| System: Wii,PS3, Xbox 360, DS, 3DS |  |
| Dev: Behavior Interactive | |
| Pub: Activision | |
| Release: June 14, 2011 | |
| Players: 1-2 | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p |
Speaking of enemies, where did all these Decepticons come from? Most of the game is spent blowing up nameless, faceless, Decepticon grunts. Every so often, a major villain stops by, but that's only after you have destroyed several foot soldiers. It's almost like Dynasty Warriors on wheels. The training mission alone tasks you with blowing up thirteen Decepticons. That's more than were in the movie.
That's really all you do in the game. In each stage, you are put in a nondescript landscape and told to blow up all of your enemies. Sometimes you'll have to blow up a specific enemy, or blow up all your enemies within a certain time limit, but that's about all the variation you will see. The most the game strays from the formula is when you are put into "race" missions where you have to collect a certain amount of items before a clock ticks down to zero. While I thought these could be a refreshing departure from an otherwise boring pattern of gameplay, they are just annoying because the control scheme is so clunky it's nearly impossible to collect all the items in time. So instead, you'll find yourself wanting the same old "blow up the enemies" gameplay that you were already bored of after Mission 3 anyway.
The stages are entirely uninspired. Sure, you will blow up enemies in a desert, city, tundra, and more, but the gameplay is always basically the same. Buildings, rocks, trees, and any other environmental objects are nothing more than variations on "that thing that gets in the way of your gun." None of the maps are particularly hard to navigate, and the textures and models are so bland that you'll honestly spend more time looking at your radar.
There aren't a whole lot of game modes to choose from. Your first stop is the story mode, which in my opinion was downright painful. Supposedly, the story is supposed to serve as some sort of prequel to the upcoming movie, but nothing important happens. It feels as if the entire plot is just a framework to keep you blowing up enemies. Apparently, the plot of the Wii version actually intersects with the plot of the Xbox and PS3 versions, which is a stupid writing choice. This means the only way you can get the full story is by owning every system and purchasing every version of the game available. Hey Activision, my diet consists of Ramen noodles. I'm not rich enough to buy Transformers three times.
The biggest slap in the face is the fact that the campaign only lasts about six hours. That's easily rental length. If you really want more, you can replay sections of the story in mission mode or bring a friend along for co-op, but neither really gives the game anymore replay value. You are still doing the same thing in the same levels without any variation. The game's marketing says co-op was specifically designed for the Wii, but all it's really doing is adding another car to the missions that already exist.
Maybe I'm coming down a little hard on this game, but I'm a Transformers fan. I grew up with the robots in disguise, and heck, I didn't even really mind what Michael Bay did with the movies. But a Transformers game where you can't transform? How did that even get made? This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Trust me, you aren't missing anything by passing this game up. Optimus Prime is dead, and it's this game that killed him.
By
Angelo M. D’Argenio
CCC Contributing Writer
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