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SilverDragon
8th September 2008, 09:13 PM
Now I'm going to do a switch from my usual toy reviews and instead review one of the games based on the various incarnations of the Transformer franchise.

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As with nearly every blockbuster movie released nowadays, there will inevitably be video game tie-ins that generally shove you into the plot of the film and deny you of the freedom to team up with the Joker instead of stabbing him in the eye with a rusty fork. They are generally one a platform. However, with the games based on the 2007 Transformers movie, there is a difference in the DS department. Rather than choosing between an Autobot campaign or a Decepticon campaign, the choice is at retail, meaning that, if you want to play one of these games, you have to decide whether to join the forces of good or the forces of evil. As one may presume from the title, I chose the latter. However, this game doesn't force you to do one mission after another, as shall be seen.

In terms of plot, TF:D presents a different storyline from the film. Rather than being filled with humans who get caught up in an intergalactic war, instead it's focused on the misadventures of the Decepticons as they blunder around earth in search of Megatron. I like this-a game about Transformers should be about the titular robots. The Autobots show up from time to time, but the notable characters are all bosses-most of the time, you're fighting random Autobots who are in vehicle mode until they notice you blowing stuff up or you blast them, forcing them into robot mode.

You play as a rookie Decepticon who you can name yourself-I named my guy Topkick. You crash to earth under the command of Starscream, who instructs him to hook up with Barricade to search for the Decepticon whose distress signal was picked up. It is actually quite enjoyable-moreso than the film. Starscream is very much his G1 self, all treacherous and power-hungry. The other 'cons are also interesting-in particular, Barricade is fanatically loyal to Megatron (which should really have been Blackout's role) and Brawl is a psycho who gets all the good one-liners. The game actually manages to characterise the robots more than the actual movie did.

What's notable is that voice-acting is extensively used in this game. It is used in all the cutscenes, something unusual for a DS game. It is also rather good voice acting. Notably, the original voice actors for BOTH Optimus Prime and Megatron are present-something the film decided not to do in favour of Hugo Weaving. Optimus really gives off a sense of authority with his voice. Megatron, though, sounds like G1 Megatron with bronchitis- a result of Frank Welker trying to emulate Movie Megatron and failing.

However, it's the gameplay that really matters. The missions in this game generally fall into distinct categories: blow stuff up, boss battle, defend a target, and stop a convoy. They are actually kind of fun, in regards to the blow stuff up part, especially in one where you run around and kill the Autobots in their protoform modes. The others, not so much. ESPECIALLY not the last two. In one, you play as Blackout and have to stop a military convoy. The problem here is that the surprisingly fast tanks which guard the convoy fire missiles which knock you over and out of vehicle mode if you are in it. This is extremely annoying, considering the speed of the convoy means that you can get caught up for way too long with the tanks, letting the convoy get away.

Aside from the really annoying missions which make you want to take the cartridge out and destroy it in frustration, they don't last long-I beat them in three days. However, the game doesn't end here-instead, it becomes something like Grand Theft Auto, in that it's essentially a free-roaming game with optional missions to do to further the completion status of your file. You can pick from four different areas-a casino strip, Tranquility (the largest area; basically Mission City), Qatar, and Hoover Dam. There is actually quite an amount of space in these levels, meaning that you can explore as much as you want. Hoover Dam in particular is riddled with secret passages that lead to Sector Seven's base.

You can play as six different characters-your player character, Barricade, Brawl, Blackout, Starscream, and Megatron (WHY NO BONECRUSHER?!?!!?!), and vehicle modes are divided into cars, jets, and helicopters (Brawl counts as a car-resulting in a tank which can accelerate). The advantage that the player character has over the other 'cons is that he doesn't have a fixed vehicle mode. You can scan the vehicles (and other Transformers, incidentally) to unlock them as vehicle forms-which you can customise in a limited fashion by changing two colours. These vehicle forms also determine your stats in both vehicle and robot modes. Several-like the Attack Copter-are hidden, and others only appear under certain conditions. So far, I prefer playing as flying vehicles because it's just so fun to cruise around in the sky (like a vast, predatory bird!) and then conduct a bombing raid on civilians. The other advantage of vehicle modes-aside from mobility-is that nothing tries to attack you when you are a vehicle-which leads to ludicrous situations when everyone is ignoring the giant alien jet flying overhead.

You can also transform any time you want by the touch screen. This is fun-swooping down in jet mode, changing into robot mode, wreaking havoc, then flying off really fast is giddy fun, and it does give you an idea of what being a giant transforming robot would be like.

Optional missions are scattered around the place, and are generally variations on the main mission formulae. They're actually fun, such as one in which you throw as much stuff as you can. However, I tend to forgo them in favour of exploring and randomly blowing up cars. The game helpfully gives you an auto-targeting system if you want to blow stuff up-and surprisingly, the auto-target works properly, instead of latching on to a chair rather than Optimus Prime's face. However, you have to be facing your opponent for it to work-which can be frustrating if they move too fast.

Like GTA, committing random acts of violence attracts the attention of the police-and the Autobots. However, I found that the police showed up more than the Autobots, which was annoying. The G1 theme song does not go ''Decepticons wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the human police". I want to fight the Autobots, not the humans! But to be fair, having brawls with tanks is kinda fun, especially with the random banter you pick up from them, which is actually funny.

The graphics for this game are surprisingly good. It is entirely in 3D-albeit limited by the DS' capabilities. While I'm amazed by giant cityscapes rendered on a handheld usually given sprites, it does cause problems, namely that it can appear quite foggy at a distance. Also, you can often deal with your opponents by simply running away, as the game cannot keep track of everyone running around the area. Character models generally look good if you aren't looking at them close-up (otherwise they're masses of pixels), and the transformations give the impression of, well, transformation, even if they are just the character models spinning quickly.

I think I've said enough already. Bottom line: it's a fun game, more for the GTA-style antics rather than the missions. Get it if you want to see what being a Transformer would be like, or if you were annoyed that Frank Welker didn't get to be Megatron in the movie.

4/5

autobreadticon
8th September 2008, 09:32 PM
"You can also transform any time you want by the touch screen." love it!!!, bread now has to find a ROM to play this haah

JuzMel
9th September 2008, 09:08 AM
Hehehe I couldn't take it, the Autobots or Decepticons DS games were too hard for me and the character movement is annoyingly slow. :rolleyes: For the Autobots, I stopped at the part where Ironhide had to catch up some other character/truck. For Decepticons I stopped at the part where Blackout/Brawl had to shoot down some military trucks in the Desert.

I played the PSP version instead and thought it was much easier because I managed to finish the game.. hehe.. :D

Omega Supreme
9th September 2008, 09:30 AM
Didnt mind this game myself, although I did sell it after finishing it the first time. Havent played the Autobots version, but I imagine it would be pretty much the same.

Paulbot
9th September 2008, 11:34 AM
I've got both games but am currently (well occassionally) playing the Autobot game with 'Gears'. I found the PS2 game more fun (although irritating in it's own ways) but the DS games have merit too.

Tetsuwan Convoy
9th September 2008, 08:49 PM
Hehehe I couldn't take it, the Autobots or Decepticons DS games were too hard for me and the character movement is annoyingly slow. :rolleyes: For the Autobots, I stopped at the part where Ironhide had to catch up some other character/truck. For Decepticons I stopped at the part where Blackout/Brawl had to shoot down some military trucks in the Desert.

I played the PSP version instead and thought it was much easier because I managed to finish the game.. hehe.. :D
WHoa, you're game there Juzmel. I played the PSP version and thought it was probably THE worst game I have EVER played. It was tragically horrid.

I hated the random difficulty of the DS games. Sometimes the missions were really easy and the next incredibly hard.

Gutsman Heavy
9th September 2008, 09:55 PM
WHoa, you're game there Juzmel. I played the PSP version and thought it was probably THE worst game I have EVER played. It was tragically horrid.


You mustn't have played the G1 Ps2 game, that was horrid!
Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick.

SilverDragon
10th September 2008, 06:57 PM
Or 'The Mystery of Convoy'. I've only seen videos on YouTube, but all I can say is that I don't think Ultra Magnus would die instantly from one shot.

Paulbot
10th September 2008, 09:23 PM
It didn't take much for him to self-destruct in the movie....

I've played that game and it's not fun.

JuzMel
11th September 2008, 11:33 AM
WHoa, you're game there Juzmel. I played the PSP version and thought it was probably THE worst game I have EVER played. It was tragically horrid.

I hated the random difficulty of the DS games. Sometimes the missions were really easy and the next incredibly hard.
Hehehe I know, I found it pretty irritating at first too and it has real bad reviews on the game sites, but at $25 I'm not complaining, plus I managed to finish it in a few hours, easy didn't mean it's a good game... :p

Agreed about the variation of difficulty in the DS version, made it rather annoying. I heard the Armada version for PS2 is quite good.

Paulbot
11th September 2008, 12:13 PM
I found the Armada PS2 game difficulty much worse than any of the movie games. Partly due to some clumsy controls (I wish it had a target lock).

i_amtrunks
11th September 2008, 01:45 PM
I found the Armada PS2 game difficulty much worse than any of the movie games. Partly due to some clumsy controls (I wish it had a target lock).

But to compensate it was a terribly terribly fantastic game to play.

Even more fun the second time around when I found out about the one shot kill and other cheats. :D

I never bothered finishing the DS games, never were too much fun, and the difficulty varying so much really put me off. (plus there was the new DBZ game that came out as well)

Tetsuwan Convoy
13th September 2008, 01:04 AM
You mustn't have played the G1 Ps2 game, that was horrid!
Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick, Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick,Kick.

Oh I have! Your description sums it up pretty well. As bad as it is, its better than PSP Movie game. I felt like I wanted the hours of my life that I spent playing it back after I had finished it.:mad:
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k313/Wootnchoo/pgame2.jpg

I reckon the Armada PS2 game was the best. I could only play it on Rookie level and even then when you went back to a completed level it was bloody hard.
Second Best would be TF Movie on big consoles, then DS then, Beast Wars Kettou on GBA then BW Transmetals on Ps1 then (sadly) probably Transformers on C64.

Pulse
13th September 2008, 12:51 PM
Isn't it sad how the G1 Ps2 game should have been "the Ultimate G1 Game" but it miserably failed to reach its potential... *sigh*

Tetsuwan Convoy
13th September 2008, 01:04 PM
Yeh, it could have been so cool. I wonder if they bothered play-testing it at all. I did enjoy having Optimus, Rodimus and Bumblebee take on Predaking at one stage in the game, shame all the other time sucked!

Beast_Wars_Superior
26th October 2008, 06:40 PM
I also have this game and was really impressed by it. I pretty much agree with the review, aside from a few things:

Firstly, I don't think Frank Welker is trying to emulate the Movie Megs. Just as Peter Cullen sounds like an older Optimus, Welker sounds like an older Megatron. It's a bit weird at first, but you'll soon hear lines that sound exactly like G1 Megs.

I agree that the voice acting is great, and the characters and stories present within the Decepticon ranks are very entertaining. I love that Starscream sounds almost identical to G1 Starscream (or at the very least, Animated Starscream), and his dialogue is excellent. I also love Ironhide's G1-esque voice and one-liners (I'm gonna put you in permanent neutral!).

One thing you didn't mention is that you can use weapons in car mode. I think this is great and adds a new dimension to the game. It also feels a bit like Spy Hunter when you drive along, shooting helicopters with rockets and shooting other cars off the road. :P

And I agree 100% that the ability to transform at any time makes you feel like a Transformer like never before. In the Qatar mission where you attack the base as Blackout, I would fly to a target, transform, smash it, transform again and take off. The freedom made me feel like I actually was a powerful Decepticon tearing the base to pieces. I hear that in the console games, you're sometimes fixed in one mode (specialised driving/fighting stages), and after hearing that I can see why reviewers liked the DS version best.

I didn't hate the convoy mission with Blackout, I found it challenging and entertaining. Same for the mission where you had to protect Megatron. Just my opinon though.

Beast_Wars_Superior
27th October 2008, 02:16 AM
I just finished the story mode, and if you're playing this game I recommend playing through to the end, because there's one hell of a twist! Then again, as a longtime Transformers fan I can't say I'm surprised by it... :p

Also, in the final battle with Starscream, Megatron screams out "Your leadership is PATHETIC!!!" I almost lol'd.

Also, after Story Mode, you can do free play with any Decepticon! Flying around annihilating stuff as Megatron while saying the line in my sig every time I transform is just fantastic. I didn't actually know you could reach a 'Threat Neutralised' level. ;)

I think I may go get Transformers: Autobots sometime soon. The voice acting in these games is so good, and the game is so cheap, that I'd be fairly stupid to not see the other half of the story. Then again, I have Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Transformers Animated, and Bust A Move DS all arriving in the mail (hopefully) this week, so I don't know when I'd play it! :p