After all the drooling since last years Zelda unveiling at E3 (and crying, incidentally...seriously), we finally have some more Zelda information to dry our mouths until its release. While nothing quite as drastic as the jump from cel-shading to realistic style has come out of E3 2005, the closer Twilight Princess gets, it's looking more and more like it's going to the best Zelda game yet and possibly the best damn thing since sliced bread.

Initial drool starting pictures we had previously been enticed by. He's back!

For those of you who have been living for the past few years as a hermit and somehow managed to miss the news of Link's brand new GameCube adventure, here's a little reminder. Yes, Nintendo decided to give the cartooned approach a miss this time around, instead opting for the realism more associated with the N64 classic, Ocarina of Time. Link starts out as anything but the fabled Hero of Time, though, instead working in a quiet village, helping out with various aspects of life. It's only when two of his friends, Ilia and Colin, are captured that Link must set out to save them. But when things look like they can't get much worse, our hero is plunged into the darkness of the Twilight World where a terrible fate awaits him. When he enters the Twilight Realm that has covered Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf and is captured. A mysterious figure named Midna helps him break free, and with the aid of her magic, they set off to free the land from the shadows. Twilight Princess also sees horseback battles, fights with boxing Gorons and a decidedly worried looking Princess Zelda, seemingly in the Twilight World, sporting a dark robe.

Horseback havoc. Ah how our past dreams are all unravelling.

Along with Zelda's new moniker (Twilight Princess), there's a fair amount of information on this eagerly anticipated title now. The showfloor demo at E3 showed off 4 different sections of Zelda; the training level of Toaru village, an epic horse-mounted battle scene in Hyrule field, part of a dungeon and a boss fight from the same dungeon.

We first see Link as a simple farmer, helping out in his hometown of Toaru village. Similar to Ocarina of Time's opening section, the villagers will help you get used to the controls and teach you a thing or two along the way. You'll be able to practice your sword-swinging techniques on scarecrows and try to wow a crowd of nearby children. We also see Link has the ability to pick off small pieces of branches and use them as makeshift Ocarina's. Whether there will be a more permanent item to play songs on is yet to be seen, but judging by the last three home-console iterations of Zelda, it certainly wouldn't come as a surprise. What is interesting are the songs Link can play though; the very same Epona's song from Ocarina of Time can be used, and as in the aforementioned title, your humble companion will come running to your aid (does this mean it's the same Epona from Ocarina of Time, or like Zelda and Link, another name that gets passed through the ages?) The other song Link plays calls a bird to land on his arm which can be used to attack a bee's nest and force it out of a tree, in turn earning you some rupees. We also see Link trying his hand at shepherding an angry goat and navigating a small stream by boat. By the end of this section two of Link's friends are kidnapped by boar-mounted riders, and Link himself is pulled into a black beam, no doubt an entrance to the twilight world.

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The horseback combat sees Link chasing the aforementioned riders through what is a huge Hyrule field. Your main objective is to knock the largest rider off his boar to save your friend, who your foe has tied up. Unfortunately for Link, after a blow of his handy war horn, a few of his friends come to help him. It all looks very Lord of the Rings-esque in style, as hordes of imp-like foes chase you while you go after the armour-laden soldier holding your friend captive. The sun will descend as you fight throughout the night, the boars will skid to a halt as their rider's frantically scramble to get back on and your main enemy will look on as you fight your way towards him. It's a fantastic scene, and horseback combat looks stupendously fun and intuitive. Once you finally shed your foe of his armour, he'll make his escape to a nearby bridge, in which you must have a show down in a head-on battle.

All new scum to introduce link's sword to. Paradise! Plus the 'dark world' looks rather creepy, bound to increase our heart rates.

The dungeon section is perhaps the most interesting of the four, though. It takes place in an area not too dissimilar to the Forest Temple in Wind Waker. The concept around this particular temple is you must help the monkeys that inhabit it. They will help you by giving you a bit of extra swinging reach when it comes to large gaps, thus by finding more monkeys you can open up new routes within the dungeon. The Forest Temple also shows off the all-new boomerang, the Gust Boomerang. This time around it's a little different to previous incarnations though, as it also delivers a huge gust of wind when thrown. Similar to the Deku Leaf in Wind Waker, it can be used to spin shutters used for opening doors and the like.

Its use is particularly shown off in the final section of the E3 demo; the boss. In order to hurt the huge beast, you must target a bomb and then one of your foes heads, sending the explosive spinning toward the temple's guardian. In the final stages of the battle, an evil boomerang-wielding baboon (yes, you will laugh when you first see him) will swing back and forth across the screen with a bomb, so in order to defeat the large plant you must target the moving bomb and then the bosses head. It's a great weapon, and could make for some very interesting puzzles throughout the game.

Link looks all too smiley around those weird ass bats. Cocky lil elf eh.

Other points of note in the newest build of Zelda are the changes to the combat system, and Link's new ability to change into a wolf. The combat system, while not a drastic change, no longer seems to have a counterattack button, instead once a foe is felled 'Finish' flashes onto the action button, and Link drives his sword into the enemy to finish them off. Your abilities as a wolf are as yet unknown, but it seems the character who helps you (who has a remarkably similar headpiece to that of the King of Red Lions did in Wind Waker… hmm…), and thereinafter sits atop your back, seems to act as a weapon for Link while he can't carry anything. It's also interesting to know that, as a wolf, Link will be able to communicate with animals…

Well E3 is behind us, and this little beauty just keeps getting better and better. You always expect a lot from a Zelda title, but this looks far better than anyone could have ever imagined. Plus, with a promised quest longer than that of Ocarina of Time, it looks like a force to be reckoned with. Watch out for more info at C-E as it comes…