the next cut, Link rides his horse through a lake, the water shimmering and reflecting realistically. He shoots fire arrows. And the two-minute presentation ends with the same money shot of Link posing that graced the publicly released trailer.
The entire display knocked our socks off. The Legend of Zelda's new look shook E3 and after seeing more elements of the game in motion we're convinced that it's going to take the franchise to new heights, inside and out.
2005, where are you?
But waiting for it, na, mismanaged to buggery.
