The Quixotic Engineer

Title: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure
Platform: Wii
Played for: ~2.5 hours, 4-5 stages cleared
Would play again?: Yes

Zack and Wiki is considered to be one of the Wii’s hidden gems, tremendously innovative but outsold 3:1 by the uninspired Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Perhaps comparing a new IP with a hit series isn’t fair; Z&W certainly did well enough to likely warrant a sequel. That being said, it’s a shame that more people aren’t playing this brilliant puzzle game, which features very creative Wiimote implementation.

The A button alone is used to move around and examine objects. However, to interact with these objects, players must imitate the movement they wish to perform. From turning a crank to chopping down a tree, if you want to do it in game you have to mimic it in real life. These actions aren’t treated like mini-games either, there’s no on-screen pop up telling you what to do. It’s up to you to figure out which motion is appropriate for the situation. It’s a simple formula that’s surprisingly deep.

That’s not to say that the game is without flaws. Wiki, Zack’s flying monkey friend, has one of the most annoyingly high-pitched video game voices since the days of Navi and Slippy. I could easily have done without him squealing “ZACKU!” at the beginning of each level. Movement is also annoying at times. To move Zack around you have to point at a patch of ground and press A, but this becomes difficult on multi-level stages where the camera angle makes the ground hard to see. Fortunately this is a puzzle title and speedy movement is rarely required, but this would be unforgivable in a more action-oriented game.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Zack & Wiki to anyone. Despite its childish appearance, I’m told that the later puzzles become very challenging. Also, the main storyline clocks in at about 10-15 hours, which sounds like a game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Title: Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
Platform: Playstation 2
Played for: ~5 hours
Would play again?: Yes

Outside of the new Mario games, I can’t say I’m a big fan of 3D platformers. The SNES kid in me still has a soft spot for 2D games, but the extra dimension brings in all sorts of camera and perspective problems that can make a simple jump into a complicated ordeal. I therefore never bothered to check out two popular and highly rated series for the PS2, Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank and Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter.

The former series has been getting a lot of critical praise lately for its PS3 release Tools of Destruction, with some calling it the best game on the console thus far. When my friend Tim recently began selling off some of his old games to finance a trip to Australia, I thought I’d pick up a cheap game help him out by taking Going Commando off his hands.

I can sum up the Ratchet & Clank experience in three words: pure unadulterated fun. A platformer/shooter hybrid, it seems to be all about big guns, destructible cartoon environments and Saturday morning-style humour. The five hours or so that I spent with this game just flew by, I was having a blast. It’s the adventure of Beyond Good & Evil, the platforming of Psychonauts and the humour of Timesplitters all rolled into one.

My favorite aspect of the game is that the penalty for dying is minimal. You return to your last continue point with your EXP and bolts (money) intact, effectively making you stronger every time you die. The continue points are a tad spaced out, but that’s ok because you feel that you’re continually advancing even if you get stuck. It’s as if the designers intended to excise everything that wasn’t fun from the game, losing your progress when you die included.

While there are definitely low points to the game (the spaceship levels, repetitiveness, shallowness), all of this pales in comparison to how much fun you’ll have overall. While Going Commando doesn’t tax your brain or your gaming skills, it provides hours of destructive amusement and that’s alright by me.

Unfortunately, today marks the end of my reading week and therefore the end of my journey. I’ll have to save Hotel Dusk and Beneath a Steel Sky for another time. I hope you all enjoyed my little experiment, and thank you for the comments and suggestions.