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Unfortunately, the combat is not nearly as engrossing as the platforming or flying aspects. You're equipped with a laser that does nominal damage, and you can toss blocks at attacking enemies. Neither approach is satisfying. Boxes can be knocked from your hands by rampaging robots, and Wall-E is too clumsy to quickly recover from said blows. Your laser is too weak to attack enemies head-on, so you'll only be able to use this from afar or hope the robots forget to shoot you with their own lasers. The core of the game is navigation, so even though the combat is lacking, it doesn't bring the overall experience too far down. Still, it's disappointing that the pure action sections are the weakest link in the adventure.
The graphics are impressive for the most part. The levels are confined, but the vibrant colors and clear textures add personality to each section. The game also runs quite smoothly, even when you're racing through levels with sand beating against your metal body. The sound can't quite match the visuals, though. The music is repetitive and the sound effects have no impact. One nice touch, though, is Wall-E's built-in recorder. You can let loose some old-time hits with the push of a button. It brings a little levity to the hectic levels and also serves as a gameplay tool--friendly robots will follow your siren song, helping you pass difficult sections.
The combat sections are less than enthralling.
The levels are loaded with collectibles that can unlock hidden goodies, but the rewards are less than enticing. Concept art just isn't a very strong draw. However, the act of finding said items is worth it. Each level has buried treasures that you can find when you go in first-person mode. These trinkets would be deemed trash by greedy humans, but Wall-E finds them fascinating. Each unearthing provides a humorous cutscene in addition to bonus points. For instance, when you uncover a beach ball you'll watch a frantic fight between metal and plastic, a duel far funnier than it should be. With plenty of these treasures in every level, it's worth finding them all just to see Wall-E's ridiculous reactions.
Wall-E is a surprisingly solid platformer. The game maintains a captivating pace throughout by constantly mixing up objectives and adding new tricks to conquer. The multiplayer mode doesn't add much value to the package; the split-screen duels focus on the simple racing and combat mechanics from the single-player, making it interesting only in short bursts. But the single-player adventure provides enough replay value to make this entertaining even after the credits roll.
