Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)
The hosts of the IGN "Wii-k in Review" podcast have been raving about a Capcom title known in Japan as "Treasure Island Z" since they saw it under its new title at E3 this year. I've since kept it on my radar, and when I picked it up and played it recently, I approached it with as open a mind as possible.
Coming out of my play session two hours later, I must say that it is an exceptional title indeed. Bypassing the whimsical premise (consisting of sky pirate clans and flying monkeys), the gameplay could be described as a "wave-and-click" adventure. For example, one of the puzzles requires you to stack three portions of a broken statue on an altar. Selecting one of the parts from a pile, you twist the Wiimote to set the part's onscreen orientation before placing it on the altar. Set all three parts correctly and you proceed on to the next leg of the puzzle. The thing of it is, there's nothing in the scenario that explicitly tells you to do this, you're just put into the stage with the altar and the parts in a heap. There's just enough discovery involved in solving the puzzles that the payoff of following your intuition--and being right--drives you onward.
This is not to say that it is without its problems. Wiimote imprecision works against you in some of the unique actions you take now and then. When swimming, pathfinding doesn't seem to work as well as it does while walking. It's also worth noting that while I found the childish theme to be amusing, other gamers may be turned off by its younger-skewing stylings.
These are minor quibbles, however. I haven't played a better original third-party Wii title this year, and outside of Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy, I haven't played a better first-party title either. If you have a taste for contextual puzzle/adventure gaming, this game deserves your attention.
Coming out of my play session two hours later, I must say that it is an exceptional title indeed. Bypassing the whimsical premise (consisting of sky pirate clans and flying monkeys), the gameplay could be described as a "wave-and-click" adventure. For example, one of the puzzles requires you to stack three portions of a broken statue on an altar. Selecting one of the parts from a pile, you twist the Wiimote to set the part's onscreen orientation before placing it on the altar. Set all three parts correctly and you proceed on to the next leg of the puzzle. The thing of it is, there's nothing in the scenario that explicitly tells you to do this, you're just put into the stage with the altar and the parts in a heap. There's just enough discovery involved in solving the puzzles that the payoff of following your intuition--and being right--drives you onward.
This is not to say that it is without its problems. Wiimote imprecision works against you in some of the unique actions you take now and then. When swimming, pathfinding doesn't seem to work as well as it does while walking. It's also worth noting that while I found the childish theme to be amusing, other gamers may be turned off by its younger-skewing stylings.
These are minor quibbles, however. I haven't played a better original third-party Wii title this year, and outside of Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy, I haven't played a better first-party title either. If you have a taste for contextual puzzle/adventure gaming, this game deserves your attention.
Labels: 2007, adventure, first flirts, wii, wiki, zack
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