Nintendo's Link, the heroic elf from the company's beloved Legend of Zelda franchise, shares a common thread with Ian Fleming's James Bond. Both characters attract the ladies, save the world from terrifying threats and star in the same recycled adventures. Like Hollywood and its Bond movies, Zelda's developers add a few tweaks to make each videogame distinct, but despite these changes, all of the series' Links share similar characteristics. Link lives in the same village, rescues the same princess and takes advice from the same sidekick, whether it be fairy, talking boat, or in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess' case, a mischievous spirit named Midna. Yet despite the game's semi predictable plot, familiar looking characters and childish dialogue, there exists the magic that makes the franchise so endearing.

Link's familiar transformation from boy to world saviour again serves as the framework of the Zelda series and while Nintendo earns no points for falling back on this overused foundation, the game's developers earn high marks for many things, chief among them character animation. Unlike in previous Zeldas, the characters in Twilight princess exhibit genuine emotions that add power to the game's wonderfully directed cut scenes. Mouths drop open, smile and frown. Eyebrows raise and furrow. Hands gesture. The excellent use of body language separates this game from its predecessors. Most importantly, it adds priceless depth to the characters and the darkness that plagues their existence. Even as the sun shines on the land of Hyrule, character faces serve as a constant reminder of the evil terrorizing their minds.

Link combats this menace with a wide variety of weapons including a sword, slingshot, boomerang and a very effective bow, among other toys. Players still maneuver Link with an analog stick, but when fighting enemies, they actually swing and aim the remote. Haphazard slashes cause him to slice up his foes and pinpoint precision aiming allows him to strike targets hundreds of feet away. Nothing beats firing an arrow into the heart of some foul abomination, especially when the remote vibrates with each release of the bowstring.

The mechanics work so well that the mere thought of going back to a standard controller seems asinine. Link doesn't understand the difference between a horizontal and a vertical slash, but the spot on combat keeps this from becoming a nuisance. Furthermore, the remote's speaker emits all sorts of cool yet tinny sounds, from a tune that plays whenever new items are discovered to the withdrawal of the sword. All of this combines to form an intense and extremely exciting battle experience, one that remains interesting throughout, thanks to Link's alter ego.

During the course of his adventure, Link transforms into a wolf and from that point on struggles to maintain two very distinct lifestyles. He also must deal with Midna, a mischievous spirit that badgers and offers him advice. Cute, very amusing and masterfully designed, Midna is the best character to come from Nintendo since Wario. Not only does she provide much needed comic relief, but her dark appearance hides her true intentions, leaving players second-guessing throughout the game's 70-plus hour adventure.

The wolf sequences break up the monotony of the standard dungeon crawling portions of the game, the same puzzle solving boss key finding excursions that make up almost every Zelda adventure. The controls remain the same, except instead of attacking with his sword, Link lunges and bites. These moments also display Twilight Princess at its visual best, as Nintendo elected to use bloom lighting to give the game a spooky glow that covers up the jagged edges that unfortunately plague the rest of the adventure.

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