Licensed projects have always been an iffy proposition. With an inevitably tight schedule, these games often feel rushed and sometimes even unfinished.

With a great film in Pixar’s Wall-E as source material, one would hope for a game that in some way captures the spirit of the film. But as many games based on many movies have done before, it falls woefully short.

Now that’s not to say that Wall-E is a complete train wreck of a game. It isn’t. Its game design really isn’t half bad. It’s simple, yes, but also fairly enjoyable. One of the most utilized elements is Wall-E’s ability to form cubes. Many of the game’s puzzles revolve around finding and making the correct cube (standard, electric, magnetic) to pass an obstacle. This, in addition to the standard platforming and shooting sequences show that developer Heavy Iron Studios is definitely trying to make a simple and fun game.

Wall-E and Eve shoot at…something.

In fact Wall-E is actually pretty good in terms of control. Platforming is fairly tight and the IR for shooting works well. The camera is a bit off at times, but it’s never a huge issue.

Where the game really hits a wall, however, is in the graphics department. Despite inheriting great characters designs and environments from the film, Wall-E is a bland and dull experience.  Colors are muted, character models fuzzy, and the environments drab.

But even all these shortcomings would be tolerable if the frame rate wasn’t so poor. At the best of times Wall-E chugs along at an unimpressive rate. At the worst it is almost shocking how much Wall-E slows down. Even when performing the most basic functions of forming a cube from a station, Wall-E can slow to a crawl.

Some of the environments are large, but you’ll pay for it with lack of detail and slowdown.

Anyone familiar with betas or even demos will know that frame rates can be all over the place in unfinished products. This just adds to the obvious fact that the game was rushed out, as these issues were never fixed and pop up in strange places.

Considering the excellent sound effects and voice work from the film, Wall-E should have easily fared better in the audio department. Unfortunately, while the effects and voices are indeed of very good quality, the overall impression is very sloppy thanks to sound effects that drop in and out, and a score that loops endlessly.

Multiplayer is clearly an afterthought and offers little to the overall package. It basically consists of a series of uninspired mini-games, many of which you’ll probably want to quit out of before even finishing.

Multiplayer is uninspired at best.

Those hoping for a decent presentation to the story will also be disappointed.  The game’s pre-rendered sequences look nice, but are very quick and really require one to have seen the movie to truly understand what is going on.

Speaking of quick, the game is extremely short, and can be completed in well under four hours.

At least the game tries to extend its life with a ton of unlockables including concept art and alternate costumes.

Overall, Wall-E on Wii isn’t a terrible game, despite its many flaws. The game design and concept is simple, but fun. If you loved the movie, the game might have even been worth a shot if not for the poor technical presentation that hinders every other aspect of the game.

Go out and see the movie. Don’t bother with the game.

Gameplay: 6.0
Gameplay is simple and, at times, fun. Unfortunately the potential is never reached as the gameplay retreads itself instead of developing, and the whole affair is over extremely quickly.

Graphics: 5.5 
The great visual style of this film is squandered with bland environments and underwhelming character models. Worst of all, however, is the very poor frame rate.

Sound: 5.5
The sound effects and voices from the film are great, but the music repeats ad nauseum. The sound is also riddled with bugs, such as dropped sound effects.

Difficulty: Easy
Objectives are fairly straight forward and decent controls help to avoid too much frustration.

Concept: 6.0 
There are some good ideas in Wall-E that never really come to fruition thanks to its extremely short length and poor technical aspects. The cube puzzles are enjoyable enough and the shooting and flying sections aren’t half bad.

Multiplayer: 4.5
Multiplayer mini-games are clumsy and tacked on.

Overall: 5.5
Wall-E on Wii isn’t a terrible game, but it feels like a rushed one. Developer Heavy Iron Studios has some good ideas here, but the poor graphics (particularly the frame rate) and sketchy sound really hold back the overall package.