Wall-E

Rating Everyone Genre racing Publisher THQ External Links Official THQ Website

For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to see, read, or hear anything about the new Pixar animated feature, here's a quick run down. Meet Wall-E, one of thousands of small robotic trash compactors created to help clean the planet Earth of all the trash humans have polluted it with while said humans go on a 5 year vacation into outer space. 700 years later (What can I say, we humans like long vacations) Wall-E is the only functional robot left, and he is about to discover the key to bringing humanity back to the once blue world. And we mustn’t forget the-Disney required true love story. Not with a human of course, since Bender Bending Rodriguez would not allow it, but with a sleek, curvy robotic probe named Eve.

So now that we have the basics covered, lets talk about the Playstation 2 version of the video game based on the movie. Overall THQ did a rather decent job in keeping true to the original storyline, making only minor changes to the bulk of the story development in order to promote game play. Character designs are also rather close to the original film, and while the Playstation 2 might not be as graphically powerful as it's younger sibling the PS3, it still manages to perform without any visible frame skips, glitches, or other more annoying visual imperfections.

Controls are kept as simple as possible, allowing the player to move Wall-E with the left thumb stick and the camera with the right. Running over garbage will automatically covert the junk into a compacted square that Wall-E can throw with the Square button. X is the jump button and the O button forces Wall-E to compact himself into a cube form, which can be used to break certain blocks. Most of the game is spent destroying blocks, which provide Wall-E with energy to live, energy for his laser, or energy to open locked doors. A first person mode is also available with the R1 button, and helps in locating hidden items throughout the game.

Levels are designed between two basic game types: Racing and Adventure. In the Adventure inspired levels the player navigates Wall-E through several different locations, both on the Earth and on the spaceship the Axiom. Players are required to make their way through a variety of mazes while collecting energy, destroying blocks, and solving the occasional puzzle. The puzzles range from simple match games to memory skills, and there are almost never any negatives associated with getting a puzzle wrong. This makes the gameplay extremely simple, and ensures that players of all skill levels will be able to complete the game. Exactly what you would expect from an “E” rated title.

The Racing levels are actually simpler versions of their Adventure counterparts, just without the puzzles. Players will be forced to outrun the clock as they maneuver Wall-E, and on occasion Eve, through the level while getting past obstacles and destroying blocks along the way. I will point out that a few “secret” areas have been added to many of the Racing maps, and players will be required to hunt them down in order to gain a completion bonus for the level.

Admittedly, the game is rather short, lasting an average of three hours. In order to promote longer play life, several multiplayer mini-games have been added to the title as well as an Art Gallery and a Cheats option. All of these features are locked and require playing the main game to either unlock them, or provide you with enough points to purchase them. In addition, Artifacts are hidden on nearly all of the Adventure style maps, and discovering them treats the players to an in game cut-scene of Wall-E's first experience with the item. Personally, Wall-E with the Plunger was one of my favorite scenes.

Wall-E is everything you would expect from a video game inspired by a children's movie: simple, easy, and short. While the bonuses and multiplayer maps might help keep the younger generation entertained, older players will find themselves quickly tiring of the lack of more sophisticated game play. While I would recommend this to anyone looking for something entertaining to do on a quiet Tuesday, Wall-E just doesn't have enough bang for the buck to make it into most permanent collections.