Project Treasure Island Z Hands-on
One part Wind Waker and one part Monkey Island, Capcom's new pirate game is just as stylistic as it is challenging.
April 13, 2007 - At its Gamers Day 2007 event in San Francisco, Capcom debuted the first playable version of its quirky, stylized puzzle game, tentatively titled Project Treasure Island Z. We can tell you for certain that eventually the offering will be given a new name, but for now that's the official moniker. Treasure Island Z's producer, Hironobu Takeshita calls the endeavor a "sort of puzzle-adventure game in which you use the Wii controller to solve many different puzzles," and adds, "Wii is a very innovative piece of hardware. What this game represents for us is that we've tried to think through the best and most interesting way to be as innovative with the controls as Nintendo has with the hardware."
Some snobby Wii elite wrote this title off as shovelware from the moment Capcom released the first screenshots of it -- it employs a cel-shaded technique very similar to The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (and just as beautiful, based on some of the gameplay scenes we've witness in motion). We, on the other hand, were always intrigued by the style and hoped that there would be solid content, controls and challenge to match. There is. With this game, Capcom has created a title that harkens back to the beloved adventures of old and frankly, having gone through a four-level demo during its presentation, we concluded that it was one of the best efforts at the event.
You play as Zack, who aspires to become the greatest pirate who ever lived. The character is flying through the sky in his ship when it is shot down, leaving him to land -- float down, really -- to an island below, where he discovers hidden treasure and the prospect of helping a cursed pirate. The game is comprised of seven major theme worlds and more than 20 sub-areas to explore and you will over the course of the adventure make your way through jungle ruins, ice temples, airships, ancient castles and more. There are also, incidentally, more than 35 enemies to encounter, 80 objects that can be manipulated in some fashion and 500 items to search for and collect. Capcom is promising upward of 40 hours of gameplay, which surprised us in a big way. The locales are vibrant and remarkably pretty -- the simple cel-shaded graphics may not be the ideal solution for gamers who seek gritty, realistic affairs, but nevertheless Treasure Island effortlessly ranks as one of the most striking titles on Wii.
Treasure Island is a puzzle game and many of the puzzles are centered on devising ways to use the Wii remote. "First and foremost, you only use the Wii remote, but you will use it in a variety of different ways. Probably in more ways than you will in any other game. You need to figure out how to use the controller to solve the puzzles," says Takeshita. "Figuring out how to use the controller is the most important part of the game." Using the Wii remote in different manners is integral to the puzzles, but controlling Zack through the well-presented world is as simple as pointing to an area you want him to walk toward and tapping the A button. If you ever played Monkey Island or King's Quest, it is more or less the same thing here. The lack of direct control may annoy some, but -- perhaps because we grew up playing the classic adventure titles -- we're perfectly accepting of it. When Zack is able to interact with an object, your on-screen reticule changes colors to let you know. And meanwhile, you can hold down the B trigger at any point to look around the world -- if something is hidden out of view, you'll be abel to interact with it by pressing the A button even while you're in look mode.
The game's cel-shaded presentation betrays its true nature. Treasure Island Z will challenge you and, if the levels we played at Capcom's event are any indication, it will stump you, too. Zack plays through puzzle stages, each filled with booby traps and secrets, useable items and death-bringing foes. The goal for each stage is to find and obtain a treasure chest located within and the difficulty varies between puzzles, but even the earliest areas had some players perplexed. We don't view this is a drawback, but a plus -- genuine gameplay hurdles are a rare commodity in today's industry and we're pleased to see a game that doesn't make any excuses for being hard. It is also mean. If you mess up at any point during a puzzle, Zack will die and you will have to restart the challenge from scratch. Some of the challenges lasted between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the player. Amazingly -- and this truly takes a lot of nerve -- a company representative said one particular puzzle in the game can take as long as two hours to complete. How would you like to die at the end of that one and have to restart the entire process? The game ranks you on time and whether or not you asked for a hint and compiles and end score based on both. Theoretically, there's a lot of replay value to be had for gamers who want the best score.
As Zack encounters items or obstacles, you will have to figure out what needs to be done to advance. In some cases, it's as simple as opening a doorway with a key and in others you will have to rearrange a level to create an Indiana Jones-style environmental domino effect to continue forward. Regardless of the task, the game doesn't hold your hand and so you'll really have to think about some of the hurdles in order to make it past them. The functionality of the Wii remote is tied directly to these puzzles and Capcom has created a variety of scenarios that have you using the device in different ways. In some cases, you will have to push the controller forward and make a turning motion in order to open a doorway. In others, you will have to make a sawing motion to cut through a tree. In more still, you might have to hold the Wii remote like a flute and tap its buttons as though they were keyholes. There's a cranking motion too. You'll also make a gesture for scooping up water. There are dozens more. Basically, you have to imagine the Wii remote as the item and then you have to figure out how the item might be used in certain situations.
Accompanying you on your adventures is Wiki, Zack's truster partner -- a cute, hovering golden monkey with inexplainable magic powers. If you shake the Wii remote, Wiki will bring out a bell and ring it loudly, which stuns certain enemies like ghosts. Interestingly, though, shaking the Wii remote near specific foes will cause Wiki to transform them into useful items. A centipede early on is changed into the centi-saw when you shake the Wii remote. Zack eventually picks the saw up and uses it to cut down a tree, creating a bridge to an otherwise unreachable locale beyond.
Treasure Island Z is a single-player game, but Capcom believes that it can be enjoyed by multiple people at once. This proved to be true as we made our way through the four levels included in the demo, as passersby would stop on a regular basis to look over our shoulder and give advice. "Try looking up in the tree," and "I think you need to place the stone on that grate." Indeed, we might not have survived some of the challenges if not for the help of both friends and complete strangers.
In the last stage, which is creepy castle filled with moonlit stone walkways and skulls that turn into ghosts when they are not illuminated, we died several times before we finally figured it out and the end result was highly rewarding. Zack begins the four-tier level on the second floor, must make his way to the first to find a pulley system, turn its chamber to the right twice with the Wii remote, and then progress back up again to ride a mill that has changed directions because of his action. Once he's up there, there are the skulls and you must devise a way to get them away from a fountain so that you can gain its crescent moon item. Easier said than done. Nearly everybody who tried bit the dust, but we eventually figured it out and completed the first look at the game. This level in particular is gorgeous.
Project Treasure Island Z is scheduled to ship this fall on Wii for the price of $39.95. Based on what we've seen and played of the game so far, it is a refreshing effort that makes smart use of the Wii remote and looks superior graphically to most Wii projects. Capcom is officially three for three on Wii.
