The story and characters might not be your cup of tea but the challenging puzzles definitely make it worth playing.
THE GOOD
-Great puzzles
-Good music
-Awesome level design
THE BAD
-Weak story and characters
-Some hiccups with the motion control
OVERVIEW
Zack and Wiki is a fun little puzzle game that may look simple but don't be fooled by its looks because this game proves to be quite challenging at times. Your main characters Zack (a kid pirate) and Wiki (flying golden monkey) are on a quest to become the greatest pirates ever. To do this they need some help from some more experienced swashbucklers. So, our young heroes seek out a group of rag-tag pirates called The Sea Rabbits. On their way to The Sea Rabbits hide out, our heroes' airplane (flown by pilot Johnny Style) gets damaged by the antagonist of the story, Captain Rose. Captain Rose is in competition with Zack and the other Sea Rabbits over finding buried treasure so she does what she can to sabotage her opponents' efforts. After crash landing the plane, Zack and Wiki discover a golden, talking skull named Barbaros who asks them for help in finding the rest his body. At first Zack and Wiki are a little skeptical but then Barbaros sweetens the deal but offering to give Zack his own pirate ship and treasure. Being elated by the news, Zack and Wiki jump on the offer to help Barbaros and the three return to the Sea Rabbit's hideout to start their quest together. The story and characters are really weak in this game. Most of the time you'll end up skipping the conversations / story parts because they get rather boring really quick.
GAMEPLAY
Now don't let the terrible story keep you from playing this game because as a puzzler, its actually really fun. The controls are simple and intuitive to make it easy for anybody to play. In Zack and Wiki, you're just going to use the Wii Remote. Pointing the cursor and clicking the A button will move Zack around and interact with things in the environment. The game switches from third person view to first person view when you interact with items on the level. This game does a great job with the motion control with the exception of a few hiccups. As you interact with objects you'll have to perform various tasks like turning a key in a lock, returning projectiles with a tennis racket, or ringing a bell. This is all done with the intuitive motion sensors, in the remote, so you actually feel like you're performing the tasks for real.
Each level is accessed by the Sea Rabbit's hideout. Once in the level, you must navigate Zack and Wiki to the treasure chest goal. This may seem simple but in order to reach this goal you must perform challenging tasks in the correct order otherwise you'll doom our heroes and have to start over again. I will have to say that most of the puzzles provide a tough enough challenge that's rewarding in the end. This aspect of the game will most likely keep you coming back for more.
There are some extra things to do in the game to try and spice things up. Back at the hideout you'll have a chance to talk to other pirates and do other things. For instance, there is a treasure hunt mini game where you select a point on a map and hope for the best that it returns a glorious prize. There are some extra puzzle levels to explore but for the most part, the extra things to do in Zack and Wiki are only mediocre.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
The graphics are pretty good in this game. The beautiful visuals along with the incredible level design are a great plus.
The music is good but the voice work is grueling. The annoying grunts and moans from Zack not only will make your ears bleed but impede your concentration.
CONCLUSION
Zack and Wiki is good game to pick up for the Wii. Aside from the boring story and characters, this game has plenty of great puzzling fun. I would recommend this game to anybody who likes puzzle games. Also, you can't be the lower price tag.