WALL-E Wii Review

WALL-E

Nintendo Wii Review
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Heavy Iron Studios
Released: June 24, 2008

WALL-E, the latest creation from Disney and Pixar, has been brought from the big screen to the Nintendo Wii thanks to Heavy Iron Studios. In theaters, WALL-E is being loved by all who sets their eyes on the little robot. Does this transfer over to an enjoyable Wii experience though? Or does the love stop when you exit the theater?

The character of WALL-E is truly engaging, as you get to check him out in his element in the film. He is a robot that was left to clean up Earth after humans turned it into a huge trash dump. His job is to compact trash, turning it into little cubes. He does this for hundreds of years, before meeting a robot by the name of EVE, sent by the humans to search for life. From there, the adventure begins.

The video game version of WALL-E pretty much follows the exact same plot as the movie, with not too much changing.

The majority of the game has you taking control of WALL-E, trying to navigate through levels in a platforming-type style. It almost feels like you are going through an obstacle course at some points, as you are trying to avoid a variety of hazardous thing swhile moving and progressing.

The platformer-elements come into play when you have to try to hit switches and throw objects to figure out the puzzles and such you encounter. WALL-E’s main functions include jumping, and the ability to suck up trash, make cubes out of them, and then throw the cubes.

Things get interesting as the cubes that WALL-E creates consist of a variety of materials, from magnetic things, heavy blocks, etc. This adds a level of depth to the puzzles.

Moving forward, beyond WALL-E, you also get to control his lady robot friend, EVE. EVE introduces some flying elements to the game, as she is far more technologically advanced than WALL-E. She has the ability to blast lasers at any object she pleases, and zoom around, starting and stopping whenever she wants. You will be working with WALL-E and EVE together in a few spots as well, as both will be needed to solve some of the puzzles presented in front of you.

Though this may sound great, the actual controls are far from spectacular. Controlling WALL-E comes across as a bit slow, and can get repetitive over time. WALL-E, though he can jump, is not the most agile robot to say the least. In many spots, you will find yourself getting annoyed by the lack of speed to the robot, his inability to navigate certain areas smoothly, etc.

On top of the shoddy controls and repetitive elements to the game, the camera system is also there to drive you crazy. When you move through environments, it is extremely difficult to be able to control the camera and get it in a spot where you need to see everything around you. The camera also leads to visual issues with screen tearing in many spots.

EVE is a completely different story, as controlling the female robot is actually a great deal of fun. You immediately get a smooth feeling to your movements once you start buzzing around through the sky with the robot, getting the immediate sense of enjoyment out of the whole gameplay scenarios thrown in. All in all, if more of the game was focused on EVE, it may have been a bit more enjoyable.

The development team tried to add some type of replay value to the experience with some added tumbler gameplay sections, which allow you to unlock cool extras. All of the unlocked items get added to WALL-E’s storage trailer, which is a very nice touch. Unfortunately though, there are not enough secret items to keep gamers coming back.

Unfortunately, the visuals do little to actually pick the game up, as there is not much here in regards to detail and texture work. On top of that, you also see a great deal of problems with the framerate throughout the game, even though there is not much here to actually cause the problems.

Other major issues which pop up have to do with collision detection problems, which appear in almost every level. You will find objects that you can move through at one point, and then hit a brick wall at in the next moment. On top of that, the animation of the entire thing comes across in a very bland manner. Overall, not too much in terms of visual appear here.

WALL-E has made for an amazing summer blockbuster from Pixar and Disney but unfortunately has not turned into a great video game release. The controls lack innovation, and the visuals are just not up to par with what gamers are going to want after seeing the Pixar film. The younger crowd my want to rent it to play through it once, but there isn’t much here for multiple plays.

Graphics: 5.0 Poor visuals with a lack of detail, framerate problems, and much more.

Audio: 7.0 The sound is actually pretty well done, with many sound clips coming straight from the movie.

Gameplay: 6.0 The controls work, but there is not much here in terms of innovation.

Replay Value: 6.0 There are some unlockables to keep gamers coming back, but not enough to make it a long-term purchase.

Final Score: 6.0

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