Every once and a while you get a game that has real pulling power. It doesn't have to be an epic about love, war, death and reality. It doesn't have to have hyper-realistic graphics. It doesn't even need a physics engine.
All it needs is a good concept, and that's exactly what Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is all about.
Our first reaction during the little cut scene we saw was 'that's prerendered!' But no, Capcom slapped us across the face for being wrong when it's cute cinematic opening move seamlessly into gameplay. Zack and WIki takes on a cartoony look with it's sharp cel-shaded look and we are introduced to two of the most lovable characters you've ever seen, a short pirate and a flying yellow... thing. You can't not love these guys.
Zack and Wiki in a lot of ways calls back to the days of point and click adventure games, finding a problem, finding items and working out how to solve the problem. All your movement is done with point and clicking of the Wii remote to navigate your characters through the world, as is examining objects and so on.
Zack and Wiki do add a few elements to this time test concept, one of which is when you actually go to use your objects you have to perform the action with the Wii Remote, be it yanking a lever or sawing through a tree.
Along with that the game uses a stage system, so you complete each level through logic and wit, return to your hide out and select your next stage. From what we could work out the scoring system was based on time and how many times you got the puzzle wrong. And the puzzles are done wonderfully. A lot of adventure games simply place an problem and a solution in the same room and either don't give you any hints at all or give it to you in such a way that it's either way to obvious or totally unobvious.
Zack and Wiki have clearly taken lessons from these sorts of games and set up the puzzles in such a way that while you may not get the puzzle first go, when you do get it your reaction will be 'Oh, I can't believe I didn't get that first go'
All the hints are there, all the puzzle and solutions are worked out to an art, and it all depends on you.
Like we said before, Zack and Wiki really blew us away with graphics, from character animation, design, environments and the pure sharpness that all of these take on. You're in for a real visual treat here that your eyes won't want to move from.
If there's one game to be watching out for next year, Zack and WIki is probably it.
17/11/2007
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Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros' Treasure
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