Zero Punctuation spares Zack & Wiki

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 26th 2008 at 6:30PM }

Zack & Wiki is the target of this week's Zero Punctuation review and thankfully the game comes out relatively unscathed. Sure, there are remarks about the Wii being for children, the annoying noises the characters make and the gimmicky use of the Wiimote -- but, really, how many Wii games don't conjure up those ideas?*

The main thing Yahtzee points out is Zack & Wiki delivers on that smug feeling adventure gamers get when they figure out a puzzle without using GameFAQs, which is essentially what will keep players going ... even when they invariably die over and over again for poking something they shouldn't have.

Discover this week's NSFW review of Zack & Wiki using your Wiimote in a counter-clockwise motion while upside down to click on the link below.

*Fanboys: Feel free to leave your list in the comments ... we know you will.

Tags: capcom, escapist, yahtzee, zack-and-wiki, zackandwiki, zero-punctuation, zeropunctuation

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dracula Jones @ Mar 26th 2008 6:39PM

For the most part, I agree. I'm a huge old school P&C adventure gamer and Z&W felt pretty weak in comparison to old classics. Even Willy Beamish had better gameplay.

Not saying Z&W is a bad game, I had fun with it... I just thought it got a lot more love than it deserved because the landscape is otherwise relatively desolate.

AlphaOmegaSin @ Mar 26th 2008 6:44PM

A sandpaper condom, thats definitely gonna be on my shopping list. i have to say i actually enjoyed the game a great deal, cause its a step in the right directions for the system rather than overload it with bullshit for the whole family to enjoy IE half assed carnival games/ninja reflex/ whatever game didnt get enough exposure last generation port bullshit.

Fernando Rocker @ Mar 26th 2008 6:51PM

Yes... I agree with you... this game is not for the casual crowd.

I doubt a kid or a soccer mom can finish this game without help.

Capcom really is putting time and effort to make quality Wii titles.

el serpiente @ Mar 27th 2008 3:19AM

You mean, it does other things than bowling? COOL!

Fernando Rocker @ Mar 26th 2008 6:50PM

I love Zack & Wiki...

My only complain is the Wiki voice. But everything else is very good, even the motion controls works very well.

One thing I love about the game is, once you finish the game, you can go back and do special things to get secret treasures. There are tons of unlockables.

I just find Megaman and Bionic Commando. =p

Just one thing... I had to read a hint for the ice boss puzzle =(

I think a sequel would be amazing... this game proves that click advetures works pretty well with the Wii IR Pointer... lets see what Sam & Max developers can do with their next WiiWare title.

Cesaria @ Mar 26th 2008 10:10PM

Off topic, but I finally got some wifi at my place. I'm getting my Wii back from my gf ( i know, hot!) tomorrow, so we'll have to get our Brawl on.

GaryM @ Mar 26th 2008 7:02PM

Incoming circle jerk spotted.

The Artist formally known as Jesus @ Mar 26th 2008 11:25PM

*jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk* *jerk*

done

Cesaria @ Mar 26th 2008 7:10PM

I had a great time with this game. I believe it got the praise it did is to open the doors to other ideas and let developers know that these kind of games sell on the Wii. It's also a great game.

playwhutyalike (finally bought Halo 3) @ Mar 26th 2008 7:38PM

Agreed. A wonderfully developed game, not shit-tossed together, at a descent price point, and it is one of the few games I've played where I made it a point not to check out walkthroughs on the net. If I were to do that I wouldn't get a puzzle game.

freelance @ Mar 26th 2008 11:51PM

"Very much aware of the hypocrisy thank you"
Love it

Mr.ESC @ Mar 26th 2008 7:28PM

I would like to say something about it but I never played that game and my Wii is broken :(

Well it was funny but it wasn’t hilarious.

Mr Khan @ Mar 26th 2008 7:36PM

Again; lol at "Amiga Gaming Wasteland" (you see it in the corner of the PC Gaming Plains)

Neebs @ Mar 26th 2008 8:07PM

If you don't understand the "I'm aware of the hypocrisy" comment at the end, it's because you can die in 5 Days a Stranger, his game.

emagius @ Mar 26th 2008 8:55PM

Oh. I thought it was the annoying voice thing. ;)

Neebs @ Mar 26th 2008 9:01PM

And I know he's got other games but to be honest Trilby's Notes scared the crap out of me and I can't do it.

TomCo @ Mar 26th 2008 10:00PM

Same, it scared me in the same way Silent Hill once did.
I think I might give it a go again, its 2am and on my own though.

♠♠♦♠♦♠♦♦♦♦♦♦♠♠♠♠, weird, my mouse buttons make those symbols.

playwhutyalike (finally bought Halo 3) @ Mar 26th 2008 10:13PM

♠♠♦♠♦♠♦♦♦♦♦♦♠♠♠♠, Holy shit, mine too!

Nah, copy and paste. Awwwwww....

Thierry @ Mar 26th 2008 8:48PM

I love this guy's review, I hope he keeps making them for a while, being different than others is good.

vidGuy @ Mar 26th 2008 10:39PM

Z&W deserved the attention and rating it got. And dude, you don't have to restart a level if you buy the right ticket, not just the useless hints.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 26th 2008 11:24PM

Sigh. It's getting old Yahtzee, it's getting old.

Also I'm surprised at how little comments there are in this thread. Usually there's about 5 pgs of gamers sucking this guy's dick.

Penguin Warlord @ Mar 26th 2008 11:35PM

Well it hasn't been as much fun since he started using a sandpaper condom.

helios_eclipsed @ Mar 27th 2008 2:00AM

Know what's getting old? People saying "Yahtzee's getting old."

No, he's not new anymore. If you only liked him because he was "the new thing," or because he dug into games you didn't like, I imagine you're probably tired of him after so many months.

If, however, you liked him because he uses wit, intelligence, and a truck full of sarcasm to review games, and maybe even think he's onto something for complaining about how games can be stupid in ways that a lot of people take for granted and don't call them down for... then you're in luck, because he's still doing it.

I'm sure not complaining.

SugarDaddy @ Mar 27th 2008 9:12AM

Maybe you're the one getting old. I could care less about which game he's reviewing. The dude is freakin hilarious every time.

"Like having his ears raped by someone wearing a sandpaper condom." C'mon, that shit is brilliant!

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Mar 27th 2008 12:04AM

Zaku!

I don't mink Wiki's voice. I do mind that he freakin' floats around while I have to crawl on rails on the outside of an airship thousands of feet in the air.

Oh, and he keeps licking his lips...

Shattercross @ Mar 27th 2008 12:15AM

You'd masturbate on to a man? Just for that?

nodmonkey @ Mar 27th 2008 1:14AM

"Zach" & Wiki??

Alcevious @ Mar 27th 2008 2:17AM

All this did was make me want to play Grim Fandango.

Pralaya @ Mar 27th 2008 3:49AM

ahah!
he makes me smile!
and he got the point

is there a wiki for zack out there?
if not we have to run one soon
ehm

RobLink (McElroy Defence Force) @ Mar 27th 2008 5:04AM

Does he have confirmation that Rock Band is coming in May? Aussie games and Euro games usually come out at similar times, right?

*sets alarm for 'May'*

SugarDaddy @ Mar 27th 2008 9:13AM

What in the name of shit are you talking about?

RobLink (McElroy Defence Force) @ Mar 28th 2008 11:27PM

Right at the end, he says that Rock Band is coming out in May. In the credits. How does he know that? Inside contacts? Hmm?

Patrick @ Mar 27th 2008 10:33AM

I picked this up last week. The gameplay is pretty fun, although I agree it's probably not the best possible implementation of an adventure game on the Wii; but it does show tons of potential.

I guess the hardest thing to get over is that although I like the gameplay style, the art and story are obviously geared more towards Japanese tastes, from the voices ("Zaku!") to the generic character names ("Johnny Style"?), to the wacky animations, and other bizarre quirks (the flying monkey turns into a magic bell that transforms animals and collects coins? Sure, whatever). It makes it a little harder to get into the story when there's nothing culturally relevant to you in the game.

ZeroCorpse @ Mar 27th 2008 4:22PM

What I find positively annoying about games is that if a game is extremely Japanese, then the Japanophiles in the west (that means roughly 75% of gamers) think it's "genius" and "cool" and "quirky."

However, if a game hits Japan with any sort of western style to it, the Japanese all shy away from it and behave as if it's an ugly American cousin whom they'd rather not be seen with in public.

So
Japanese in the west = Quirky fun!
Western in Japan = Ick. Get it away!

Personally, I hate just about everything about the Japanese style of gaming, comics, and animation. They're all so homogenous, it's hard to see where one title ends and the next begins.

Far be it from the Japanese to play something that they haven't already been playing for two decades or more. . .