I don't know about you, but I spent far too much of my youth playing platform games of various sorts. I even managed to hurt my fingers more than once by spending too long mashing buttons. The general idea of running around collecting coins or other sparkly objects has been pretty much burnt into my brain.
Now, that's not to say that Wik & the Fable of Souls is a platform game - far from it. But, there are similarities. Like most platform games, Wik is a 2D action game with an emphasis on collecting items. What makes Wik different is the player character's abilities, and how those abilities are controlled by the player.
Wik can't run - in fact, he can't even walk. What he can do is jump both long and short distances with good accuracy… and when jumping isn't enough, he can attach the sticky end of his long, frog-like tongue to a convenient bit of scenery and swing from it. The controls are simple and easy to learn: a right-click will cause Wik to jump as close as he can to the mouse cursor, whilst a left-click will shoot his tongue towards the cursor. If his tongue connects with a solid object, it'll attach.
The key point here is flexibility. Your control of Wik isn't limited to one of two movement speeds and a set jump height - if Wik is in range of a location, he can jump directly there. Mastering the controls will allow Wik to perform some stunning acrobatic feats - but that takes a little bit more practice that just getting around.
In each level, Wik's primary goal is simple: he must collect a specified number of grubs, and deliver them to his mule, Slotham. Wik is able to pick objects up with his prehensile tongue, and spit them out again with a fair degree of accuracy. This is again controlled via the left mouse button: click on a grub, and Wik's tongue will shoot towards it. If the grub is close enough, Wik will bring it back, and hold it in his mouth. Another click will send the grub flying in the direction of the cursor.
Wik has secondary goals, too: collecting coins will allow him to gain extra lives, and collecting gems has significance to the storyline. But, collecting grubs is Wik's primary objective.
Wik faces enemies, of course. They come in the form of various insects and arachnids. The first of these you meet will attempt to carry the grubs away, preventing Wik from meeting the level goals. All is not lost, though: Wik's tongue can snatch a grub from the air as well as it can snatch them from the ground. It can also pick up acorns to use as projectiles against the departing pests. It's even more fun to use the bugs against themselves - Wik can pluck a hapless bug from the air, and then fire it at those still flying. This is something of an ignoble end for the insect in question - to be used as ammunition against its comrades - but a most satisfying outcome for Wik.
Wik is even able to collect large numbers of bugs at once, by attaching the tip of his tongue to a convenient rock or branch and allowing the insects to fly into the length of the tongue. Once collected, they can be shot as a group at a swarm still airborne, giving the effect of an insect-loaded shotgun.
These aren't the only creatures Wik faces, of course. Some of the others are fatal when touched, whilst some others require that their poison be ingested to claim Wik's life. The Firebugs are a particularly useful species: think of them as flying hand-grenades. They're especially helpful against the poisonous critters inhabiting the world. Some are particularly annoying due to their speed, allowing them to make off with a grub before Wik has a chance to react, whilst others are slow enough to be used as a collection service for grubs you're unable to reach yourself.
There's a mix of power-ups too, including one which freezes everything in the world level apart from Wik (and the spawning of fresh grubs), and another which kills every insect on the level. These are a great boon when things get hectic - which they do frequently. Wik also faces a time limit, in the form of his wandering mule - should he depart without Wik, the player forfeits a life.
These elements combine to give a fast-paced core game that's great fun to play. There's also a well-crafted storyline linking the levels together, but it doesn't get in the way of those simply playing for the gameplay itself.
Simply controlling Wik is a blast, once you've mastered the basics. With his tongue and a little practice, he's capable of some amazing feats. With this in mind, the game also offers a Challenge Mode, in addition to the Story Mode described above. Here, the goal is to collect all the grubs in the fastest possible time. It's more of a puzzle game, as planning and timing are even more important than in Story Mode.
Once you've passed a level in Challenge Mode - or if you fail it three times - you're given the option to view a demonstration of the fastest completion of that level. Initially, these are all credited to Reflexive, the developers… presumably, should you manage to beat their time, a recording of your successful attempt will replace the Reflexive demonstration. However, I'm not quite competent enough to find out!
Once you've passed a level in Challenge Mode, you're also given the option to try again with the demonstration running at the same time. It can be a little difficult distinguishing between the "live" grubs and the grubs in the demonstration, but it's a good help for improving your time.
Graphically, Wik is very pretty. The art is detailed and consistent, and the animations are very impressive too - not that you'll have much time to notice them, considering the frantic pace of the gameplay. It may not be 3D, but Wik is still a treat for the eyes. The sound effects and music are similarly well-produced, and so far, neither have annoyed me with repetitiveness - a common complaint with in-game music.
One thing that Wik does demand is a high level of mouse accuracy, but I doubt this will be a problem for most gamers. My mouse happens to be in the process of failing, and I've discovered that there's little more frustrating than watching Slotham wander off the side of the screen when I'm holding the final grub, unable to fire
At the end of the day, I've found Wik to be a blast to play. The gameplay is refreshingly different, and the levels varied enough to keep my interest high - which is a very good thing, as I'm far from mastering the game. Personally I'm going to be hanging on to this game for quite some time - after replacing my mouse, of course.
As I'm currently living off a student budget, my recent purchases tend to be from the various budget ranges of older titles: I'm more likely to be found playing Quake II or the original Unreal Tournament than Thief III or FarCry. I'll probably make an exception for Doom 3, though. (For the record, I did try Doom 3, and wasn't very impressed. Thief III has made it to the budget range here in the UK, and one day I'll play it. Perhaps after I've updated this profile properly...)
I enjoy online games, but I prefer the persistent world offered by the MMORPGs to the competitive environment of the CounterStrike servers. I've a feeling too many years of leisurely RPG playing have ruined my shooter reflexes; needless to say, I tend to end up on the tail end of the scoreboards in online FPS games. That said, I enjoy the competitiveness of multiplayer gaming, but prefer the face-to-face encounters of LAN gaming to the anonymity of the public servers.
