Wik & The Fable of Souls Review (no fat)

Game Description

Wik: The Fable of Souls is another unique game in the Xbox 360’s first lineup of titles. Wik is available via Xbox Live, and a demo version can also be downloaded for a quick overview of the game. With its plethora of funny ideas and the inclusion of a queer and almost ridiculous story, Wik stands out as one of those bizarre games that nevertheless get addictive once you are familiar with its concepts.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Story

As far as story goes, Wik: The Fable of Souls obviously never takes itself very seriously. Wik is intent on discovering what happened to his parents, but you’ll never understand what grabbing grubs has to do with unveiling the truth. Each level greets you with a few witty, ye rhyming, sentences that highlight your next objective. These exuberant and almost incoherent summaries will no doubt make you laugh, and constitute yet another factor of the game’s sheer uniqueness.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Gameplay

Wik’s main innovation is how the game itself is played, as it gets rid of a lot of conventions and instead imposes its own strange ideas. You control Wik, whose resemblance with a frog is mind-boggling, and who actually behaves like one. You can thus only jump from place to place by using your tongue, and cannot casually walk around. After all, frogs have never been known for their walking prowess. Instead, slash out your tongue to have it stick to something, and swing in the direction you want. Like any normal frog, you will also use your tongue to grab stuff until you eventually spit it out.

The game’s objective is deceptively simple. As Wik, your task is to get as many grubs as possible. You don’t get to swallow them though. Instead, once you’ve got one of those repulsive insects in your mouth, you need to spit them back to a weird-looking creature that endlessly crawls at the bottom of the screen. You are actually feeding your buddy, Slotham, who can only stay on the ground. A level ends when Slotham completes his crawl form one end of the screen to another. So to slow him down you can spit honey in his path, since Slotham is very fond of honey, he will stop to lick it. Everybody has his price, even in Wik’s world.

That’s not all there is to your adventure, since Wik also throws several ideas in to make the game more challenging. For starters, several platforms do their utmost best to impede your movement. That’s still not all. The grubs are merely a tiny fraction of the forests over which the game spans. All kinds of other poisonous insects continually approach you, and make a complete nuisance of themselves. Add other breeds of tougher insects who won’t go down so easily, and Wik’s challenge is suddenly increased to make it a difficult game. Thankfully, the learning curve is perfect, and the game is never actually irritating.

Wik is a platformer at heart, and consequently offers items you can collect while carrying out your objective. Coins and gems can be collected on each level in addition to other more useful items such as bombs that will dispose of all those pesky insects at once. These items make the game more interesting, as it’s no longer just a matter of grabbing the grubs without taking other more strategic aspects into consideration.

This unique game also boasts an incredible amount of missions, more than 120, as well as other modes to further improve its replay value. While the lack of any Xbox Live mode in the game is puzzling, it nevertheless supports its own local multiplayer modes. The game’s fun factor and replay value are enhanced through those multiplayer modes, where you can pit against up to three of your friends.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Controls

Your ability to grasp Wik’s controls, and how much time you take to do so, will determine whether you will find the game enjoyable. The controls require you to be able to perform different tasks within a short time span, as this is the key to victory. You’ll need to handle grabbing the grubs and spitting them at Slotham, while swinging over platforms, without respite. This can cause the game to be mildly irritating at first, but once you get familiar with the controls’ intricacies, the game quickly becomes addictive and you will be able to pull off some cool acrobatic moves which barely require you to touch down.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Visuals

The forests are almost spectacular in their design, with towering trees and an astonishing level of realism. The choice of colors in particular is very impressive, as the backgrounds almost look lively. The insects, as well as Wik and Slotham, are equally superbly animated, and constitute fine characters in this ultimately bizarre game.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Sound

It’s rather strange and innovative to experience techno music in a platformer, but this eventually grows on you and gives the game a charming feeling. Sound effects are sparse, but are generally decent.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Overall

Wik is a unique experience, and addictive once you get used to it. It may be frustrating at first, but once you get used to the controls, the game’s a blast.

Wik: The Fable of Souls Cost

The full version of Wik is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points, or roughly $10.