Console: Xbox 360
Date Released: June 14, 2011
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2012
Reviewer: Richard
Pros
* Can play as a variety of well-known Transformers* The different transformer modes are fairly interesting Cons *It IS a game based off a movie
*If you didn’t like the Michael Bay Transformer movies, probably not going to like this Let me just start off saying that I’ve never been a fan of any of Bay’s Transformer movies. So, perhaps, there might be a bit of bias on my part when it comes to this review. However, I have tried to keep an open mind while reviewing this game. But, I’m keeping my expectations rather low. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsPg8CytZ1s] Presentation : B Graphics / Animation / Sound
The CGI is fairly run of the mill for this generation: mostly shiny and/or brown. I would like to point out that the transformation sequences for the bots are very fluid and very Bay-like. Sound effects are fitting. Machine guns sound heavy and destructive while laser guns have that sci-fi sound. Trasformations sound similar, if not exactly, like what you would hear in the movies. Voice actors are good, most notably Peter Cullen. I believe he is the only one to reprise his role, but to be honest, I didn’t pay attention to the other actors for the bots since they sound nothing like the did in the original series.
Single Player : B- Game mechanics / Length / difficultySingle player is very, very linear and simple. I’m not saying that like it’s a bad thing as this game, much like the movies, is likely focused on a younger audience anyways. The controls seem to take a bit of getting used to. I found myself on several occasions transforming on accident when in the middle of a firefight. Also, I found the steering for vehicle mode to be a bit too hard to control. I remember dying at least once from falling off a cliff. Maybe the developers trying to go for something like “Need for Speed” feel with all the drifting and such. Since I don’t really play those type of games, it’s really hard for me to say.
One thing I was disappointed with was the fact that you couldn’t choose which transformer you wanted to be. I understand it was for the story, but as some one who is more of a “casual” transformer fan, I really just wanted to play as Optimus Prime or Starscream. But, I did find the Mirage mission fairly interesting. Although, it would have been nice to use stealth force mode more. Really, I could probably play the entire game in stealth force than either of the other two modes.
Overall game time for single player is about seven hours, which is about right for a game like this. If you want to spend more time trying to find the hidden transformer symbols, then you might add another hour onto the game. On normal mode, you might die a handful of times, but the A.I. isn’t exactly challenging and gameplay is pretty repetitive. So you’ll want to up the difficulty if you want to make things interesting.
Multiplayer : C Game mechanics / features / Online featuresMultiplayer has your standard assortment of shooter options such as death match. The plus side is that you have a wider selection of Autobots and Decepticons to choose from than campaign and you can customize them to a limit. But, there didn’t seem to be a lot of people online which makes sense since this is probably not a very big title anyways.
Replay Value : D Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLCAt this time there only seems to be one DLC on X-Box Live for Dark of the Moon which is Sideswipe for the multiplayer. Seeing as how this game has been out for almost a year, I doubt we will see much more. Really though, no matter how much of a Michael Bay and/or Transformer fan you may be, I doubt you will be playing this much beyond the campaign. And even then, unless you want all of the achievements, there just isn’t much of a reason to do that. There are just too many other Transformer (and shooter) games out there that over shadow this one.
If you’re a fan, you might want to buy it. Otherwise, skip it.
Overall : C+
