Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

"Clever, Unique, and Fun. Do I hear a sleeper hit?"

Let me first start off by saying every time I write a review for a game, I make sure I beat the game, so I can review it properly and fully. The critics are right (IGN, Gamespot, etc), and even the gamers themselves are right. This game rocks. Please do not be fooled by its cutesy graphics, and its "kiddy-like" characters. I bought this on day one, and it delivered. Let me start off my in-depth review:

Graphics: Gorgeous! When I popped this game in, I soon realized that it had great style with its graphics. Yes as most people say, it indeed does look like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The graphics are very clean and polished, and certainly go with the mood of the game. The zoom options even deliver. Up close, and even far away, the game looks great.

9/10

Sound: The sound is also great. I really enjoyed the music in the game, and the noises were also good. As for the characters voice acting, they have one-liners. The catch is, they're in Japanese. Some may be bothered by this, and some will like this idea. Personally, I think their decent, but this game didn't really need voice acting anyway.

8/10

Gameplay: The Graphics are great, and the Sound is good. But this ladies and gentlemen, is what the game perfects in. It's a point and click adventure game basically with action involved. Just don't expect to be shooting things and killing things. As for thew actual action I was talking about, you use the Wii remote to do specific in game puzzles. Whether it's shaking a controller to shake a tree or even pulling the controller back to pull switches, this game has it all.

10/10

Value: The value is also another good thing about the game. It's not as short as you would think, and definitely not as long as you hoped for. I beat the game in 18 hours, without getting the extras and high scores. I'm guessing it would take another 2-3 hours to get all of that. Personally for me, I wish the game was a bit longer (only because it rocked), but overall it was enough to satisfy my needs. There are a lot of levels, and a lot of hard ones, so put your thinking hats on.

8/10

Overall: This game is easily a must buy for any Wii owner out there, whether it's a casual gamer, or a hardcore game. I warn you though, the game is hard, and I mean HARD. Nevertheless it's the best 3rd party game on Wii as of yet. Please go out and buy it! Support the game. It deserves it.

9/10

Cons:
- It ended
- Its Hard difficulty may turn some off

Pros:
+ Clean and Polished Graphics
+ Great music and Sound
+ Spectacular use of the Wii remote
+ Extras and high scores will keep you playing
+ Hard difficulty
+ Amazing Third Party effort
+ Wii exclusive

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/05/07

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