Jo�o got a chance to play one of E3's hottest games - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Find out what he thought of Link's new adventure below.

Ah Zelda, is there any other Nintendo (or perhaps even non-Nintendo) game that generates so much hype, discussion, love and hatred even if nothing more than a logo was to be shown? I don't think so, and I know I could barely contain my excitement when I got to play Skyward Sword’s E3 demo.

I’ll jump right away to the most important part; the sword controls. Everything feels like you would imagine. The addition of MotionPlus means that every movement and gesture is replicated with incredible precision whether you're just twisting the blade slightly in front of you or swinging in any direction you wish. This means you can hold the sword in various positions, including some that could result in awkward looking positions but thankfully Link’s model and animations look great. Running with the sword behind you pointing to the ground you almost expect to see sparks flying as it hits rock (make it happen Nintendo) and holding it up to gather energy for the legendary sword beam brings back all kinds of nostalgic feelings, after all, apart from Fierce Deity Link in Majora’s Mask, 3D Zeldas have been lacking in shooting things from your sword.

We’re not just talking about aesthetic changes though, you need to pay closer attention to your enemies. For example, Bokoblins and the Stalfos miniboss defend themselves with their weapons and like in Wii Sports Resort you must slash at the right angle to hurt them while the Deku Babas are only vulnerable if you hit their mouths in the direction they're opening. The demo also had a giant scorpion whose weak spots were, in good Zelda fashion, in the eyes that were inside its claws. To hit those you needed to slash precisely at its openings, not just horizontally and vertically, but also diagonally and in the final stage with a forward thrust. It adds a whole new layer to the series' combat system and so far it works fantastically well. Not only that, the enemies were much harder than the ones in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, actually inflicting enough damage to make me drink potions!

The trusty shield can now be brought out by flicking the nunchuck and to do a shield bash you shake it again, either to deflect projectiles or to stun enemies. Of course Zelda wouldn't be complete without a spin attack: shake the nunchuck and remote horizontally and you'll perform the famous twirl of death, shake them vertically and you'll do an all new and badass vertical spin attack. Unlike Twilight Princess where it was hard to differentiate between the shield bash and spin attack, you'll have no problems here.

The controller only needed to be calibrated at the beginning of the demo and everything worked great during the remainder of the 5 minute demo, although I had trouble doing the sword thrust sometimes. Considering that the final version will supposedly use the sensor bar to automatically calibrate MotionPlus whenever it's picked up, I’d say precision won't be a problem at all. The game is not even out yet and it already blows other games' swordplay out of the water.

The controls changed for more than the blade though. Holding the B button makes a radial menu appear similar to the one in Twilight Princess, but now you can choose your item while walking and instead of using the IR to point the game uses the MotionPlus, meaning that you don't have to point to the sensor bar. It pretty much feels like you're reaching out with your hand in the direction of the item you want. I'm not completely sold on the fact that you can't assign items to different buttons though, even if the radial menu is very fast and intuitive.

Obviously every item controls differently. To use the bow you press C and pull the nunchuck back and the longer you keep it pressed the stronger the shot will be be, aim once again without the sensor bar and let go to fire. This works with amazing precision and shows how MotionPlus can be used to point and aim, you can see by the reticule that it picks ups even the slightest movement of your wrist. In the demo the bow didn't work with lock-on and was obviously geared for careful sniping from afar. It was oddly satisfying to hit a heart container in mid-air, perhaps even more so than hitting enemies, and thoughts about shooting galleries quickly emerged . For quicker firing in heated fights there's the slingshot. No you don't need to pull the rubber band back you just aim and fire and feel the 5 year-old rascal in you emerging.

Also back with a slight twist are the bombs. Hold the Remote high and a flick will throw it overhead just like we've been doing since Ocarina of Time but with motions and an arch indicating where the bomb will drop. Hold the Remote low and you can throw the bomb like a bowling ball, which is useful for getting it through low holes. Are the days of the Bombchu numbered?

It seems the Zelda team liked the whip idea from Spirit Tracks and decided to bring it back to Skyward Sword, controlled as you can expect by flailing the controller around making great use of the MotionPlus once again. It was really fun to use, even on bushes where you could latch on to them and pull them back. Why? Because you can. Now all Link needs is an Indy hat. The last item is an all new… mechanical flying bug. Its flight is controlled by tilting the Wii Remote, not unlike the plane in Wii Sports Resort, and it can be used to pick up items or drop bombs on unsuspecting enemies that are far away minding their own business.

Pressing the – button brought up another menu with potions that can be used on the go without needing to stop, and hopefully Link won't choke as he does this. Link is also faster now. Holding the A button will make him sprint, climb up walls all parkour-like and give an extra oomph to those long jumps, providing his stamina bar isn't empty of course.

While the graphics might not wow with infinite polygons and tons of post-processing effects and whatnot, Skyward Sword really does look gorgeous. With a unique art style that's not as cartoonish as Wind Waker, or as realistic as Twilight Princess, everything is beautifully vivid and colourful, the impressionist inspiration made clear when the camera zooms out or when you see a blur effect that makes far away things look like a painting. The sun shone through the trees, enemies disappeared with a cloud of dust, complete with a little skull and giant mushrooms, and would get small cuts and bounce when hit. Even in this small demo with a few rough patches here and there but the attention to detail and charm we’ve come to expect from a Zelda games is there. While Link looks similar to the Twilight Princess version everything else is completely fresh and no doubt marks another stylistic turn for the series.

It is obvious that the goal of this “quick and dirty” demo was simply to get a glimpse on how the Motion Plus affects the game, leaving us in the dark about what to expect from the structure of the game. However, it's hard to complain, after all full control over Link's sword is one of the most expected changes to the series since the Wii Remote was unveiled. What other surprises Nintendo has for us we can only guess and it's way too premature to discuss the direction Skyward Sword will take but it already controls amazingly well and looks great. If that doesn't bode well, I don't know what does.

- Jo�o Lopes