Sunday, March 02, 2008

Reviews Sunday

Zack and Wiki - Wii

There's a been a bit of a trend recently for point and click games to be ported over to the Wii. The highly rubbish CSI game and some Agatha Christie adventure being the latest (and only) ones I can remember. They've been quite rightly ridiculed for their lack of imagination in using the Wiimote. Pointing at a screen isn't that revolutionary, surely you could use it in a better way?

Zack and Wiki - no! but yes! - does this. For some strange and convoluted reason the young mute pirate Zack is friends with a flying monkey/bell Wiki and they have to rescue bits of treasure. Instead of just digging around with a Bill Wyman endorsed metal detector they decide to go into various caves and get the treasure chest held within. Unfortunately said cave is filled with fiendish traps.

To sum it up it's a cross between Indiana Jones and The Adventure Game*.

In your pirate crew is a rabbit called Maddy.  Unfortunately there aren't any pics of him, think he might be missing.

And it uses the Wiimote so well. In only short space of time I've cranked, flauted, shoveled, prodded and rung the bell and it's always felt natural. There are sudden death's but unlike, normal point and clicks, because the action is split up you don't have too far to go back when restarting. And you always no why you died, the problem is just working out what to do to stop it happening again.

Captain Rose is the enemy.  But she look cute, not sure about the lipstick scar though.

So a highly imaginative game, that tests your logical & lateral thinking much more than Kawashima ever could. Perhaps it's not as replayable as other games, but that's the same of many point and clicks. I'm sure you would enjoy this just as much on it's second go as you would with Toonstruck or Monkey Island.

Six out of seven

* A far better title for the new Indie film than the one it currently has.

P.S. Eurogamer! If I'm not meant to nick your pics & put them on my flickr account let me know and I'll remove them.

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