trailer
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/26448.html
screenshots:
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/962/962748/imgs_1.html
A free minigame included with the Wii Zapper, Link's Crossbow Training
drops players into a world in the style of The Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess. Players assume the identity of hero Link, who
progresses through a series of tests to perfect his crossbow
marksmanship. Start with stationary bull's-eyes and graduate to moving
targets before defending Link against all kinds of enemies.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/827/827417p1.html
Hands-on Link's Crossbow Training
Twilight Princess, meet the Wii Zapper. Full impressions and first
videos.
by Matt Casamassina
In a recent interview, Nintendo's own Shigeru Miyamoto said that he
didn't want to over-use Mario, who has in the last few years appeared
in countless spin-offs and sports games. (Of course, Mario Baseball
was recently announced, so maybe he was kidding.) At any rate, it
appears that Link may be next in the mascot lineup to make the jump
beyond his traditional genre. Link's Crossbow Training is set to
appear as a pack-in with the Wii Zapper. If it sounds like a cash-in
-- Link doesn't even use a crossbow -- well, it probably is, but at
least it's a good one. Not only does the entire bundle ship for a
flimsy $19.99 -- but as contrived as might seem, Link's Crossbow
Training happens to be fun. (You may not need the Zapper to appreciate
the endeavor, but that's another argument.)
At its recent Media Summit press gathering, Nintendo pulled back the
curtain on the effort and even allowed those on-hand to play it. We
wasted no time to give it a try and we can now officially confirm that
it looks and plays exactly like you might expect it would. It's
Twilight Princess as a shooter. The game engine is clearly borrowed
from director Eiji Aonuma's recent adventure and the play mechanics
remind us of titles like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Ghost
Squad, with a couple of exceptions.
Link's Crossbow Training features three different gameplay styles, or
modes, if you'd prefer. The first is a very basic shooter (called
Target Shooting) set in the first-person viewpoint. You simply point,
aim and fire with the Wii Zapper to blast away Bull's-eye that pop up
all over levels. Hitting the bull's-eye in their center nets more
points and you can even chain together combos if you successfully
target multiple bull's-eyes in succession. You'll lose your combo if
you accidentally miss. In later levels, the bull's-eye will also move
around the screen and you'll need to be quicker on your feet to hit
it.
In Defender, you do exactly that. This time, you will be able to see
Link as a third-person character, crossbow and all. The hero remains
stationary, but can look around (even in 360 degrees on some
occasions) as you target with the Wii Zapper. If you drag the on-
screen reticule to the left and right sides of the screen, your
viewpoint will begin to drift. Don't worry, it's much more responsive
than the ultra-slow Red Steel -- it's quick enough, in fact, that we
rarely noted it as an issue. You'll need to defend against a variety
of enemies, including skeletons and boar-riding Bokoblins.
Finally, there's a Ranger mode. Here, you have full movement through
levels. You still aim with the Wii Zapper, but you can strafe left and
right and move forward and backward through stages using the nunchuk's
analog stick. You'll make your way through enemy castles and through
the forest, among other locations, as you traverse areas and shoot
down enemies, who evaporate like Twilight beings after you've disposed
of them.
The only other mechanic to speak of -- and this has a bearing on all
the gameplay modes -- is a zoom function mapped to a button on the
nunchuk. Press it and you'll scope in on enemies, enabling precision
kills. The downside, of course, is that aiming is slower and you may
bypass nearby enemies.
Link's Crossbow Training is responsive and fun, for the most part.
There are a couple of sensitivity quirks, but you can apparently
customize your settings before rounds. Meanwhile, it looks like
something right out of Twilight Princess, which is a good thing given
that it remains one of Wii's prettiest games. Really, as forced as the
concept initially sounded, this is bound to be a fine pack-in and one
that arrives at an incredible price. We're not sure we're going to use
the Wii Zapper to play it -- some people on-hand for the event chose
instead to abandon the shell and play the game with the stand-alone
Wii remote and nunchuk, which they preferred -- but regardless, we
will play it.
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