The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Product Details

Released on 18-Nov-2011

• Miyamoto insists Skyward Sword is a "core experience"

  Miyamoto insists Skyward Sword is a "core experience"

  Shigeru Miyamoto has been talking to IGN.com about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, insisting that despite earlier claims that he wanted the game to be more accessible, the much-anticipated title will be "a very core experience".

  "We have to find the right balance, in terms of how difficult we make the dungeons," admitted Miyamoto, though he was adamant that players can still expect a challenge. "I feel like with this particular game we've really managed to prove that you can create a very core experience using motion controls."

  While the game's demonstration at last month's E3 press briefing was hampered by technical difficulties, Miyamoto proved at a behind-closed-doors presentation that the Wii MotionPlus peripheral enhances the quality of the game's swordplay. Indeed, he's confident enough to say "once people play this game, the next time they play a game that uses a sword they'll feel that any game that doesn't use motion control for the sword is just not going to work right."

  Miyamoto also confirmed he was considering using the Wii's Mii avatars on Nintendo's forthcoming 3DS console. So far, the characters have made two previous handheld appearances ? in fitness title Walk With Me, and the Japan-only life sim Tomodachi Collection - but they were noticeably present in Nintendo's PilotWings Resort 3DS demo at E3.

  Both The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Nintendo's 3DS are set for release in early 2011.

• Happy birthday Zelda! Legendary series is 25 today

  Following the recent celebrations of Super Mario's 25th Anniversary, another Nintendo series has reached a similar milestone. With the original Legend of Zelda going on sale in Japan on 21st February 1986, the franchise is officially 25 today.

  
  

  Sales of Zelda games topped 60 million last year, and while it hasn't been quite as commercially successful as the Mario and Pokon titles, the series remains one of Nintendo's biggest hits.

  
  

  Though Nintendo hasn't announced plans for a compilation similar to this year's Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition, it does have two Zelda games planned for release this year. First with us should be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, a remake of the N64 classic for Nintendo's newest portable. Ocarina of Time remains the most critically-acclaimed game of all time, and the new version benefits from reworked puzzles and controls as well as revamped visuals to make the most of the 3D effect.

  
  

  Later this year, we'll also see The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii, which utilises the Wii MotionPlus add-on for 1:1 sword controls as well as introducing a new Impressionistic art style. Most excitingly, creator Eiji Aonuma has promised a number of major changes to the Zelda formula. Tinkering with tradition has historically brought about some of the franchise's most memorable moments - from the inventive 3-day structure of Majora's Mask to the initially divisive cel-shaded visuals of Wind Waker - so we're happy to learn that we're in for a fresh take on this much-loved series.

  
  

  We'll bring you release date news for both games as soon as we get it.

  
  
• Iwata spills the beans on Zelda, Zelda and Zelda

  Mario may have had a brand new game announced at GDC, but Zelda wasn't left out of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's keynote speech. In fact, there was plenty of news to go around.

  First up, Iwata revealed that the 3DS remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be hitting shelves in June. That's soon! Fantastic stuff.

  Secondly, he showed a new trailer for the new Wii adventure The Skyward Sword, which is expected by the end of the year. Making use of the Wii's Motionplus peripheral for added precision, the new trailer showed lots of combat, but also puzzle sections where Link has to manipulate 3D objects to open doors, and a tight-rope walking set-piece where the player must keep the remote level to stop Link from falling. The game looks incredible, too.

  Finally, Iwata teased "something" related to Zelda to mark the series' 25th anniversary, which is this year. He wouldn't say what the plan is, but admitted that Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto is working on a treat for Zelda fans everywhere. What could it be?

• Miyamoto spills the beans on Zelda 3DS

  In the latest Iwata Asks, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto talks about why he's been so eager to update N64 games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 for the company's new 3DS handheld.

  "One major reason is that at the time of their release, both games ran at the limit in terms of polygon counts and frame rates," Miyamoto said in the latest Iwata Asks (thanks to Andriasang for the translation and Eurogamer for the spot). The update has given his team the perfect opportunity to deliver the games as they were always intended to be - with the added bonus of 3D visuals.

  Miyamoto went on to add that gamers who played the games first at school would now be in their mid-twenties, and that "the time was right for a remake."

  We personally can't wait to get the chance to charge across Hyrule Field again when Ocarina of Time hits the 3DS in June. Star Fox 3DS is due out later this year, while the console itself hits shelves on 25th March - that's really, really soon!

• Legend of Zelda heading online?

  The Legend of Zelda heading online?

  Sometimes a story comes along and it hard to know what to make of it. This is one of those stories. According to Eurogamer, there an online game called Zelda Universe on the way from Nintendo.

  The news comes from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board a pretty reliable source, right? where Zelda Universe is listed as a Nintendo-published title with a platform described as nline

  Eurogamer points out that the seriesofficial website is also called Zelda Online, but the ESRB only rates games. Could we be in for an MMO based on the Legend of Zelda?

  That an exciting idea, but it doesn sound entirely convincing, given Nintendo single-player only focus for Zelda games in the past. (Um, apart from Four Swords Adventure, of course.) Nintendo suggested something special is on the way to celebrate The Legend of Zelda 25th anniversary, though, and there that mysterious new Project Cafconsole in development, so who knows what wel find out at E3?

  If youe a Zelda fan and youe after something a little more tangible, of course, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D will be hitting the 3DS on 17th June. Hey, that next month! Yippee!

• Nintendo offers glimpse into the making of Zelda

  Nintendo is one of the most secretive developers around: the Japanese videogame legend makes some of the best games in the business, but it rarely lets us in on how it works. Now, though, Nintendo spilled the beans on how the famous targeting system for Zelda: Ocarina of Time came about.

  These days, plenty of action games allow you to pull a trigger to lock onto an enemy, but Zelda N64 outing was the first to come up with the idea and it was inspired, according to the game general director, Toru Osawa, by a trip to a theme park.

  Speaking to Nintendo head honcho on the latest Iwata Asks, Osawa remembers: "We thought if we went [to the theme park], we might get some ideas. We got our boss's approval, and Koizumi-san, Ikeda-san and I went. It sure was a hot summer! We ducked into a playhouse to cool off. They were doing a ninja show. A number of ninja were surrounding the main samurai and one lashed out with a kusarigama (sickle-and-chain). The lead samurai caught it with his left arm, the chain stretched tight, and the ninja moved in a circle around him."

  The fact that each ninja attacked one at a time, giving the samurai the chance to defeat them, was all the inspiration the Nintendo team needed to revolutionise 3D gaming controls. It an amazing story and if you want to see how it turned out, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is out right now for the 3DS.

• New Zelda game features mystery instrument

  We don know that much about the new Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, yet, except that it uses the Wii MotionPlus peripheral for brilliantly accurate sword fights. Nintendo been teasing us a little, though, by announcing that the game includes a key musical instrument, just like Ocarina of Time did.

  Eurogamer reporting that the news came via Nintendo composer Mahito Yokota, who been interviewed in a recent Iwata Asks feature. What will the instrument do? "It's still a secret," said Yokota. "Keep your ears pricked though."

  As Eurogamer points out, Link been quite the musician for some time now. There was that ocarina of course, but The Wind-Waker on GameCube handed him a baton, while the original NES game had a recorder, and the GameBoy masterpiece Link Awakening had a whole orchestra for you to uncover. Magical stuff.

  Skyward Sword is due out for the Wii and the Wii alone later this year, although there no firm date pinned down yet. Don fret, though: Ocarina of Time 3D is out right now for the 3DS, and it as good as you remember it being. Actually, it a little bit better.

• Tons of new Zelda info released

  The new Zelda game, Skyward Sword is shaping up to be a classic, by the looks of things. Eurogamer just put up a massive news story that summarises a Famitsu interview between Nintendo top Zelda guy, Eiji Aonuma, and it filled with details on the forthcoming Wii title. Read on for the low-down, but be warned: there are spoilers.

  Skyward Sword starts with Link and Zelda cast as friends at a boarding school. "Link, Zelda and their other friends all go to the same boarding school, and you've got teachers and a principal as well. It's a bit of a different setting from previous Zeldas," said Aonuma. "The flying sequence at the E3 demo is Link competing against his classmates. One of them looks kind of a like a bad guy, as you saw, and he shows up in other ways in the game too, since he has a major thing for Zelda."

  Early on, Zelda disappears, and it up to Link to track her down. That all we have on the story, but Aonuma promised that the team is tinkering with the Zelda formula a little. "With previous Zeldas, the common pattern was that the really neat items wouldn't show up until later on in the game.He said. ou need to have the basic item set or it wouldn't be Zelda, so the new items tended to get shunted to the latter part of the game. [Shigeru] Miyamoto said that had to change, like 'This is neat, let's bring it out from the start.' So a lot of neat new items will show up pretty early on."

  Sounds good to us! Skyward Sword hasn been dated yet, but it should be out for the Wii at the end of this year.

• New Zelda: Skyward Sword details revealed

  Nintendo has announced new details of what players can expect from the eagerly awaited Wii adventure The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

  According to the gamemaker, Link's latest quest is set to be one of Nintendo's most epic games ever, having taken 100 staff members more than five years to create it.

  Gamers can expect an experience that could last dozens of hours, including a boss challenge mode and more than 100 minutes of cinematic cutscenes, while optional hint movies will be available for rookie players.

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is due out in November 2011 and will be released in a Limited Edition pack that includes a gold Wii Remote Plus and a special Zelda soundtrack CD.

  It is being released as the classic series celebrates its 25th anniversary, an occasion that has already been marked by the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on Nintendo 3DS.

  A special Zelda concert will be held in London in October to commemorate the milestone, while an enhanced anniversary edition of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords will be made available as a free DSiWare download later this month.

  Published: 13/09/2011

• Skyward Sword plot details emerge

  With Skyward Sword, Nintendo's first Zelda game for the Wii in five years, now only a few months away, more and more details about the eagerly anticipated adventure are being released.

  Rather than picking up from Twilight Princess, the 2006 title that marked Link's last appearance on the Wii, Skyward Sword is instead a prequel to the entire epic saga, taking us back to a time when Link and Zelda were childhood friends. They'll both be at a school, where Link's father is headmaster. The plot of the game will follow Link as he assembles the Master Sword, the weapon he has wielded throughout the series.

  It's also been confirmed that the game will have three different HUD settings. The Standard setting shows the Wii remote on-screen at all times, with button prompts. Light removes the Wii remote overlay but keeps the prompts. Pro is for those who want to play in the old-fashioned way, with only health and other relevant info kept on-screen.

  Skyward Sword has been described as one of the biggest development projects in Nintendo's history. We'll get to see if it was worth the wait when it swishes into action on November 18th.

• New story details revealed for Zelda Skyward Sword

  Nintendo has revealed new details about the storyline of its eagerly awaited adventure game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

  The new Wii title will begin in Skyloft, a majestic town high above the clouds, and will tell a story that reveals the origins of many of the classic elements of the Zelda series, including the creation of the legendary Master Sword.

  At the start of Skyward Sword, players will follow hero Link and experience his special bond with his childhood friend Zelda, while soaring through the skies in exciting bird-racing competitions.

  However, this is only the start of an adventure that Nintendo has described as being one of the longest and most inventive instalments of the classic series to date.

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is launching this November only on Wii and marks the 25th anniversary of the Zelda franchise.

  A special edition version of the game is to be released that includes a golden Wii Remote Plus and a music CD that includes orchestra arrangements of famous Zelda melodies.

  Published: 03/10/2011

• Nintendo reveals gameplay additions for Zelda: Skyward Sword

  Nintendo has released new gameplay details for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword as it continues to build anticipation for the game's fast-approaching launch.

  The first Zelda adventure to be created exclusively for Wii, Skyward Sword will use the Wii MotionPlus peripheral to offer precise one-to-one control over hero Link's sword attacks, as well as equipment such as the bow and slingshot.

  One of the new additions made to accommodate the game's motion-sensing capabilities is dowsing, an ability that lets players aim their sword around the screen in first-person mode to sense the location of hidden objects.

  Another new innovation is the Dash ability, which allows Link to run faster and perform acrobatic feats while the A button is held, at the cost of some of his stamina.

  The stamina gauge is also essential for using techniques such as the devastating Spin Attack, meaning players will need to pace themselves wisely on their adventure.

  Nintendo will release The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on Wii in November 2011, with a special edition version also being made available that includes a gold Wii Remote Plus and a soundtrack CD.

  Published: 11/10/2011

• Music 'will play a vital role in Zelda: Skyward Sword'

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will continue the series' tradition of making music a key component of the gaming experience, according to Nintendo.

  Speaking to IGN, producer Eiji Aonuma and music supervisor Koji Kondo have stated that Skyward Sword will use all of the Wii's capabilities to deliver a unique experience.

  On his latest adventure, hero Link will be able to gain access to a magical harp, which can be carefully strummed in time with the background music using Wii MotionPlus controls.

  Elsewhere, players will find that the in-game music - which will be fully orchestrated for the first time in the series - will change and react depending on Link's location, or which characters he is speaking to.

  Mr Kondo said: "Now it's much easier using the advanced tools to be able to take your musical ideas and very quickly translate them into something that can work in the game."

  The musical heritage of the series was recently celebrated at the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Concert in London, excerpts from which will be included on a CD bundled with the special edition version of Skyward Sword this month.
  

  Published: 08/11/2011

• Nintendo hails success of London's Zelda anniversary concert

  Nintendo hails success of London's Zelda anniversary concert

  Nintendo has stated that it was "blown away" by the success of The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony concert, which took place in London on October 25th 2011.

  Thousands of fans from across Europe flocked to the capital to watch the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra perform a number of famous arrangements from the iconic videogame series, with various special guests in attendance.

  Among them were veteran Zelda director Eiji Aonuma and legendary Nintendo composer Koji Kondo, while Zelda Williams - daughter of Hollywood star Robin Williams, who named her after the series' titular princess - acted as compere.

  Attendees came dressed in costume as Zelda characters and queued around the block to hear performances of the classic themes, before taking to Twitter to register their praise for an "enchanting" and "magical" occasion.

  Nintendo's Laurent Fischer said: "We see this as an absolutely fitting way to celebrate such an important anniversary - 25 years of The Legend of Zelda series."

  This month is set to be a big one for the famous franchise, with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii and a special commemorative Nintendo 3DS bundle both set to be released.
  

  Published: 11/11/2011

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword launches to rave reviews

  Gamers who pick up the eagerly awaited Wii game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword this week will be getting their hands on one of the year's most acclaimed titles.

  Critics are lining up to call Link's latest adventure the best game in the series' 25-year history, with publications including Edge, IGN and Game Informer all bestowing rare ten-out-of-ten ratings.

  Reviews have praised the scope of the game's immersive world and involving adventure elements, as well as its revolutionary MotionPlus-driven controls, which allow gamers to precisely wield Link's sword as if it was in their hand.

  Gamers can expect to experience stunning painting-style visuals, a fully orchestrated score and a complex combat system, challenging them to angle their sword strikes to cut through enemies' weak points.

  IGN's review concluded: "It's the best game for Wii and one of the finest videogame accomplishments of the past ten years."

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is out on November 18th 2011 and is available in a limited edition pack that includes a gold Wii Remote Plus and a special CD, featuring music from the recent Zelda anniversary concert series.

  Published: 14/11/2011

• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

  Happy 25th Birthday

   

  Nintendo celebrates The Legend of Zelda series' 25th anniversary in great style, with the launch of a game that fuses the best elements of past classics with excellent new features to deliver the Wii title many fans have been waiting for. Skyward Sword is a constantly pleasing, highly varied adventure whose main quest lasts for about 35 hours, although the runtime can more than double if you're keen to explore all of treats the game's world has to offer.

  Heavenly Tale

   

  Skyward Sword lays the foundation for the events in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a title frequently cited as one of the greatest video games in history. You play as a young version of series protagonist Link, a student of the Knights' Academy in Skyloft, a floating island above the clouds. The population is oblivious to the wider world beneath the clouds, one you must travel to in order to rescue Princess Zelda. We've absolutely no intention of spoiling the plot itself, but on a basic level, the game tells the story of a princess getting kidnapped, evil throwing the world into peril, and of a boy who sets to put things right with his sword.

  Full motion control

   

  The game uses the precision motion controls offered by the Wii Remote Plus (or a Wii Remote controller with a Wii MotionPlus accessory) and Nunchuk controller to map on-screen actions to the player's movements better than any other past example. Motion controls permeate every inch of the game, from exploration to combat, and they're remarkably precise, whether aiming your bow, piloting flying animals, swinging your sword or rolling a bomb underarm with directional spin to land it between an enemy's legs.

  When it comes to enemy face offs, the challenge is to learn foes' different battle tactics, identify their weaknesses and employ counterattacks. You have eight sword slicing angles based on the main compass points, alongside a ninth attack in the form of a forward thrust. Enemies will often display directional weaknesses for you to exploit such as a vertical jaw flap or a horizontal armour chink. Some battles require heavy precision blows, while others require you to pepper enemies with a flurry of hits. Either way, the controls are highly responsive and feel exactly as they should.

  Epic Journey

   

  Taking you from dark dungeons to a diverse over-world and cloud cities in the sky, and requiring a combination of environmental puzzle-solving and swordplay to unlock all of its secrets, Skyward Sword's multilayered universe is a joy to explore. You'll soar through the air on the wings of a majestic bird, scale a rocky peninsula, raid volcanic strongholds, escape from prisons, infiltrate a pirate hideout, outwit dragons and ride rickety mine carts, among many other activities.

  Diverging from the main quest is highly rewarding too. Secondary characters will shower you with odd jobs, fetch quests and rescue missions, while an upgrade system also provides a nice distraction, enabling you to improve most of the items, weapons and shields you gather on your journey in exchange for treasure dropped by defeated enemies.

  What the Wii has been waiting for

  Fast-paced, constantly surprising, full of excellent combat and great places to explore, Skyward Sword may just be the best game yet in Nintendo's long-running, beloved Legend of Zelda series. A roaring success from start to finish, it's a title that will delight veteran Zelda players and, given its place in the series' timeline and its highly accessible nature, it's also the perfect place for newcomers to start.

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a contender for game of the year and possibly even the greatest Wii game of all time.

   

  GAME's verdict

  Good:
  + Fantastic motion controls.
  + Perfect mix of combat, exploration and puzzles.
  + Masses and masses of content.

  Bad:
  - Upgrade system could be fleshed out a bit.
  - Treasure hunts can be a little tiresome.
  - We had to wait this long for the first built-for-Wii Zelda!

   

  Review by: Tom 'Saved The Princess' Ivan
  Version Tested: Wii
  Review Published: 23.11.11

  Published: 23/11/2011

• Pandora's Tower coming to Wii in April 2012

  Nintendo has announced an April 2012 release for Pandora's Tower, the latest epic role-playing title to be developed exclusively for Wii.

  This unique title follows a soldier named Aeron who must battle through dungeons and fortresses to save his beloved friend Elena from a curse that is gradually transforming her into a monster.

  Featuring real-time combat, motion controls, multiple endings and a soundtrack filled with iconic classical compositions, Pandora's Tower promises to offer a distinctive take on the traditional role-playing formula.

  At the core of the experience is the unique relationship system that sees the story and outcome change depending on how much they interact and bond with the cursed Elena.

  Players will need to give items to the girl and return to her regularly to help stem the tide of the mutation, knowing that a wrong tactical move or unnecessary delay could doom her forever.

  The Wii has seen the release of a series of acclaimed fantasy epics in recent months, with Xenoblade Chronicles and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword set to be joined by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's The Last Story this month.

  Published: 15/02/2012

• Batman and LA Noire lead 2012 Video Game BAFTA nominations

  The finalists for the 2012 British Academy Video Game Awards have been announced, and this year everyone will be watching the detectives, as Batman: Arkham City and LA Noire top the lists with eight nominations apiece.

  Sony will be happy that Uncharted 3 and LittleBigPlanet 2 both get six nominations, while Skyrim and Portal 2 each have five.

  Categories include Action, Artistic Achievement, Design, Story, Innovation and, of course, Best Game. Batman and LA Noire rub shoulders with FIFA 12, Portal 2, Skyrim and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in that category. The omission of best-seller Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 may raise eyebrows, but that gets a nod in both the Action and Multiplayer categories.

  Promising indie projects get a look in thanks to the Dare to be Digital One's To Watch award, and there's also a public vote, with ten blockbuster games to choose between. You can head to http://www.baftagameaward.com to pick your favourite.

  The winners will be announced at a sure-to-be-lavish ceremony on March 16th.

• Batman: Arkham City and LA Noire lead GAME Bafta nominations

  The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has named the nominees for this year's GAME British Academy Video Games Award, with Batman: Arkham City and LA Noire leading the pack.

  Rocksteady Studios' superhero sequel and Rockstar's hard-boiled detective drama both scooped eight nominations each, including best game, music, design, artistic achievement and story.

  Following hot on their heels were Naughty Dog's globetrotting adventure Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Media Molecule's sandbox platform game LittleBigPlanet 2 with six nominations, while Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim scored five each.

  Meanwhile, a shortlist of ten titles was also revealed for the publicly-voted GAME Award of 2011, the winner of which can be chosen by visitors to the GAME Award website.

  Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, FIFA 2012, LA Noire, Minecraft, Portal 2, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword are all in contention to claim the prize.

  Those who take part in the vote will also be in with a chance of winning a limited edition Star Wars Xbox 360 console, complete with a Kinect sensor and copy of Kinect Star Wars.

  Published: 20/02/2012

• Miyamoto would like to make a first-person shooter

  Cheery Nintendo man Shigeru Miyamoto is best known as the creator behind bright, family-friendly games such as Mario, Legend of Zelda and Nintendogs, but he's admitted that, if he had the time, he'd quite like to try his hand at a first-person shooter.

  "I actually do kind of want to make a first-person shooter but I don't have time," Miyamoto revealed in an interview with Kotaku. "Having that 3D space that in theory you are in and being able to look around and explore that, particularly being able to do that in conjunction with another person, is very interesting."

  He's even given some thought as to how the genre could work on the upcoming Wii U to create a fully immersive 360 degree experience using the console's touchscreen game pad controller. "If you're playing a first-person shooter and you have the game up on the television screen and you have your subscreen below, within that game world you're able to turn in all directions around you. Obviously that would be very fun," Miyamoto explained. "If you have two people doing that in the same room, that could create a very fun and unique gameplay experience."

  The Wii U launches later this year in Japan, with Miyamoto's Pikmin 3 slated to be one of the leading launch titles.
  

• Games you can't afford to miss from 2011

  
  

  There's no denying it, we've been spoiled rotten by the flood of quality games this year. There isn't enough time in the day to get through them all! Fortunately, the Christmas holidays are here to give us a little more time to catch up on the best of 2011.

  We've hand-picked a selection of games from this year's release schedule that are all worthy of your Christmas Gaming time...

  Batman Arkham City

  

  A comic hero game that turned out to be very good? We were left speechless when Arkham Asylum was released in 2009. Even more incredibly, Rocksteady Studios' sequel managed to be even better than the first!

  Batman Arkham City sets you in a massive open world, players assume the role of a Batman imprisoned in the sprawling super-prison of Arkham City. Every nemesis you could hope for makes an appearance in the game - as well as an epic storyline offering dozens of hours of gameplay, there's a huge quantity of sidequests and missions to explore once you've put the baddies to bed.

  Uncharted 3

  

  This third outing for Nathan Drake is his grandest adventure yet. Set amongst deserts, lost cities and ruins, Uncharted 3 is a technically astonishing PlayStation 3 game that features all of the exploration, fighting and explosive set-pieces we've come to expect from the series.

  Better multiplayer, more customisation options and some of the most impressive motion-capture animations to hit gaming make Uncharted 3 an unmissable, cinematic rollercoaster. Don't miss out on one of gaming's finest adventures.

  The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

  

  If you can't get your money's worth out of a game like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, you're very hard to please indeed! Bethesda's follow-up to the best-selling game Oblivion left players and critics alike reeling. A gorgeously rendered, enormous world stuffed with terrifying dungeons, endless quest-lines and open-world dragon fights, Skyrim packs more content into a side-quest than most games manage full stop.

  Are you an archer, berserker, magician or rogue? Whatever your play-style, there's a highly customisable role for you in this most epic of RPGs. Hundreds of hours of gameplay are here for players to gorge themselves on, all spread across a game that is likely to become one of the most fondly remembered of this generation. The greatest RPG of all time? It might just be.

  Gears of War 3

  

  Tying up all the loose ends of the previous games, this climax to the best-selling Gears of Wars franchise sees Marcus Fenix and co set out to finish the Locust Horde once and for all in Gears of War 3. Some of the most awesome baddies the series has ever seen make their appearance in this conclusion, and there'll be no shortage of sweaty palms once the fighting's over.

  Multiplayer provides endless re-playability for the game, as you team up with friends to take on wave after wave of Locust forces. If you'd rather rip your friend's face off than lend a helping hand, you can now fight as the enemy, raining horrible destruction on your whole family once the Christmas pudding's gone down.

  FIFA 12

  

  Once mocked by gamers for churning out what often amounted to little more than annual updates, EA has been on a charm-offensive these last five years or so, bringing significant innovation and improvements to their flagship footie title every single time.

  FIFA 12 sees the introduction of a far more dynamic system for defending where you can link up with an AI defender to put pressure on attackers. Head to Head seasons allow you to take part in a highly competitive ladder tournament, while simply playing the game also adds points to your chosen club. It's as addictive as ever, and about as fully-featured a sports game as we could hope for.

  The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

  

  The perfect game to settle into while the family are having a good old row downstairs,The Ledgend of Zelda Skyward Sword will charm the pants off you with it's perfect telling of the classic Zelda tale, mixed with the best combat and world design the series has ever seen.

  Set prior to the events of the N64 (and now 3DS) classic Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword starts off in a beautiful cloud city by the name of Skyloft. Of course, it's not long until Link's childhood friend Zelda is whisked off into the lands below, beginning a fantastic journey of world exploration, soaring flight, and devilishly tricky dungeons. Skyward Sword is a must-play for any Zelda fans, past or present.

  Published: 14/12/2011

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