Review: Transformers - A good game in disguise?

Mike Bantick
Sunday, 29 July 2007 16:42

Opinion and Analysis

Transformers brings the recent cinema release to the small gaming screen, in doing so it falls for many of the big-license traps that has plagued movie tie-in games for years.

Transformers The Game
	Developer	Travellers Tales
	Publisher	Activision
	Rating	M
PS2, PS3, PSP, PC, Wii, DS , Reviewed on  Xbox 360

Like Spider-Man 3 before it, Transformers brings an initial satisfying eye candy impact as players embark on one of two campaigns, either Autobots (the good guys) or Decepticons (baddies).  In both cases the aim is to track down the AllSpark, Transformer life force, in a battle that has spilled onto the planet Earth.

As the Autobots, a big part of the short campaign is protecting the human teenager Sam, whilst the more satisfying (at least for me) comes in the form of the highly destructive Decepticon campaign.

Campaigns consist of a series of linked missions that can be chosen or repeated at will, there are also side missions and challenges that can be completed once certain amounts of 'cubes' are collected from hidey holes scattered around the maps.

As transformers, such as Autobots Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Ironside and more, you can roam around the environments, climb buildings, transform into vehicles and so on until you select a mission. 

Each mission will consist of a number of sections, usually with a restriction on geography, until you race to the next part of the mission, failing any part means restarting the chapter (mission).

This game looks fantastic, and the basic controls have players unleashing a barrage of destruction as they stomp through each environment in camera shaking strides.

Whilst the explosions, bustling graphical surroundings, detailed models and sound effects give the player the usual video game thrills, it soon becomes apparent, that unlike the onscreen protagonists, there is not more than meets the eye.

Destruction of the environment leaves the shell of buildings, which are just as impassable as before, apart from becoming "unclimable".   The deception does not stop there, each so called 'open ended' environment, is actually surrounded by an 'invisible barrier' that puts an end to your between mission exploratory urges rather sooner than expected.

Combat boils down to simple melee-button mashing, or tossing the odd object at opponents.  Though using surrounding objects as weapons with differing effects does add depth, the awkwardness of camera angles makes this option difficult, if not downright annoying to employee.

By far the most enjoyable campaign is to choose to play as the Decepticons.  Megatron, Starscream, Barricade, Scorponok and more have more variety, even though generally this just means destroying everything on-screen, it can be a hoot.

The main feature of a 'Transformers' game should be the actual individual abilities for the stomping machines to convert to their chosen vehicles.  An effort has been made, but sadly this feature is under utilized with vehicles predominantly used as a quick means to get to the next mission.  This is a forgivable slip, given the framework of battling robots, it is hard to see how a sports car could be seamlessly worked into the game.

Overall, this iteration of Transformers for gamers is a passable movie tie-in release that should sit proudly on the shelf of an obsessed fan of the movie or cartoon series.