A solid adventure for Pixar's little droid.
When you have a hit franchise on your hands, you really want to capitalize on it as best you can. In the case of Wall-E, Disney and Pixar's latest film, the titular robot was a star before his movie came out, pulling at kids and adult's heartstrings alike while making them laugh at the same time. But with all the attention focused on the current generation of consoles, particularly their improved visual capabilities that could reasonably approach that of the film, how would the PC version of the game fare? Quite well, actually –- Thanks to a focus on varied gameplay and puzzles within Wall-E's adventure, the PC version is an enjoyable action title that will keep fans of the movie engaged.
For the most part, Wall-E follows the plot of the movie, with Earth's population having evacuated the planet due to overwhelming levels of trash and other waste byproducts of humanity's consumer urge. Left behind are a horde of Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class robots (or Wall-Es), who are tasked with collecting and cleaning the world from top to bottom so that one day, people can live on its surface once again. However, after hundreds of years, only one Wall-E droid remains, lonely carrying out its job as best it can until one day, a ship lands and deploys a robot named Eve, whose task is to search for life on Earth. As Wall-E falls in love with Eve, Eve discovers that he has found what she's been looking for and takes off for space. Following his heart, Wall-E chases her and essentially discovers a life outside of his sheltered world.
Apart from these maneuvers, Wall-E has a global map of each stage that can be called up at any time that helps him navigate each area successfully. But sometimes, Wall-E might need some help, particularly once he gets on board the Axiom spaceship. To enlist fellow droids, Wall-E can play a song from "Hello Dolly," charming the other robot and allowing him to use their services, such as flashlights or bouncing platforms to help him reach new sections. But perhaps the most engaging feature is Wall-E's first person view that he'll use to target certain objects, as well as scan the environment. Scanning is important because hidden throughout each one of the 27 stages are lost artifacts from the human race. By identifying where these items are and then picking them up, a small vignette will play that highlights Wall-E's child-like discovery of the item and his interaction with it.
This amount of puzzle diversity adds a different dimension to the game that makes it much more than the simplified gameplay you'll find in the current gen version. Players move back and forth between platforming sequences, action moments, shooting gallery sections on rails, puzzle solving sections and even races and chases. There are even homages to Frogger as Wall-E leaps back and forth through heavily trafficked areas. In fact, the transitions between these 27 stages (which, incidentally, is three times that of the current gen) are wisely made according to the moments of the plot, so you expect the timed race sequences during the high paced tension moments.
The largest downside is that some of the most creative segments within the game are too short. Many of the race through environment areas are over in less than two minutes (which counts as a stage). Players only need to make three laps during chases to win, and the laser cutting segments where you aim and fire at specific objects are only included twice and take seconds to complete. Some players will also find that the sentinel robots on the Axiom are a bit tougher to defeat that you'd expect. While they can easily be dispatched by a cube, they can toss cubes back at Wall-E with unerring accuracy and take a lot of shots from Wall-E's laser before they explode. This can be extremely daunting when you're facing a room of six or more, all of whom want to surround and melt Wall-E with their energy blasts. The final issue is that some puzzles won't be readily apparent for some kids, such as puzzle sections that require you to bring one block from an area to another to move forward, or magnet blocks that attract certain cubes in specific pathways. That could get some young gamers stuck for a while and frustrate them.
At the end of each level, players receive points for completing these stages, along with any mini-games that they might have unlocked by collecting artifacts or destroying all of the crates on a level. These points can be redeemed for bonus items, such as concept art or additional cheats that change the game. For example, players can substitute the Hello Dolly songs with tracks from The Incredibles. Not only does this provide motivation for players to return to previously completed levels, it gives them an incentive to fully explore every environment they go into. However, when you're playing through these stages for either the first time or a return session, be aware that you'll probably want to play with a 360 game controller attached. The mouse and keyboard combination, while decent, can be a bit more imprecise for some sections where you'll need a lot of tight control.
Closing Comments
Old dogs can learn new tricks, and in the case of Wall-E, the PC version of the game is one of the most solid film to game adaptations we've seen in a while. Not only is there a lot to do within this action title, it's engaging and varied with its action, making play a lot of fun. If you have a Wall-E fan in your house, check this game out.
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