Adv: Wik & the Fable of Souls [by Reflexive Entertainment]

Game Review: Wik & the Fable of Souls
Release: September 2004
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Reflexive Entertainment
System Requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, 128MB RAM, Pentium 733 MHz, TNT2 Video card or better, OpenGL drivers installed
Players: 1
Price: $19.95
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Somewhere in-between Troll dolls and Gollum is a little creature known as Wik. Who knows maybe Wik is a love child of an unknown love story between the two. What I can tell you is that that Wik is definitely one of the cooler games to come along in quite awhile.

In fact my love of the game may seem surprising to some. I've shared my frustrations with previous Reflexive games, including what in my mind is the much over-rated Ricochet series. Upon first looking at the game play video that was released prior to the Wik demo becoming available I was struck by two things. First off, as most everyone would agree, the graphics are spectacular in this game. There are lots of great plasma effects that blend well with the beautifully drawn backgrounds. The other thing that struck me from the beginning was how difficult the game looked like it would be to play. When the demo was first released, I noted on DIYgames that the game was every bit as difficult to play as it looked like it would be. Combining my initial analysis of the game being difficult to play and my previous stated disappointments with Reflexive, my extreme love of this game is perhaps a surprising.

However, for those who have played this game extensively I don't think there should be any surprise as to how strongly positive I am in regards to Wik. In fact the only failing that I see in the game is that most people will likely not come to appreciate how good this game is from playing the demo. The reason for this comes the aforementioned game play issues.

I refer to them as issues only because it does take awhile to get Wik under control. In addition to his previously mentioned mixed heritage, Wik might just have a little bit of frog in him. He has a very long tongue that is used heavily in his movement much like Spiderman uses his webs. Wik can extend his long tongue, attach it to a branch or rock, and then jump into swinging action. Typically you will find yourself swinging from one side of the screen to the other, up and down and in all sorts of loops as you play. As mentioned, getting the hand of this isn't easy and those who quit early are missing out on how much fun it is to move around the board with Wik as you come to grips with moving him. There have been references to Bionic Commando in regards to controlling Wik, and there is a fair amount of similarities between the two, though honestly moving Wik entirely with the mouse is much easier than using a joystick with Bionic Commando ever was.

In addition to using the mouse to swing, you use the right button on the mouse to jump. Wik never walks anywhere he goes, perhaps due to that frog piece of his character. Instead he jumps from spot to spot in addition tot he aforementioned tongue-swinging. Much like movement is done with the tongue, you control where you are jumping by moving the cursor with the mouse to about the direction you want Wik to move in and then you press the button. Wik has a great ability to land on ledges and branches that you might not expect you would be able to be on, and this is a nice feature as it helps make up for some of the mistakes that you make while playing.

Beyond moving Wik the game is easy to play. Each level requires that you send grubs towards your mule. You need to get a certain number of the grubs on each board to the mule before the mule leaves the board. Thankfully you can slow the mule down by placing honey in its path. If you just said what the? then you are definitely on the right track in so far as trying to understand the story behind the game play. Frankly the play in the game seems a little bit odd. In fact if it wasn't so much fun I would probably complain about.

The grubs on each level are targeted by all number of bugs who fly onto the screen and attempt to abduct them. You fight back by knocking the bugs out of the air with rocks, acorns, and other bugs. This aspect of the game adds an interesting challenge of targeting and shooting down flying bugs while also moving about the board. It may sound like a simple challenge, but it isn't. Wik definitely keeps you on your toes enough that there aren't many seconds of rest, and no moments of boredom.

Wik provides a couple types of game play. There are normal story levels that provide very strange poetry verses to advance the story. These levels, and there are plenty to keep you busy for a long time, are about getting everything done within a specific time. The other set of levels in the game are the 'challenge' levels. These levels are a fun set of levels that require all of your acrobatic skill to complete the level within the time given and then provide the challenge of going back and trying to beat your speed record while playing against your ghost.  I personally thought that they were even a little more fun than the story mode as the game is at its best when you are swinging around.

Overall I have to say that if you haven't tried Wik you need to. If you tried it and didn't play it long enough to get a good grasp of how to control the character, then you need to go back and play some more. Swinging back and forth across the screen with Wik while catching bugs and grubs plays almost like an art form, and I'm confident that anyone can get the hang of it, and once you do you'll be thoroughly thrilled with how good this game is.

Graphics: 10
I've already mentioned the beauty of the graphics, and watching Wik do rotations with blur is just pretty to see. I don't think that much more could have been done to make this game look great, though there have been some complaints that it should have scrolling backgrounds. I can see that, but with how good the game looks it is hard to dock the score any as the graphics are nearly perfect.

Sound: 9
I really like the intro music to the game, it reminds me very much of the great intro music to Alien Shooter. In game the music seems to take a different sound and for whatever reason it reminds me of the music that they play at most aquariums. With that as a point of reference I had trouble making the level music always match-up to the game play, though the sound is top notch.

Game Play 7
The low score here is because the game definitely takes a bit of learning to play. Once you have the game play down the game suddenly goes from being difficult to being very enjoyable and rewarding. I don't know how the game could have been made so that beginners could have picked up how to play sooner, though I found that trying out the challenge mode helped me tremendously in my attempts at understanding how to control Wik.

Concept: 10
Despite what some might be considered a 'borrowed' concept from Spiderman and Pitfall on the old Atari 2600, Wik plays quite different from those games, and any other game I've played. The additions of a rich story through Poetry and the layout of the game are all big scores here.

Value: 10
For the $19.95 that the developers are allowing you to steal this game for, you get many hours of game time and one of the most enjoyable to play games I've played this year. Honestly at that price you should be running out to buy this, but of course it's only available online, so getting yourself to the closest virtual store selling Wik is probably more appropriate.  If you needed any more prodding there is also a level editor available for those who care to take a swing at making their own levels.

Fun: 10
The first time I played Wik it didn't do all that much for me. Then after I played it more, I started craving it like a drug. For whatever reason Wik is just a blast to play combining in my mind a perfect difficulty and challenge into a game that is makes you feel cooler the more you play it.

Overall: 10
Not sure what to add here more than has already been written. Wik is one of the cooler characters to come around in awhile and definitely fits in with Gish as one of the best games that has come out this year. The only negative here is that some people may miss out on all the greatness due to the initial difficulty in learning how to control the character. I strongly recommend this game!Added: October 1st 2004
Reviewer: Russell Carroll
Score:
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