PlayTM writes: "Planet 51, both the CGI animated move and the game-tie in by Spanish developer Pyro Studios, ultimately suffer the same strange fate. The sheer amount of financial investment and technical ability in order to make high-quality CGI is mind blowing. The movie cost an estimated 60 million dollars to make, with Illium Studios using over 200 Hewlett Packard workstations chugging 50,000Gb of raw data through 1500 dedicated render cores. The creative staff represent more hours of training and education than a squadron of ninja, have the patience of Buddhist monks, and a stronger obsessive-compulsive work ethic than an autistic ant colony. Yet despite all this incredible technology and talent they made a boring movie, and so it is that despite clear technical competence and no shortage or investment, Planet 51: The Game is about the most tedious title to grace your console with this holiday season."
El33tonline writes:
"Aliens. Ooh, scary! We read about mysterious aliens coming to earth, searching for intelligent life and failing to find it in the US. We read how they kidnap poor trailer trash hillbillies and do all sorts of nasty probes. We see movies of the little green men using ray guns to vaporise everything and everyone in their way. We listen to music that sometimes sounds like the artists are from another planet. And finally we play games about aliens coming to our planet and scaring babies. But in Planet 51, the whole concept has been turned on its head."
PSX Extreme writes: "Video games based on movies have increased in quality this generation. We've actually seen a few pretty decent efforts already; The Bourne Conspiracy and Kung Fu Panda have been solid and worthwhile, which is why I go into such reviews with an open mind. Unfortunately, Planet 51 is a step backwards due to somewhat sluggish controls, a style of gameplay that forces the player to complete trivial and extremely boring "missions," and an overall lack of immersion."
Planet 51 is an okay way to kill a few hours, if you're really so time-rich you can afford to waste your precious life driving very slowly around a dull alien planet. It's not horrendous, but it's light-years away from great.
