Planet 51 The Game review

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Games released to come out at the same time as movies are usually very bad. Sometimes they work if they’re inspired by the movie or don’t have to come out to hit a movie deadline but that’s not the case with Planet 51 The Game. In the game you get to play as the ‘alien’ Lem and as the crashed astronaut Chuck as you both work together to find his spaceship and get him home. What the game basically boils down to is a series of boring tasks and races in what appears to be a sandbox environment but actually isn’t.

The game begins literally at a snail’s pace as Lem rides around on a bike. Even the ‘turbo’ doesn’t help matters as he chases bullies and tracks down his mates around the town. Other tasks involve delivering papers and cutting the lawn. Two things that aren’t fun in real life and aren’t any better if you look like a bogey either. Things get a bit better when you upgrade to cars. At least they move quicker but the controls aren’t very responsive and the collision detection is ropey as well.

The whole game also has an unfinished feel about it. Lips don’t sync to the dialogue whatsoever in cut-scenes so it looks like a badly dubbed French animation or something, and loading screens pop up all the time. Surely this can’t be because there’s too much data to load? It’s probably because they couldn’t be bothered to animate Lem or Chuck opening a door.

This is the worst kind of movie license game. It’s obviously been rushed out to cash in on the movie whilst spending the least amount of time or money on development just because it’s supposed to be a game for kids. Well, kids have standards too and as I’m a big kid I’m giving Planet 51: The Game a lame 3 out of 10.

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