Transformers The Game

There’s less that meets the eye, says Logan Booker.

First thought to hit the brain is that the in-game models look truly sexy – as they should, being scaled-back versions of the ones from the movie. This thought is quickly displaced by a second: Running around, transforming from robot to vehicle and back is slick, fun and funky. Twenty minutes in you’re struck with a final stream of consciousness. Does it hold further nuggets of gaming gold?

Sadly it doesn’t. Instead the stream is filled with the putrid stink of something gone bad. Closer investigation will prove it’s not your socks or a forgotten cheeseburger hiding under the couch – it’s the gameplay of Transformers: The Game.

Whoever thought of mixing robots with Rampage and Grand Theft Auto needs to be disposed of, silently, because if this game is anything to go by, the formula just does not work.

An elaborate intro cinematic, courtesy of the renowned Blur Studios, informs us that the AllSpark, a powerful artefact that grants the Transformers life, has arrived on Earth after years in hiding, and must be kept away from the evil Decepticons. The game then gives you the choice to play as either the Decepticons or the Autobots, however the format of the latter reeks distinctly of tutorials, while the former has you blowing up military bases and chasing down humans against short time limits from the get-go. The designers obviously believed players would go with the Autobots first and, if you chose not to, expect to learn by doing.



Playing the game isn’t exactly complex though. The right trigger and bumper fire are your primary and secondary weapons respectively, with the secondary being the stronger of the two. ‘X’ jumps, while ‘A’ punches and kicks, and hitting ‘Y’ will convert you between bipedal and vehicular forms. The left trigger provides a turbo when you’re driving. Get these down pat and you’re done.

Transformers adopts an odd structure for its missions. It attempts to combine the freeform mechanics of GTA, where you’re free to take on whatever tasks you choose from a plethora of options, with a standard, linear story more fitting of an action title. The problem is you’re only ever given a single new mission to complete once the previous one is done, making the interludes between the height of irrelevance. True, you can drive around the city picking up energy cubes that access extra ‘content’ – because getting every last movie screencap is the definition of compelling gameplay – and perform ‘mad’ stunts by kicking in the turbo, but ultimately your efforts are completely forgotten as soon as the next mission starts.



On top of this is the annoying way in which boss fights play out. Should one employ a bit of strafing combined with intelligent use of your Transformer’s primary weak weapon and more potent secondary? Are you kidding? Just run around like an idiot trying to pick up a lamppost or tree to peg at them, and then close in for a few rounds of punching and kicking, and repeat. This would be fine if only a few boss fights required this strategy, but pretty much all of them demand you follow this unexciting and frustrating formula.

It doesn’t help that when your robot has nothing near him to grab, pressing the ‘B’ button will still make him pause, crouch down and swing his hands about, only to stand up empty-handed, giving your opponent ample time to pound you. And even if you’re off by a few millimetres or the object you want to wrench free isn’t directly in front of you, poor Bumblebee, Blackout or whichever bot you’re playing will waste precious seconds pushing around oxygen molecules.

Finally, divine intervention is better than raw skill when driving, as the larger Transformers all but block your view – Optimus is a prime offender here – and there’s only one camera view available. Seeing as it’s not from the driver’s seat, it’s really unforgivable.

Were the developers given the high-polygon models from the film and told, at gunpoint, to make a game out of them? Because that’s what Transformers: The Game plays like. It’s truly an abysmal effort that will unfortunately spread to almost every console available.

For heaven’s sake, go see the movie instead.

For
Awesome-looking models; unique convert forms and weapons.

Against
Repetitive; simplistic; annoying grab move; throwing solves everything.