WALL.E

It is amazing; each year there are more and more movie-license video games hitting the market. It is easy to understand why - people want to experience and recreate the same feelings they had while watching a two-hour movie. The main problem with movie-licensed games is that they suffer from a shorter development cycle then other games so they are usually “lacking” in some area. The latest movie to receive its own video game is the Pixar Movie: Wall.E. Unfortunately, like many other movie-licensed games, this game and the movie it is based off of do not match up in terms of quality.

The story for this game follows the plot of the movie. In the future Earth has been ravaged by pollution and trash; no thanks to a corporation called Buy n Large, which runs all businesses and governments. Earth has been so ravaged that the only hope is to go on a “five-year vacation” on large spaceships (one being the Axiom). During this time Earth is being cleaned up by robots called Waste Allocation Load Lifer Earth-Class or Wall.E. Seven hundred years have passed and only two things remain on Earth: one Wall.E unit and a cockroach. One day EVE or Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator lands on Earth and Wall.E’s world is turned up-side down. Will Wall.E follow his heart or his programming? That is up to the players to decide.

Wall.E is a basic platform game that players have seen many times. Players will go around collecting various items, solving simple puzzles, and other things. One thing that players will enjoy is that they have the ability to use two different characters (Wall.E and EVE) that have different objectives. Wall.E is able to move really well despite his blocky appearance. He will be able to take spare garbage lying around and form it into cubes to use as weapons and to solve various puzzles that are around him. Another interesting thing Wall.E does is to revert to cube form (he folds up into a cube just like in the movies) to avoid taking too much damage if he is rolling down a hill. It is a blast to watch it in action.

First Contact

On the other hand EVE controls are completely different; the first major difference being she can fly, since she has no legs. Also while gamers are controlling her they will be able to scan various objects, shoot a powerful laser weapon, and set off various devices that require electrical waves. Also both characters can team up together to reach players that neither of them can reach alone.

The controls for this game are very easy to use and for younger gamers to comprehend, which is great since there are two different control schemes, one for each character. The left stick will move Wall.E or EVE, while the right stick is used for camera control. The left bumper is used to view the game in first-person mode. The left trigger is for precision aiming mode. The right trigger is used to fire lasers. If players are using Wall.E the A button is for jumping, B button to create trash cubes, and the X button to thrown them. If players are in control of EVE the A button is used for accelerating, the B is for laser scanning, X to fire the laser, and Y for a power surge.

One of the major complaints players will have with this game is the lack of polish in virtually every area. One thing players will immediately notice is that they will reach weird bugs all throughout the game, such as the weird “invisible walls.” Many times players will be going along and hitting a wall for no apparent reason. Other times players can kill all the enemies by going into a room, exiting, and then coming back in. Another issue players will have is the camera. Many times players will have complete control, but at times there are certain sections where the camera is in a fixed position and it is hard to cross certain obstacles due to an intrusive angle.

Walking on sunshine...

If anyone sees the movie first then plays the game, they will be extremely disappointed. The graphics in this game are not even in the same league as the movie. The movie is in “the majors” while the game’s graphics would be considered “little league" - it is that large of a discrepancy. While it is understood that the game couldn’t be in the same league with the movie, the Xbox 360 has proven to churn out gorgeous-looking games; unfortunately Wall.E is not one of them. The graphics themselves are not horrible but it is the lack of polish that really kills. On the other hand the animations where done really well and reflect how Wall.E and EVE move and react with the environment.

The sound for this game follows the movie really well. Just like the movie there is not much voice acting, especially in the beginning, instead there are a lot of sound effects that work well with this game. The only problem is that unlike the movie it seems that the game doesn’t get to use all the sounds the movie has. Players will be forced to hear some of the same sounds a lot, which gets repetitive and annoying fast.

Wall.E is rated for everyone.

Gameplay: 6.1
Wall.E plays like any other 3-D platforming game released in recent years. The controls are tight and responsive. The only thing that keeps the score from being higher is a few bugs that players will run into throughout this game.

Graphics: 5.1
The graphics are very weak, especially if you compare them to the movie. The Xbox 360 is capable of much more than what this game provides.

Sound: 6.1
Like the movie, there is very little audio in this game, and unlike the movie the audio in this game gets repetitious and annoying quickly.

Difficulty: Easy
This game is very easy and definitely made for younger gamers.

Concept: 5.3
There is no real innovation here. The developers took portions of works in other games and complied a game that many people will like, but contains nothing original (other than the story).

Multiplayer: 7.0
Having the ability to play co-op with a friend, one being Wall.E and the other EVE is fun. Also there are several mini games that allow two to four players to complete against each other.

Overall: 6.3
Overall Wall.E is a decent movie-license game that fans of the movie (mostly children) will love. The main problem is that the developers really didn’t do anything to make this game stand out from other platform games and it isn’t “deep” enough to keep older gamers coming back. In the end this game ends up being for a younger gaming audience who are fans of the movie.