The titular character, Rango, is a pet chameleon who finds himself in abandoned in the Mojave Desert, in a town called Dirt. Rango doesn't have any real abilities to speak of other than the keen ability to bullshit his way through situations. Faced with this narrative, the developers decided to make a game based on many of Rango's tall tales, to let players live the adventures that he claimed to have experienced. Though the primary setting of the movie is a town patterned after the Old West, the game takes players on a roller-coaster ride through a variety of scenarios, such as a zombie infestation and aboard a space ship in an alien invasion.

Compared to the other console versions, the Wii version is squarely aimed at kids, even including a child's ticket for the movie, which launches shortly after the game. The difficulty is generally easier and the gameplay is greatly simplified, switching back and forth between platforming and gallery shooting.

Though much of the game is spent shooting enemies, Rango carries a gun that shoots popcorn, again catering to a family-friendly demographic. The controls have been simplified so that all you can do is point, shoot, or duck. You can't even reload until after you've depleted your current rounds, meaning that you have to keep better control of your ammunition usage. Occasional power-ups can be collected by shooting, which provide health or gun upgrades, such as machine guns and spread shotguns.

I saw a couple variations of shooting levels. In the zombie level, Rango has to mow down hordes of zombies rising from graves using a Gatling gun turret. Another area featured an on-rail bat ride, where players must hit targets and enemies while swooping through the air. It's no Star Fox, and you can't control your flight path, but was still a fun segment.

The platforming side features levels filled with timed jumps and lots of climbing on building ledges. In one stage, Rango had to navigate electrified fences, climbing on them after throwing a switch to temporarily turn them off. There seemed to be a problem with context sensitivity at the edge of ledges, which would cause unexpected or no response to controls, which I found annoying, though was able to compensate for.

Many characters from the movie make appearances, including a band of mariachi owls, who continuously show up throughout the game to talk and sing of Rango's assured demise. Their hilarious negativity is a nice touch. The game features a mix of original and sound-alike voice actors. The game touts a “desaturated look,” which unfortunately can be translated as a little muddy.

Rango's difficulty level is set pretty low, and should be a cakewalk for veteran gamers. However, there were a few unexpected spikes in challenge, including a pretty crazy UFO stage with lasers flying everywhere. Checkpoints occur pretty regularly, so there shouldn't be much frustration in completing challenges. The game also adapts to failure and may offer players better ammunition to help them complete the challenge.

One of the strangest crossovers, especially for a kids game, is the recurring role of Hunter S. Thompson. The game actually seems to provide an alternative backstory for some of the drug-induced experiences chronicled in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, particularly those involving lizards and bats. Jonny Depp also starred in the movie rendition of that work, and Rango bears certain similarities to the main character. At one point in the game, Rango comes upon Thompson's trailer and must shoot golf balls at him and avoid being swatted.

Rango lets players play the tall tales that were only claimed in the movie, greatly expanding its scope and allowing for the possibility that, just maybe, Rango wasn't just telling stories. On the spectrum of movie-based games, Rango looks to be pretty good with a variety of locales and fun movie characters. However, the low difficulty pegs it as a family game, and one for those who would get frustrated with real challenge.

Game was demoed at EA's offices.