Gallup Gamer Review
Transformers: The Game

By: Matt Hinshaw
For The Independent

• Published by: Activision
• Developed by: Traveller’s Tales
• Genre: Action
• Release Date: June 26, 2007
• Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Play Station Portable, Nintendo DS, PC, and Playstation 2
• Rating: “T” for Teen
• Review: C (Scale of A-F)

In 1984, Hasbro Inc. changed the way kids play with toys with the introduction of The Transformers. Transformers are basically two toys in one: a vehicle and a robot. As the Transformers toy line grows with the introduction of its live action film by Paramount / DreamWorks “Transformers: The Game” is one piece of Transformers nostalgia I will never own.

“Transformers: The Game” is based on the recent big budget movie release. The storyline in the game is very similar to it with some extended scenes. Peter Cullen (the voice of Optimus Prime) and Frank Welker (the voice of Megatron) loan their voices to “Transformers: The Game,” syncing the game with the movie even closer. With the voice acting aside the story does seem to become dull. It does not flow as smoothly as anticipated. The cut scenes are short and leave you asking questions unless you have seen the summer blockbuster to fill in the gaps.

One nice touch in “Transformers: The Game” is that you can choose which side you want to play as from the start. The evil Decepticons or the heroic Autobots. The Autobots are aimed at saving civilization which makes unnecessary destruction of buildings and vehicles a negative in the game. The evil Decepticons are hell bent on destroying the world so destroying cities and vehicles only adds to your adventure. “Transformers: The Game’s” game play is based on an open world system much like the “Grand Theft Auto Series” or Activision’s “Spiderman” game franchise based on the high grossing films. This is an excellent idea since smashing cities and military bases to the ground with a 50 foot robot is just plain fun, but there is a problem. The levels are not really open world. There are only about four to five story missions for each level and they all seem to restrict you to a “combat zone.” This “combat zone” is basically a circle you must stay in while brawling the opposite faction Transformers. Outside of the story missions there are a few submissions that you can search out. They get repetitive and boring awfully fast. Some of the submissions have you destroy everything in site or others have you drive around and gather items in an allotted amount of time. The other addition to the open world levels is searching for mini allsparks (there are 100 in each level) or searching for the different faction symbols. The only thing all this searching provides you with is bonus unlockables. They range from original Transformers comic book stills to Transformers: The Movie stills. One nice bonus item worth unlocking is the original generation one characters from the 1984 toy line of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

The game missions are based around your two different modes of travel, robot form or vehicle form. At first glance, this is an excellent idea but it falls short like the rest of the game. Controlling your Transformer in car mode is a challenge and not a good one. The car based Transformers drive like a toy Transformer. The vehicle is light and looses traction when you hit the brakes through turns. Oncoming traffic or any traffic at all in the game should be an added difficulty to your mission but it is not. All you have to do is hit the car square on and it will fly across the screen and will not even slow down your pace. The only use for the vehicle option in the game is to race across the level to your next “combat zone.” The aircraft based Transformers such as Starscream and Blackout are definitely mprovements over the car-based characters, but not by much.

The Transformers themselves look excellent. The transformation from vehicle to robot could not be more fluid and believable. I spent the first five minutes playing the game just transforming from robot to Chevy Camaro just because it looked so damn good. The levels themselves are a whole other story. The buildings are not very detailed along with everything else in the level.

Despite its numerous flaws “Transformers: The Game” was fun for the first 30 minutes of game play. The Transformers look great and destroying cities with a 50 foot robot is a blast. “Transformers: The Game” gets repetitive very quickly and the Transformers themselves are not used to their full destructive potential. If you are a huge fan of the Transformers license, this game is for you. Everyone else I suggest you let this game collect dust at your local video game retailer. A select few individuals will enjoy this adaptation of the Transformers but I suggest even you give it a rent before dropping 60 dollars of your or your parents hard earned money on it. I give “Transformers: The Game” an overall rating of C. (On a rating scale of A-F with A being excellent and F being terrible.)

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