Over the weekend, at my niece’s and nephew’s first birthday party, I was chatting with my friend Kevin, one half of Math the Band, and he tipped me off to a game he absolutely loved, and I was surprised to learn it was for the…Nintendo Wii. Usually, that sort of thing doesn’t happen. The game turned out to be called Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, and it’s a point-and-click adventure driven by the desire for super booty. Hmm…that sounds a little familiar. And yeah, I know, both touch upon monkeys as well.
So, the very next day, I was out and about at the mall, trying to ignore what day it actually was, and I found Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure for $9.00. I decided to play pirate and be daring and give it a whirl, even though buying Wii games still feels a little shameful these days. Anyways, once home, I checked over at The First Hour to see if this was something I could do some early minutes coverage of, but it seemed like Greg Noe already took care of the game: first hour review and full hour review. I was a little bummed to see he had not fallen in love with the title as much as Kevin seemed, but I popped it into the Wii anyways and played for about 30 minutes.
It’s not bad. The music is nice, but the sound effects that Zack and Wiki make after every single sentence is maddening, and I’m going to have to either play with the game on lower volume or straight up mute that option. I died twice, which is always a rare yet refreshing thing in point-and-click games. I love all the colors and cartoony item design and zany characters, as well as the amount of shiz there is to collect. Not sure how much I’m gonna enjoy waggling the Wiimote for each level, but 30 minutes didn’t drain me. Right. I’m pretty cautious, as it seems this game is the case of “love it” or “hate it” and maybe I don’t ever want to get to that place where I have to stand my ground. We’ll see how it goes, or if I ever even remember to play it again. That happens a lot with Wii games for me…
In a span of three days, I purchased two pirate-themed games. That’s pretty amazing. Don’t bother arrrrguing the point either or ye be walking the plank before the sun sets.
Grinding Down 