GamesRadar has posted their very own preview of Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword. You can read it below.

It’s the unspoken star of The Legend of Zelda. A silent hero who has clashed with villainy in thousands of forms. Whose steely gaze has sought out more glowing weak spots than you could wave a Deku stick at. Who has travelled through lava, brine, time and dimensional vortexes without dulling. Who has absorbed more elfin palm sweat than can be decent. It is, of course, the Master Sword. And it… is a she. Whoa. If we’d known, we wouldn’t have spent years jamming her up monster guts. Sorry, ma’am. And in Skyward Sword, she’s about to get the respect she deserves.

The Master Sword. The Blade of Evil’s Bane. The Sword of Time. Dr. McStabbington. Link’s iconic blade goes by many names. Legend – specifically Zelda in Twilight Princess – tells of ancient sages forging the sword. Nintendo’s own ancient sage, producer Eiji Aonuma, weaves a new yarn – revealing that the titular Skyward Sword becomes the Master Sword. A simple turn of phrase (Link’s blade inevitably ‘becomes’ the Master Sword in every Zelda) or an origin story? Either way, the weapon is protector, guide (it transforms into the cloaked lady seen in 2009’s E3 teaser art) and narrative crux.

Link’s latest game begins in the clouds, in the floating island world of Skyloft. Beneath the cloudy paving slab of peace wriggles the woodlouse of chaos: Hyrule. Down there, evil runs riot. Well, aside from the new Octorok/Deku Scrub hybrids, which sort of squat riot. Skyloftians are none the wiser. Not until an event – we’re betting Link befriends the Skyward Sword – reveals the turmoil below to our elfin star. What follows will shift between the two altitudes – an interesting twist on the dual-world mechanics of Zeldas past. Could flight feature? Promoting Spirit Tracks, Aonuma joked that airplanes were next on his vehicular hit list. And imagine Epona sporting Pegasus wings…

Whether Link makes his journey between worlds by beanstalk, cannon or Hyrulian Air, the Skyward Sword is firmly in his heroic mitts. And thanks to MotionPlus, firmly in yours too. (As long as you’re a right-on righty, that is. Aonuma confirmed there’ll be no left-handed Link.) Wii Sports Resort is the obvious model. One-to-one sword/remote mapping makes Link feel particularly puppet-like. Sway and he sways. Hold the remote up and the sword thrusts toward the heavens like a tour guide’s umbrella. It’s that same magical Resort feeling of commanding a 3D hand in a virtual space. Only where Wuhu Island’s Miis were rooted to the spot, Link roams, taking our 3D hand with him. This is a wandering 3D hand. Watch out, world.

It begins with giggles. Adult Link’s heroic frame battling with an animated hand is patently absurd. Dramatically striding forward with arm held uncontrollably aloft is a vision of silliness; with his arm out to the side Link is halfway to pretending he’s an airplane. Cutting is a more serious business. Slices stick to fixed horizontal, vertical and diagonal axes – as Miyamoto said in a recent Iwata Asks session, “Swinging freely and being fun aren’t the same thing.” Like Red Steel 2, Skyward Sword would rather master a few hits perfectly than goose its way through simulation.

Check out the rest of the preview here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 5th, 2010 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Skyward Sword, Zelda News.