'The Legend of Zelda' Wii U Release Date: Preview at Game Awards (Video)

Dec 08, 2014 05:35 PM EST

The Legend of the Zelda for the Wii U
The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miaymoto and series producer Eiji Aonuma playing the long-awaited Zelda Wii U game. (Youtube)

At the 2014 Game Awards last weekend, there were a lot of previews for upcoming games. One of these previews is a very anticipated game of The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Wii U. The preview video included The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miaymoto and series producer Eiji Aonuma simply playing the game and discussing how it looks and plays.

If you are not familiar with The Legend of the Zelda, it is a series of video games based on a hero in green who lives in a land called Hyrule. The player then goes through a series of fantasy adventures that include dungeons, facing massive amounts of foes, and running other errands. The game has been done so well and has had so many iterations that it practically has its own mythology, as well as legions of fans.

Ever since the Wii U was released in 2012, there was great demand for a Zelda game for it. Sadly, it was soon announced that one wouldn't be coming until 2015. There is a game known as Hyrule Warriors out now for the Wii U, but its hack and slash combat isn't the type of gameplay that fans have demanded since Zelda's two Wii predecessors of Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.

Advances to the Wii U version, which still does not have a subtitle, include its open world ability. The player of Wii U Zelda can roam around Hyrule and climb up mountains to see magnificent views and sunsets. The game makes use of the secondary screen on the Wii U controller by becoming a map, which is a very good use for it. The land of Hyrule looks extremely beautiful and well-rendered.

Since the world of Hyrule is also large, the player has to go a long way. This is why a horse is provided. With the help of some interesting programming, the player can ride the horse through the trees, and the game will automatically steer around them. As the video has said: "horses don't run into trees", but most past Zelda games (and other games of this type) are notorious for having horses come to complete stop when a tree is in front of them.

Another feature that Zelda players will enjoy seeing is the ability to shoot enemies while riding a horse. This was something that was somewhat difficult to do in Twilight Princess, but it is much easier on the Wii U version.

There still is still no word on an actual release date other than sometime in 2015. However, it was interesting to hear in the video that a StarFox game will be occurring before a Legend of Zelda game. Considering that the last two Legend of Zelda games came out before the holiday season of the year of their release, I wouldn't be surprised if Wii U Zelda showed up in October or November of 2015. If that is the case, then there will be quite a line for it at the E3 Video Game Expo in Los Angeles in the summer of 2015.