Unfortunately, we all must admit, the wii's third party support was a little shaky at the beginning. Slowly, but surely, it's picking up, and third party games are getting better and better.
However, this game sets the standard for what not only a third party, but any wii game should be like. That game is Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros Treasure.
Plot Synopsis
Z&W is about a young pirate on his quest to gather the different pieces of Barbaros, a golden skeleton who promises endless riches for those who can put him back together. While looking for this treasure, Zack and Wiki run into peril and danger including rival pirate crews, cannibals, and giant dragons.
GAMEPLAY
The way the game works is that you have to be rescourceful. In order to complete a level, you gotta figure out a way to get to the treasure chest using only what you have around you. So, it involves a LOT of thinking, so if you're into mindless destruction and chaos (which is totally cool), maybe you should look for another game. Movement is a simple point and click which does get a bit difficult at times. The motion controls in the wiimote, can be used to do things like:
Swing a sword
Pull a lever
Drop a pot onto a zombies head
Go fishing
And so on and so forth. You hold the wiimote in different ways and move it in different ways, giving you a more immersed feel into the game.
It's a flute!
The boss fights aren't your normal "hit weak spot here with bullets and run like the ************************ens otherwise" The entire level is the boss, where you have to find different ways of taking down a gigantic monster using the resources around you, all the while avoiding it.
mommy's very angry
Score: 10
GRAPHICS
The environments are lush and the cel shaded art styles make it even more amazing. Everything from the trees to the characters are colorful and well designed.
That is just one of the many amazing levels of Zack and Wiki
The movements of all the characters in the cutscenes or during game play are mostly fluid and natural looking, however, with all of the stuff that goes on around you, the framerate suffers at times, but it's nothing that will hinder gameplay and is only noticable to nitpickers.
Score:9
SOUND
There's not much in the music department, but where there is music it's pretty dang good. The voice acting is usually limited to grunts and short phrases and admittedly, can get a bit annoying at times. The wiimote speaker is used in the game very well again, going back to gameplay, the speaker is used to complete levels, taking the role of a bell, a telephone, or whatever you can think of, which is a very creative way to make the most out of the wiimote.
Score:8
REPLAY VALUE
There are countless treasures to be found in secret areas of the game, so even after you beat the game, you'll be trying to find them. The game also allows you to replay levels in order to find different solutions for all the puzzles. But alas, it's a single player game, so after you play through the 20 hours or so of gameplay, it takes a lot of discipline to get ALL the treasures.
Score:8
VALUE
40 bucks for one of the best games on the Nintendo Wii? Oh yeah, it's well worth it.
Score:10
OVERALL SCORE
9
