WALL-E (DS) Review
Wall*E appears to be another Pixar film that is being well received by the film critic community and greater population alike. The film tells the story of Wall*E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class), a robot sent to Earth to clean it up after years of human sloth has rendered the planet uninhabitable. Whilst on Earth, Wall*E meets another robot, Eve (Extra-terrestial Vegetation Evaluator), who has been sent to Earth to determine whether there is any planet life still alive. Wall*E and Eve begin to develop a bond, and by the end of the film the two play a key part in making Earth habitable again.
One of the problems with the DS version of this game is that it assumes you have seen the film and therefore know what the hell is going on. The plot within the game is told with a few short cutscenes in between levels. While it does give a rough indication of what is happening, you’re still left in the dark a bit if you haven’t yet seen the film. Whilst this isn’t a huge problem, as the game is accessible regardless of whether you have seen the film, it is a minor gripe I have with licensed games. Perhaps the developers went about making the game with the idea that only people who have seen the film would dare consider buying a licensed game. Whatever the case, it would be nice to have some effort put in to story telling.
The gameplay in Wall*E is broken up into two main parts: One in which you control Wall*E, whilst the other involves EVE. As Wall*E, your task is basically to navigate your way through a series of small areas that play in many ways as a puzzle. Wall*E doesn’t have a lot of moves to his name; he can move, compact trash into small cubes, and then either throw the cube (short or long throw) or place the cube down in front of him. Each small area in the game has a door that you will need to open and make your way through. The areas will also contain various other switches that will have different reactions, such as slowing or turning off conveyor belts, opening other doors, activating bridges and so forth. To put it simply, the entire aim of the game is to figure out how to get to the end of the area before proceeding to the next and figuring out how to navigate your way through that area. It’s not an entirely bad concept, and by the end of the game you’ll need to put in quite a bit of thought if you’re to successfully get through the area. In the beginning, the solution is pretty obvious, but by the end, this is not the case.
The main method of getting through any one area is to use compacted trash to your advantage. For instance, you might need to compact trash and then throw the cube over a gap onto a switch on the other side. There also different types of trash cubes to use, including magnetic trash and explosive trash. These types of trash can be used in different ways, such as knocking enemies into gaps or even to blow yourself over a gap. In regards to enemies, there aren’t a lot in the game, but you will encounter tornadoes early on before you meet other robots later in the game. The enemies, be it natural or robotic, are designed to make your task that bit harder. If an enemy hits you, it will take away some of your energy, and it may potentially knock you into a pit, which means you’ll have to start that area again. If you lose all your energy, you’ll have to go back to the last check point, which is a real pain. Thankfully, checkpoints aren’t sparse, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble clearing one set of areas, even if it does take a couple of attempts.
Whilst Wall*E sections aren’t bad, they become incredibly repetitive. Early on, the game feels quite unique and well designed, but once you do practically the same thing for the 100th time, it starts to wear a bit thin. Playing as EVE does break things up a bit, though her sections aren’t particularly good. As EVE, you have to race your way through an area within a certain time limit. Most of these areas are tunnel-like and you’ll have to avoid the many obstacles in your way. Hit too many and you will have to try again. While I can appreciate the break in gameplay, neither Wall*E or EVE’s sections are that exciting after you’ve done them a few times. There’s a lack of incentive to play the game once you feel it has become tiresome, aside from collecting coins which unlock screenshots.
How exciting.
The game only takes around 4 or more hours to beat as well, so even if you do persevere with the dull gameplay, it won’t be long before you’re saying “Wow, it’s over already?”
Wall*E’s visuals are bland and uninspired, especially considering how great Pixar animations are. There’s a real lack of colour and the 3D isn’t really pushing the DS to what it is capable off. On top of this, there is a distinct lack of music in the game. There are several sound effects, but as for a soundtrack, there is none. On one hand, this is a suitable decision, as the lack of music reflects the loneliness and emptiness on an abandoned planet. On the other hand, it feels like a bit of a cop out. There’s also a tacked on multiplayer game which is basically a two player version of EVE’s section. It’s dull and clearly a rushed effort to push the game as multiplayer.
In the end, the ironic thing about Wall*E is that it is really just another piece of rubbish software that Wall*E himself might not want to deal with when he finds a truck load of unsold copies in a deep gully somewhere on the barren Earth. This is perhaps a harsh assessment, but the game is short, the gameplay dull after a while, and the visuals and sound barely passable. It’s not the worst licensed game I have played, but on its own merits, it is still difficult to recommend. As is my usual advice, young children who fall in love with the film may find something to like here, but be warned that even they may want to dispose of it.
