Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure

Zack is a pirate who goes on a quest to search for Barbaros' treasure which happens to be scattered around in themed areas. Wiki is a flying gold monkey who can strangely transform into a bell and is Zack's trusty side-kick.

The game plays out as a point and click adventure and is controlled entirely with the remote. Instead of finding items already laid out in the environments, you ring Wiki's bell next to enemies/creatures to itemise them. This isn't very logical as such; a snake becomes a grabbing tool, a scorpion becomes a saw, a pirate becomes a totem pole, but when you see them on later levels; you know exactly what to expect and can plan ahead.

The use of such items is much more logical and gives you use of the Wii remote's capabilities, like moving forwards and backwards to use the saw, rotating to analyse objects. A few levels come down to trial and error to see what causes a threat (for example, where traps are located, or which objects pose a danger). Some puzzles are very straightforward but others seem obscure. I think point and click adventures should be pure logic focussed, but some levels require timing and most have several places where you can die, which means you then have to redo the whole level.

Often the places you can die are right at the end which makes the game extremely frustrating. However, you can buy Platinum Tickets which are fairly cheap (but increase in price the more you buy), which allow you to revive to a position just before you died but will penalise your score.

The game has a scoring system called HQ. If you interact with an object successfully on your first time, you will achieve the highest score, and if you make a mistake, the achieved points are halved. For example, there is a level where there is a large fire. If you pick up the goblet, fill it with water and pour it on the fire, it won't be enough; so this is an unsuccessful interaction. So then when you find the helmet, fill this up and pour it on the fire, you will achieve half the points because you should have used the bigger object straight away. It's these HQ points which unlock the levels. Therefore, it is possible to have to replay a level if you completed it but didn't achieve enough points to progress. I don't think the system really works in a game like this because the fun comes from using logic, and if you learn the exact steps, then replay them without any thought; it just becomes a chore. Obviously, the people that run through the game with a walk-through will rack up the largest scores.

The graphics are cel-shaded and colourful, but the characters don't have much personality. The speech is limited to the typical Japanese sound in the vein of Zelda.

A word of warning is that there are a few levels where you cannot progress if actions aren't done in the correct order, but the game will not notify you.

I can see why Zack & Wiki got such good reviews since it is fairly unique, makes good use of the Wii's functions, has plenty of levels and has good graphics. However, the game has an insane amount of frustrating elements which for me; ruins the game completely. It would have been a must own game if it was purely about logic without forcing you to restart the levels.