Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

"Pure Piratical Fun"

Arguably the best 3rd party offering on the Wii so far, Zack and Wiki is one of the most satisfying gaming experiences of this generation yet. I mean, come on... it's a great game about pirates! Why are you not running out and buying it this instant?

First of all, don't let the game's generic title and budget price tag fool you... Z&W is one of the deepest experiences on the Wii and a shining example of how developers can and should revitalize tried and true genres. While the decidedly Japanese sense of oddball humor and light story may not be everyone's cup of tea, the brilliantly designed levels will win over any gamer willing to exercise their grey matter.

So, what exactly is Z&W, you ask? It's a new adventure/puzzle game by Capcom that is played entirely with the Wii remote and (surprise surprise) utilizes both pointer functionality and gesture-based controls. However, it is not a mini-game collection and has a substantial amount of challenge and depth, even at 10 bucks less than every other Wii game out there.

The premise is simple: you control Zack, an enthusiastic but inexperienced pirate-in-training, and his sidekick Wiki, a flying golden monkey with a rather odd sense of humor. Despite the fact that neither member of our eponymous pair is a rabbit, they are both members of a pirate consortium named the "Sea Rabbits."

Long story short, when a cargo delivery run goes awry, Zack and Wiki stumble upon a treasure chest containing the head of the infamous Barbaros, a pirate captain who once terrorized the seas in a fantastically powerful ship. Barbaros promises to give the kid and the monkey this vessel provided they restore him to life by finding the rest of his body parts, which have been scattered and sealed in various treasure chests round the world. Did I mention that there's also a rival band of pirates led by the insane Captain Rose who's gunning for the same treasure as you? Yeah, that might complicate things a little.

At first glance, the game seems to be a throwback to the point-and-click adventure games of yore, but its structure and pacing have much more in common with puzzle games. The world is divided into several distinct regions. For example, you start out exploring a jungle area but will eventually make your way through treacherous volcanoes, a beautiful but dangerous ice cathedral, and even a haunted castle. Each of these areas is divided into a few levels which are essentially huge environmental puzzles that will take you anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour or two to solve. The game also breaks up the exploratory stages with epic, brain-bending boss fights and even a few awe-inspiring battles in the air and sea.

Not that the exploration ever gets dull: every level is filled with environmental hazards, creatures that probably would love to have pirate with a side of monkey for dinner, and the forgotten technology of some lost civilization strewed about.

The game really shines as you interact with these imaginative locales and try to work through and understand the mechanics of your surroundings. Your goal for the majority of stages is to retrieve the chest containing Barbaros' treasure by using the various tools and items scattered around the environment. This is when Wii remote gestures (such as sawing through trees, turning keys, and pouring liquids out of containers) enter into the equation, and thankfully most of the movements work well and more importantly, are just plain fun.

While the cutesy exterior may lead you to believe otherwise, Z&W is a difficult game. You will die many times (the game counted 60 untimely ends for me after my first completion) and there is an element of trial-and-error to solving each level. However frustrating this can be, the reward of mastering your surroundings and reaching the treasure grants you a real sense of accomplishment and is more than enough motivation to keep you moving through the levels. Thankfully, all of the puzzles have logical, if at times odd, solutions and are designed so that most of the key elements are within sight when you first start the stage. Also, the game features a hint system and extra lives that you can purchase, so you always have the option of spending some of your extra coin should you ever find yourself getting stumped.

It took me about 15 hours to beat Z&W the first time through, though the clock often didn't record my numerous failed attempts and I had the help of a bunch of friends for some of the tougher stages... which brings me to another point: the game is a lot of fun to play as a group, and Capcom's even included some limited co-op by letting any extra active remotes point and draw temporary markings on the screen to help out (or more likely annoy) player 1. Z&W also has a surprising amount of replay value even after you've solved the puzzles thanks to the extra hidden treasure, alternate solutions, and in-game ranking system.

Overall, Zack and Wiki is a fun experience with deceptively tough puzzles and clever, well polished gesture-based gameplay. You'll find yourself adventuring in search of treasure, executing daring raids on rival pirate airships, and getting verbally slammed by your animal sidekick... Basically, every fun aspect of the piratical lifestyle that you can imagine, you can do in Zack and Wiki. So go play it already!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/29/07

Game Release: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (US, 10/23/07)