WALL.E

Wall-E, a Disney and Pixar film, stars the titled robot who has gained fame over the last two years from a marketing campaign that began in the summer of ’06 as a teaser trailer in front of the film Cars.  Now, already out in theatres nationwide, THQ is hoping to capitalize on the huge marketing spree with a release of the game on the PlayStation 2.

Focusing around puzzles and a few other variances for gameplay, Wall-E has translated well into a video game.  For the most part, Wall-E follows the plot of the movie as the people of Earth desert the world due to the exceeding amounts of trash pilling up.  Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) robots have been left behind on Earth to clean up the world so that one day humans can come back and live on the world they deserted.  After hundreds of years of cleaning up the waste on Earth, many of the Wall-E robots perish leaving only one remaining to carry out their task.  Lonely and bored of his monotonous task, Wall-E is surprised by the appearance of a spaceship that lands and deploys a robot named Eve who is sent to Earth to scan for life.  When Eve decides to depart after finishing her job, Wall-E decides to chase after her since he’s fallen in love with Eve.

In control of Wall-E for most of the game, players must solve puzzles and take on simple enemies.  Having the ability to transform into a box and then charge through objects in his way, Wall-E is able to take on the hard life of a hero with ease.  Having the ability to transform into a box is also beneficial as it’ll allow Wall-E to speed up and clear jumps for basic platforming maneuvers.  Wall-E must also collect energy charges that will help him pass through doorways that require a certain number of them to pass through.  Another weapon at Wall-E’s disposal is a laser which will help him cut through objects.

The puzzles that Wall-E encounters are set before him so that he has to solve them to advance to the next area.  Many of the puzzles are memory where it’ll ask the player to do his or her best to remember a pattern.  Another puzzle variance will ask Wall-E to shoot objects with his laser to have a door unlocked.  Overall though, the puzzles are aimed at children and are a piece of cake to solve.

Wall-E also has the capability to enter into first-person mode to target certain objects and scan the environment.  Scanning the environment is vital to find hidden artifacts left behind by the human race.  Finding these objects open up the chance to see Wall-E interact with the object and they’re often humorous to watch.

What is great to see with Wall-E on the PS2 is that it has over 20 stages to play through, which is over two times larger than on the next-gen consoles such as the Xbox 360.  With so many levels, the gameplay differs from each level to mix it up from time to time.  The only downfall is that the elements of the game aren’t complex enough to dig deep into and become enthralled with.  On top of all that, they are incredibly short and are over before you know it.

The graphics hold up for being a visually pleasing Playstation 2 title.  Having an easier time controlling the camera on the PS2 version when compared to the 360 version is perhaps the most appealing aspect of Wall-E.  Besides that, players won’t experience frame rate drops nor will they find many moments where screen tearing becomes apparent.  Outside of that, the environments aren’t that detailed but at least the presentation of the entire game comes off well.

If players are looking to continue their Wall-E experience after the film, it’s recommended they pick up Wall-E on the PS2.  It is fun, it’s humorous, and most of all, it’s entertaining.

Gameplay: 7.2

While it does differ in many levels, the gameplay is short in terms of length and depth.

Graphics: 7.5

The environments needed to be beefed up to make for a better visual experience.

Sound: 7.8

Similar to the movie, the audio aspects are entertaining to say the least.

Difficulty: Easy

Aimed at a younger audience, many gamers shouldn’t have trouble breezing through Wall-E.

Concept: 6.0

Like many other licensed video games, Wall-E isn’t full of originality.

Multiplayer: 5.0

There are various multiplayer modes, but they aren’t anything to write home about.

Overall: 7.2

Wall-E on the PS2 is worth checking out for fans of the film.  It’s a solid adaptation that should entertain the younger crowd who fell in love with the film.