'a challenging Disney game?'
 Developer: Heavy Iron Studios
Publisher: THQ
Category: : Adventure/Puzzle
Multiplayer: 2-4 Local
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 11 August 2008
Written By: Ian
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Building success or a brick wall?
Developer and publisher "THQ" has had the Disney license for a while for games, and has churned out some pretty reasonable efforts, like the 'Cars' games.
Can their latest Disney adaptation be a success, or will it follow the pattern of so many film-to-game tie-ins and be a pile of rubbish?
Charming Story
The story in the game follows, to an extent, the story of the film. Wall:e is a lonely robot left clearing rubbish on a planet, the last of his kind. A new robot called 'Eve' arrives searching for plant life, and the two embark on some galactic adventures, and end up falling in love.
It's a charming tale, and told well through the cut-scenes, even though it's a missed opportunity that none of these are taken from the film itself. As mentioned, the great animation throughout is the real highlight, as none of the emotion shown between the two loveable characters is lost in translation. Only the contrived reasons for the shooting sections brings everything down, but only a small way.
Story
Like with the graphics (see below), Wall:e opens with a lot of positives. The opening level is really good, with some nice platforming and puzzle solving, that also take into account the rubbish collecting and compacting abilities of Wall:e.
The next level is also good, with a free-roaming section where you play as EVE, and can complete some challenges all around a large, non-linear map.
The third level then adds co-op where you control both Wall:e and EVE to navigate the various puzzles in the level. It's all pretty enjoyable stuff. There's plenty to do and collect, and on the 360, the game will reward you with achievement points for making sure you explore everywhere fully, which is a nice touch. It certainly made me play through more thoroughly.
Once aboard the Axiom (the human space-ship), however, it all starts to go downhill. The shooting section is horrendous. You basically fight a load of charmless white robots that look like bins and fire lasers. The only challenge is the rubbish auto-aim and the fact you normally get assaulted by over 20 of these unintelligent things at once. It's by far the worst level in the game.
Some of the other sections feature contrived sections with floor patterns that have to be memorised, otherwise you get instantly killed. I found these to be frustratingly difficult- therefore I would imagine many younger kids would find these bits nigh on impossible, which should never be the case.
These two gameplay choices ruin the overall design, which started off so interestingly and promisingly.
  
The game is also disappointingly short, taking me about 6 hours to complete, even when getting most unlockables in the process. Clearly a child will take longer, but the joy of Pixar films (and Lego games) is that they appeal equally to children and adults; this does not to the same extent.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics in Wall:e are extremely inconsistent. The levels set on Earth (and the trash planet level) look pretty nice, with some nice film grain effects. There are some good distance effects when you get a view, an excellent draw distance, and little to no texture pop-in.
Wall:e and Eve are also rendered and animated very well, showing their personalities really well through the gameplay.
However, the game looks best when stationary, as there can be some pretty bad frame-rate drops for pretty much no apparent reason. Furthermore, in the Eve levels, there is some horrific screen tearing at some points.
The levels aboard the Axiom are far less impressive, looking really quite dated. In fact, I'd go so far as to say they look like HD PS2 textures given a little extra gloss. There's also far less detail then in the previous levels too- it's a real disappointment after a reasonably impressive start.
The sound is functional, but nothing special. Part of the joy of the film is that the characters do not communicate that much, so therefore, there is not much speech to show off. Sound effects and music are fine, but a little bit limited- there's nothing wrong with them, but nothing that excited me.
  
Multiplayer
There's some local multiplayer for 2-4 players, and 4 modes to try out. It's a shame that these are not online as well, although it's pretty limited, especially in the number of maps. You can unlock more, but it's not easy to find enough tokens in the single player, so choice can be limited.
Conclusion
Wall:e had a lot of potential. The puzzle, EVE and platforming sections on Earth are quite enjoyable. But, the later levels are rubbish in comparison, particularly the shooting level.
The difficulty spikes were also really frustrating, especially for a kids game; I imagine many would just give up at some points. The graphics are also inconsistent, and the game is too short.
There is fun to be had here, but it's definitely a rental first and perhaps a purchase.
-Ian
Pros:
+ Cute characters with loads of personality
+ Sections with Eve & Wall:e
+ 360 Achievements are well thought out
Cons:
- Terrible Shooting
- Inconsistent Graphics
- Difficulty Spikes
 
 
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