Pirates are all the rage now, making a sizeable impression in movies and in upcoming videogames like Pirates of the Burning Sea. Besides making its presence known in future MMORPGs, pirates are also arriving on the Wii in the form of a pseudo point-and-click adventure game named Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. Is this new intellectual property from Capcom one we should point-and-click off a cliff?

THE STORY SO FAR
Zack is just a child, but he already wants to be known as the greatest pirate in the world. Zack's already a pirate of sorts, what with his red hat with the skull on it and the band of pirate rabbits that he runs with. While out adventuring on a mission Zack is shot down onto an island, eventually discovering a treasure chest with the golden skull of famous pirate Barbaros inside. Barbaros tells Zack that his famous ship can be all his if he'll go around and gather the parts of his body and bring them all together. Is there something here that is not as it seems? Will Zack and his golden flying monkey Wiki finally get the ship of their dreams?

The story of Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Zack and Wiki from here on) is told through in-game cutscenes using the graphics of the game. There is dialogue in the game, but it is all in gibberish, leaning more towards a Legend of Zelda style where noises are made instead of actual spoken words. The inane sounds being used for dialogue is becoming a bit played out by now in videogames, but for the most part it works in Zack and Wiki, giving the game a bit of lightheartedness that is at times too cute not to laugh at; we dare you not to laugh the first time Wiki lovingly calls after Zack while he's chasing him.

The story is actually on the light side, as you simply don't get to experience much from one level to the next, and by the time you finally get to the next story point, it has been so long after the last one that you've probably forgot what was going on, or even have a hard time trying to remember what a certain character's name was that showed up. One thing point-and-click adventure games usually pride themselves on is their high-quality story, but the one here is just too short and scattered too sporadically through the game to be anything of worth.

GAMEPLAY
As said, Zack and Wiki at its core is an old school point-and-click adventure game, only instead of using a mouse you're using the Wii remote. The main way the game plays is that Zack and Wiki will journey to a level, which is part 2D and part 3D what with the way there is some depth and moving into and out of the background. At the end of each level is a goal, which is represented as a treasure chest that holds part of Barbaros' body, and it's your job to figure out the puzzle and the steps needed to make your way to the treasure chest.

Much like past point-and-click adventure games, you'll use clicks to move you around and interact with environments. By moving the Wii remote around you'll move your cursor, which allows you to interact with an object by clicking the A-button or by pressing the A-button while pointing to the ground to have Zack and Wiki go in that direction. The controls are simple in theory, but it's much too hard to do some things quickly or properly, as I've clicked on the ground for Zack only to stand still or only partially run to where I was pointing. There aren't really too many moments where you're required to act quickly, but there are some, and when you absolutely need every button press to register exactly right, don't be surprised when you find yourself getting killed. One early puzzle, for instance, needed me to ring a bell to call over some savages, but climb up a ladder quickly before they got over there – I ring the bell, click on the ladder, but it doesn't register the click and the next thing I know I'm starting the whole level over again because the savages got to me. I did everything right in that scenario, it's just that the game failed to properly work.

Along the way you'll often find animals scattered about the levels, which you can transform into working objects by shaking your remote, triggering Wiki to turn into a bell. You can make snakes long reaching wrenches, frogs bombs, warthogs hammers, and so on and so on. You'll most always need to use these items, as usually there is only one way to complete a level, and if an animal is lurking around chances are good that you'll be using it, so might as well shake that remote at it.

Puzzles in Zack and Wiki, which are the core of the game, range from really simple puzzles to ones that could have you stumped for 15 – 30 minutes or even more. It would've been nice if Zack and Wiki had a more gradual curve in terms of difficulty, but instead you'll be breezing through with no worries, and then suddenly you run into a brick wall and are stuck with no clue what to do or what comes next. You might have an inkling of how a puzzle will be solved or what comes next, but unless you perform the actions in the exact manner in which they need to be done you'll never beat that particular level.

The puzzles are also tied into the Wii remote with many of them requiring you to perform actions to mimic motions needed to interact with something. You'll use the Wii remote and motion to pull and drag objects, to turn them over, to throw them, to crank them, and you'll use the remote to perform actions like chopping, hammering, and turning keys just to name a few of them. It's smart the way in which you use the remote to mimic motions, but after a while the idea becomes a bit too gimmicky and the moves don't always want to react according to your actions, much like how Zack won't always run to where you want or interact with the objects when you want him to.

The game is supposed to include a multiplayer component, but in our eyes, giving another player the option of pointing to something on a screen isn't really that much of a multiplayer component. Heck, I could run to the television screen and point with my own finger at something during the days of the NES and it would still be just as much of a component as it is in Zack and Wiki.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are a little on the kiddy side, featuring little kids and cute fluffy bunny pirates. However, despite the kiddy appearance, it's still a really good looking game with plenty of well-designed characters, nicely detailed environments, and plenty of bright colors popping off the screen to really bring this cartoon styled world to life. It's not the best looking game on the Wii, but its style helps overcome most of that problem easily.

SOUND
We've already said that there is no voicework other than a bunch of grunts and grumbles and other audible noises, but they still sound good, and the noises even manage to evoke some emotion at times. Meanwhile, the music is really well-done and the sound effects such as Wiki in bell form ringing loud and clear sound great.

IN CONCLUSION
Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure was a game we really wanted to like, but there was too many things about the gameplay that was either unresponsive or too gimmicky. The game also has a bit of an identity crisis, as it looks like it's a kid's game first and foremost, but with how difficult many of the game's puzzles are, we find it hard to believe many children will get through them at all. If you can learn to look past its faults though, you may still find a game to enjoy.

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