In 1984, an animated series hit the airwaves that sparked the imagination of children everywhere; hypnotizing them into buying tons of toys and making its creator, Hasbro, very profitable. Anyone who is now in their 20’s remembers all those afternoons spent in front of the TV watching the Autobots and the Decepticons battle it out for supremacy. This summer, Hollywood has released a live action version of the robots in disguise for the silver screen and like all big movies, a videogame has been launched along side of it. Activision and developer Traveller’s Tales have taken on the task of adapting the most famous transforming vehicles, this side of the planet for the next generation of video gaming. Is The Transformers game more than meets the eye or should it be tossed into the video game tie-in scrap heap?
gameplay
Now, let’s get something straight: this game is not following the blueprint from the 80’s TV show. This game is based on the storyline of the movie currently playing in theaters. If you’re a purist you will be disappointed no matter what. That being said, if you can look beyond all that and play the game for what it is, you might be surprised that you actually get into it. The game has been released on all consoles and handhelds, but this review will strictly focus on gameplay from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.
After a grand opening cinema that sets up the story, you are asked to make a major decision; do you want to play as the heroic Autobots, or the deadly Decepticons? Both sides have the same goal, that being to be the first to find the AllSpark, which is the heart of their life source and has fallen to Earth. What immediately stands out when choosing a side is that your mission is completely different depending on whether you’re good or bad. For instance, if you choose to play as the Autobots, the first mission has you playing as Bumblebee, who has to race and fight through the suburbs to protect the lead human character, Sam Witwicky (Sam holds the map to find the AllSpark). If you play as the Decepticons, your first mission will have you playing as Blackout, as you arrive on Earth in the center of a military base and fight in an all out battle on the ground and in the air as he transforms from robot to helicopter. One nice feature when playing as Blackout, is that he has a partner named Scorponok, a giant metal bug, who when activated can travel under the sand at top speeds, (displaying a Jaws point of view) as he hunts his target and destroys anything in his path.
The game has an open world playing field, which is very similar to the format of Hulk: Ultimate Destruction. A glowing green icon displayed on the HUD must be reached to begin a new mission. Once the mission is successfully completed, a new icon will flash on the map, opening up your next mission. No matter which side you choose there are only a few Autobots and Decipticons featured as playable characters. The good guys offer Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, and Ironhide. The bad boys are Barricade, Starscream, Blackout, and the big bad boss man himself, Megatron. There will probably be fans of the Transformers who will be disappointed by the selection and want to know why various other characters are not in the game, but remember that not every character was featured in the movie either.
Transforming from vehicle to robot is as smooth as silk and happens with the simple tap of a button (Y button on the Xbox 360 and triangle button on the PS3). Depending on what character you are playing, the controls allow you to fire either bullets or rockets, shield yourself from an attack, throw destructive punches, or pick up objects to use as weapons. In robot form, your movements are pretty slow and running from one distance to another is cumbersome, but if you were a four-story robot you’d probably move just as slow. Transforming to your vehicle alias makes traveling around easier, but controlling the vehicles is not as precise as it would be in a stand-alone driving or air combat game, so there is a learning curve to get them to perform properly.
The missions are in no manner complex. Missions range from fighting your enemies to preventing them from getting the AllSpark before you do, reaching locations before time runs out, and protecting other transformers from being attacked as they perform tasks. Primary and secondary weapons are at your disposal, but there is nothing more effective than standing toe-to-toe with another robot and beating him down until he explodes into pieces. In addition to the standard missions, there are also various side missions that can be unlocked, but they are nothing more than simple mini-games like destroy 20 cars in less than one-minute types of scenarios. As an added feature, each mission has 100 miniature AllSpark pieces hidden throughout the level, which when collected can unlock bonus content such as artwork, trailers and stills from the movie, and of course achievement points on Xbox Live.
Even though the gameplay is identical on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, there are some differences on the technical side. First of all, the Xbox version has brighter graphics, whereas the PS3 version appears to be darker in places. It is obvious that this game was developed first for the Xbox and then ported over to the PS3. Then there is the issue of rumble, which is missing from the PS3 version. When giant robots are brawling, crashing into buildings, and destroying everything in site, rumble becomes part of the experience, and when it is not there you have changed the whole mood of the game. To make up for the lack of rumble, the PS3 version offers you the option of using the Sixaxis motion tilt controls to steer certain Transformers, such as Blackout or Starscream, when they are in aircraft mode. This is obviously tacked on because the controls are barely responsive and will have you crashing more than flying. In the PS3’s favor, it was very noticeable that its hardware could handle a lot more on screen action with no problems. There were clearly a lot of frame rate slow down issues on the Xbox 360 version whenever too much action was happening on screen at once, but this never occurred on the PS3. If you do have both systems, I would tip my hat towards the Xbox 360 version, because clearer visuals, rumble, and easy achievement points make a big difference.
Of course, most will choose the side of the good guys so they can play as Optimus Prime. However, it is actually playing as the Decepticons that makes for better gameplay, because you get to cause more damage as the bad guys and exploit all your robot’s abilities. In the Autobot campaign you are awarded for accomplishing missions with the least amount of damage as opposed to the Decepticon campaign where you are encouraged to destroy everything in sight for extra points and that is definitely more fun.
You can knock this game out in a weekend. It doesn’t offer any online features, so there is very little replay value. From a kid’s point of view, if you had just gotten out of the theater after seeing this movie and were given this game to play, you’d be smiling from ear-to-ear. On the other hand, if you’re a diehard fan of the Transformers, take a ticket and stand in line before you start voicing your numerous complaints.
graphics
Overall, the graphics are good, with the difference between the two systems being that the PS3 version appears darker than the Xbox 360 version and the issues with the Xbox 360’s clunky frame rate compared to the smoother PS3’s. The Autobots and the Decepticons look great and fully detailed, but the city looks pretty generic, with pedestrians and cars that all look the same. The environments are fully destructible, so when you slam your enemy against a building it begins to fall apart and cars crumble like paper as you run through them. The animated cut scenes are also well done, filling in a lot of story gaps that were not shown in the movie.
sound
The best thing about this game, as well as the movie, is that Peter Cullen, the original actor who did the voice for Optimus Prime in the animated series makes the gaming experience feel authentic. Whenever you hear him shout a command, you’ll have an instant flashback to your years as a youngster. The sound of mechanics churning as you transform from vehicle to bot are also done well, but other than that most of the other sound effects are standard moldings of explosions, weapons being fired and vehicles in motion. The music is lifted right off of the movie’s soundtrack, so it sounds very popcorn-ish which fits with the content.
replay value
The Transformers game does not offer any multiplayer support, which sucks because it would have been sweet to battle your bots online. There is some unlockable content and repeating missions is encouraged to find any miniature AllSparks that you may have missed the first time. Plus, there are two campaigns so in some ways it is like you’re getting two games on one disc, depending on whether you like to be good or bad.
bottom line
If you accept it for what it is, there are a lot a fun moments in this game that you wished you could have played back in the day on your old NES when the Transformers first gained popularity in the 1980’s. Sure the game is not perfect and most fans will probably dismiss it to the movie tie-in bin of doom, but it is worth a look and it is recommended that you judge it for yourself. Online support would have been welcomed and it would have been really nice if the developers included a create-a-bot feature. Just imagine designing your own Transformer to fight side-by-side with Optimus Prime or Megatron. Now how cool would that be? Transformers…Roll out!!
Check out our PlayStation 3 review of Transformers: The Game.Review by: Johnny McNair
Posted: 07/23/2007
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Gameplay:
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7.5 |
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Graphics:
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7.0 |
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Sound:
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7.0 |
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Replay Value:
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6.5 |
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Bottom Line:
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7.5 |
