10 Best Bows And Arrows In Video Game History

4. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

Unless we were Z-targeting, a feature Ocarina of Time invented, using our bow as Link was controlled in first-person. This was our first experience with any sort of 3D archery perspective, so both were exceedingly impressive. We couldn€™t move and shoot at the same time like a proper FPS, but lock-on bow attacks could have dodges and backflips thrown in as you out-danced Hyrules deadliest. The tips on our arrows were so geometrical, but that was cutting-edge stuff in 1998. This was also the debut of Link's Fire, Ice, and Light Arrows. We love that signs would freeze when we shot them with Ice and that the Light Arrow, a gift from Princess Zelda, was hand-tailored to poke Ganon's eye out, but our favorite enchanted archer memory was discovering the Fire Arrows at Hylia Lake... Once we'd collected the bow and raised the water level in the Forest and Water Temples, we could stay at the latter and follow the instructions of an old, stone tablet that read, "When water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light." The sun just so happened to be rising, and with a total confidence, we fired a lone arrow directly at its fiery center. The Fire Arrow came soaring down from the sunrise to rest on a small island for our retrieval. We€™ll always remember lighting torches, activating magic crystals and putting one right in the eye of those temple switches. Once our horse Epona came into the mix, we could shoot in first-person while riding and even practice this in Gerudo Village. Horseback archery certainly had its advantages whenever we felt the urge to purge Hyrule Field of those pesky Poes and their incessant ghost-giggles. In true Zelda fashion, these arrows had practical applicability to specific environmental puzzles and boss battles, and like everything in the Ocarina of Time, they filled the world and your relationship to it with extra depth and interconnectedness. Previous Next Contributor James McGrath Contributor Facebook

Real Science Magazine called James' addiction to video games "sexually attractive." He also worked really hard and got really lucky in college and earned some awards for acting, improv and stand-up, but nobody cares about that out here in LA. So... He's starting over fresh, performing when He can. His profile picture features James as Serbian, vampire comic Dorde Mehailo with His anonymous Brother and Uncle at the Nerdmelt Showroom in West Hollywood. In James' spare time, he engages in acting, writing, athletics, hydration, hours of great pondering and generally wishing you'd like him.

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