Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

An adventure game folks, but not as we know it...

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It's fair to say that the Wii has been something of a success for Nintendo. Not only has it sold by the lorry load it's done so to people who'd have never previously thought about buying a console, as well as traditional gamers. Wii Sports has become an expected part of the entertainment at parties around the globe and it's even being lauded as improving gamers' health with all that arm waving burning-off the calories. The trouble is, once you take away the aforementioned Wii Sports there aren't actually a huge number of genuinely wonderful games for the ever-growing user base to enjoy. Sure you've got your Zelda's, Mario's and Metroid's but away from those traditionally heavyweight series' there's not been a whole lot else for the Wii owning masses to get excited about. Until now. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure.

A revival of point and click adventure games was probably to be expected on a console essentially built around the idea of pointing and, umm, clicking, but Capcom's Z&W isn't by any means a traditional entry into the genre. Instead it's probably best to describe it as a point and click puzzle game since each level is essentially a large self contained puzzle while the adventuring side of things is largely ignored with not a conversation tree in sight. The basic plot sees young pirate Zack and his trusty flying-monkey sidekick Wiki trying to track down the scattered pieces of the legendary pirate Barbaros' body in exchange for the dead pirate's famous ship. With a largely forgettable script and no narrative choices at all this is no Mass Effect, but as a device to explain the treasure chests that form the objective on each level the story does it's job as well as needed.

Using the Wii remote much like a mouse you can direct Zack around each level by pointing the cursor and pressing the A button where you want him to walk. You'll need to be constantly on the look out for objects that can be picked up or used as you move around the levels and it's these interactions with the game world that provide a lot of the fun. Most times Zack needs to do something with his hands you're asked to use the Wii remote to perform the appropriate movement. Everything from simple key turns and lever pulls to casting a fishing line and playing the flute are acted out with the remote giving a feeling of immersion and true interactivity seldom seen before. So naturally ingrained into the game are the controls they throw into sharp relief almost every other Wii title around, serving as a reminder to developers that Wii games needn't just be just about shaking the remote like a loon.

Of course you're not alone in your quest, the ever present Wiki has a hidden talent too. In a slightly surreal touch, a quick shake of the Wii remote causes Zack to grab Wiki by the tail turning him into a hand bell (Why? Because that's what happens to flying moneys when you shake them). The sound of a well rung Wiki magically turns any nearby enemies into useful objects which are more often than not vital to your current puzzle. Ringing Wiki a second time will also turn the object back into its previous form which gives everything a nice duel purpose and can lead to some interesting twists to puzzles.

Each of the game's many levels are set in a relatively small self contained area where your only objective is to get all the way from your starting point to the treasure chest at the end of the level. To do this you have to solve a number of puzzles along the way and it's these that make up the heart of the game. Although some of the later puzzles can be mind boggling (in a good way) the game starts off nicely with a well judged learning curve to ease you into things. Importantly you never feel completely stuck, the well designed levels and the logical puzzles mean you always feel on the cusp of solving something which stops things getting too frustrating when you do grind to a bit of a halt.

Once you know what you're doing each level can be breezed through in a matter of minutes meaning there's not a huge amount of replay value here but it's the enjoyable hours you'll spend on that first play through trying to work out how to get past each obstacle that is the key.

For all the praise I'm lavishing on it, Z&W isn't perfect. There are times when you can only solve a problem after trying to do it the wrong way first even if you can see its wrong which seems a little unfair. An early example sees you having to try to jump down a water flume you know you shouldn't because the game won't spawn a frog you need until you do. Also I'm not sure about having to buy credits to give you the ability to be revived rather than having to restart a level when you come a cropper. Sometimes you make mistakes because you've just pressed something or walked somewhere to see what happens and it feels a bit cheap for the game to punish and effectively charge you for these explorations. Granted each level only takes a few minutes to play through so you'd never be too far behind if you chose to restart but it's a pain none the less. However, these are small niggles really considering the fun to be had the majority of the time and nothing in the game ever comes close to spoiling the overall experience.

Z&W is also one of the best looking Wii games out there; it's lovingly crafted levels and stylish art design hide the console's lack of power behind a crisp well realised cartoon world that couldn't look a whole lot better on any other console. Character animation is also top notch bestowing far more personality into the characters than the infrequent vocal snippets and lacklustre story.

Silly overlong title aside, Z&W represents something of a milestone for the Wii. It's a genuinely exciting brand new IP, its Wii exclusive, it has a flawless understanding of how best to use the console's motion sensing controls and it proves there's a use for the adventure game genre in this current generation. But perhaps most significantly of all, it does all that while being developed by someone other than Nintendo, proving that at last third-party developers are getting to grips with the Wii. If you're one of the millions who own a Wii then there's no reason why Zack and Wiki shouldn't jump right to the top of your shopping list. Its delightful blend of well designed puzzles and intuitive controls provide a welcome change from the poorly implemented cash-ins and sloppy multi-platform ports that have been clogging up shelves for a while.

90%

By Paul Newcombe