Title Transformers: The Game Date 08.01.2007 Genre Action Platform Xbox 360 Developer Vicarious Visions Publisher Activision

Do you have an obsession with automobiles that transform into robots? If so you're probably going to buy this game regardless of what my review says. But I must warn you now, this title is a game based off of a movie, and 90% of the time that's a bad thing.

Planet Earth. Home to a great many things....one of those things is a giant cube known as the Allspark. The Allspark came from an alien world called Cybertron that was destroyed after its robotic inhabitants destroyed it through war. Specifically the evil Decepticons, who are now in search of the Allspark so that they may spread their evil legacy and conquer the entire galaxy. But there are some robots that aren't into the whole evil domination thing, and they go by the name of the Autobots. They're committed to foiling the Decepticon's plans so naturally they're after the Allspark too. They're new battleground is Earth, and this game lets you choose which side's going to win. Are you in favor of the Autobots? Or the Decepticons? The game is based off the movie and it will follow the same situations, so if you don't want the basic idea of the film to be spoiled, I wouldn't suggest playing the game then. But it's storytelling is pretty vague and not that deep.

The best thing about this game without a shadow of a doubt is the amazing, AMAZING graphics. All of the robots look exactly as they do in the film. Optimus Prime, Megatron, Bumblebee, all of them look amazing. The best part is when you actually transform your character and see them morph into the vehicles. The levels themselves are taken from the film and they look great. But they aren't actually all that massive as you can drive (or fly) around pretty quickly. At least they look nice though. There are actually cut-scenes in the middle of and between missions, but for some reason the quality of these cut-scenes is worse than the actual in-game graphics themselves. And I must admit: the game really slows down when there are too many enemies on screen; especially in the last level. But otherwise, I don't mind the look of the game.

Audio wise we don't really get much to listen to. The Transformers all have their original voices, including Megatron who isn't voiced by Hugo Weaving in the game, but rather by the man who voiced him in the animated cartoon. That's always a plus especially for the die hard fans. And Shia Lebouf and Megan Fox lend their voices as well....even if they barely have anything to say. The music is epic superhero type sounding stuff that'll draw you into the war but you'll probably never remember anything about the tunes. And everything else is fine. When they shoot bullets, it sounds like they shoot bullets. When they transform, they sound like they transform.....if you know what transformers should sound like I guess.

But now we come to the important aspect and one that makes or breaks a game. The gameplay. And while being in control of your favorite transformers is fun at first, it then becomes a rather dull experience that doesn't even last long to feel repetitive. At the start of the campaign you're allowed to choose from 2 sides, the Autobots or the Decepticons. Now being a fan of evil characters I was immediately drawn to the Decepticons. The minute you get in you're dumped into what seems like a big open sandbox world where you can go anywhere you want and do anything you want. But the only thing a transformer can do is blow stuff up. These open areas are filled with 100 cubes that you can find and collect to not only unlock bonus content, but to unlock side missions which earn you....more bonus content!

So these levels have regular "progress the story" missions, and then they have side-missions. The missions have familiar objectives that never really seem to change at all. Sometimes you're driving from point A to point B in a time limit. Sometimes you're battling/chasing a boss character. And only if you're a Decepticon, you might just be destroying anything that moves. But the objectives never change. It's like Deja vu every level. And both the Autobot and Decepticon campaigns have 4 levels with 4 very short missions in them. You can easily beat the game in a day or two. So you've got repetitive missions and it doesn't last long. Those aren't very good signs now are they?

Is the game fun though? It has it moments I will admit. Being in control of the Transformers is a thrill. All you have to do is push a button and your sports car can all of a sudden morph into a giant walking robot that's armed to the teeth with machine guns and rocket launchers. And believe me there is nothing cooler than driving at high speeds, transforming into a robot, and beating the living hell out of your enemies. The Autobots are all automobiles which is a bit of a drag. Luckily the Decepticons have a whole variety of vehicles from helicopter, to jet, and you even get to control Scorponok, a robot scorpion that can burrow underground. It's some good stuff. The problem with the actual combat is that as fun as it should be, your enemies are cheaply impervious to most attacks. If you're fighting an enemy robot, most of them can't be harmed by bullets and rockets. You have to use your melee attacks on most of them. I say most because there are those cheap enemies and bosses that require you to pick up something in the area be it a car or a fence or whatever, and chuck it at the enemy so they will let their guard down.

It's stupid. Especially in the later levels when you run into enemies that are all wrecking ball swinging madbots that knock you all over the place if you even get close enough. And if you die in a mission you have to restart the whole mission no matter how long it is. And while most are short, you will eventually die at that "Oh my god this mission is too long" mission, and it will annoy you to no end. But it shouldn't be too hard to overcome. The game's a shame. It should've been a lot more fun to play than it actually was. Especially when you control cool characters like the Transformers! And that bonus content I referred to earlier? Art. Still frames from the movie, comic book covers....lame pictures that are good to look at once and never again. So you play side-missions to get pictures.

Transformers: The Game is a movie game. It needed some better gameplay and it needed a longer experience. As it is though it's a short, boring, not so fun adventure that just happens to look pretty good. Better luck next time guys.

Game Score

C+

Reviewed By: Contributed