Transformers

"By far the best shoot'em'up on the PS2"

The purpose of this review is to counter the negative critic this game has received and to praise it like it should be praised.

Okay, I admit. I am a Transformers fan, but only a fan of the 1980's comic books. I haven't seen the original TV-series and I couldn't care less about the new ones. Still, this game doesn't deserve a 10 just because it's "Transformers". In fact, right now I don't even care about it being a Transformers game. I love it because it's a great game. Oh, and one more thing: One might consider me a hardcore player, since I've played this game through 14 times! Don't run away, hear me out: There's gotta be something in this game if it makes me play through it so many times!

STORY
Forget about the story. Even though the story of this game is better than the story of the Armada-series, in which this game is based on, unfortunately, it is still not worth caring about. Concentrate on the game itself: That's where the fun is!

GRAPHICS
This game looks great, but graphics should never be the most important thing in video games. If you ask me, Transformers could look worse and still be a great game. The levels are very beautiful. Especially the forests of Amazon, the blizzard of Antarctica and the many elevations that the levels offer look fantastic. All the levels are open, free areas that contain great numbers of well-animated enemies. Of course there's some slowdown, but it's so brief that it never hurts the game-play. In spite of all this eye-candy, the thing I like the most about the graphics is the style. The nice bright colors and the overall smoothness give
Transformers a very fun and unique look.

SOUND
Let's just say: The sounds work. There's nothing exceptional about them and nothing bad either. I love the music however, and it seems like I'm the only one who does. The mainstream seems to prefer over-the-top opera music, for example the music of "God of War" or "Halo", but the music of Transformers is candy for my ears. The merge of orchestral music, techno and hard rock really fits the game-play. The music even changes according to the situation: Quiet music in peaceful situations and intense action music during firefights. Some tracks feature even four levels which often vary dramatically. The tracks can also be listened to in the game's extras-section.

GAME-PLAY
Now, this is where Transformers excels at. There are three Autobots(Good robots) to choose from, each with different capabilities. Optimus Prime has the best firepower and minicon capacity(I'll explain that later), but he's the slowest, Hot Shot is the fastest but the weakest and Red Alert is generally good, with the best defence. Of course, since they're Transformers, each one of them can transform into vehicle form. These vary too: Optimus Prime's truck form is good for crushing enemies but is hardest to drive, Red Alert's SUV form is best for driving in open terrain and Hot Shot's sports car form is, again, the fastest. Many have criticised the poor balance between the characters and I agree in some ways: Hot Shot is no doubt the overall weakest character, but there's no denying how fun it is to play with him, especially when collecting minicons. He's especially useful for skilled players who have easy time dodging incoming fire with him. Some have also criticised Red Alert, but I see no point: I think he's actually better than Optimus Prime in the first half of the game where minicons aren't that important yet.

The minicons, the biggest innovation of this game, are small robots that are spread across the levels. The fact that the player must find them, instead of winning them or something, gives the game a good amount of exploration, a thing that many other shoot'em'ups lack. Players can return to previously completed levels to search for more minicons. Each Autobot can equip up to four minicons, assigned to the four shoulder buttons. These offer several interesting weapons and power-ups. Each minicon requires a certain amount of power, powerful minicons of course require more power than weaker ones. Each Autobot has a certain minicon power capacity and the combined power requirement of all the equipped minicons cannot exceed this capacity, meaning that the Autobots can't equip many powerful minicons. Optimus Prime has the best capacity, so he can equip more powerful minicons, making him very useful near the end of the game where good minicon combinations are very important. Also, each minicon has one of five colors. If an Autobot equips two or more minicons of the same color, it receives certain enhancements, for example a boost of energon(increased health). Some colors offer better enhancements than others. This system gives the game some strategical value: Should one concentrate more on offence or defence? Should one aim for the special enhancements or for better minicons but no enhancements? I've heard a lot of criticism that many of the minicons are useless. On my first time through, I probably would have agreed, but not anymore. In my opinion, there are only a few minicons that are best left unused. Many of the weaker minicons are best used as so called support minicons: You use them to get enhancements by equipping two or more minicons of the same color and not caring about the minicon's own abilities. Also, many of the less useful minicons are fun just to play with, instead of using them to play through the game. Seriously, have fun with this game, don't aim to get through it.

One thing that has been widely criticised in Transformers is the general uselessness of the vehicle forms. I'm asking: Do action games always have to have separate(and usually scripted) driving sequences where you are forced to use vehicles? I think not. In my opinion, freedom to use vehicle mode whenever you want instead of being forced to is a whole lot better. In Transformers, there are absolutely no sequences where you have to use vehicle mode, except for some jumps, but there's usually a way around them. How useful is the vehicle mode then? First of all, the levels are huge, so you're surely going to use the vehicle mode for traveling if not for anything else. One shouldn't forget the usefulness of the vehicle mode in combat, however. Not only can you crush enemies with it, but you can also use it to quickly move from one spot to another in the middle of battle, making it easy to quickly gain distance from your enemies. Crushing enemies with the vehicle form is only useful early in the game where there are weaker enemies, but you can also send them flying in the air by hitting them hard enough. Very useful, because they usually blow up upon hitting the ground. Also, many players don't seem to realise the usefulness of the vehicle form during the game's boss fights. Many of the bosses have attacks that are devastating in close range: They throw you away, slam you to the ground several times and kick you into lava. Using vehicle mode effectively can save you from these and from many other attacks as well. Needless to say: The vehicle forms are far from useless.

The AI of Transformers is good. It might not be the best AI on today's standards, but it's still good, especially when considering how many enemies there are and how large and open the levels are. Due to the open levels, the enemies can't totally rely on scripts. The enemies of Transformers, called Decepticlones, are some of the best designed enemies I've ever seen in a shoot'em'up. The basic enemies of this game are called medium units. They come in two versions: Yellow and red with shield. The red, shielded versions are much stronger and, in addition to firing a blaster, they can also throw grenades. Both versions are very intelligent: They almost always work in groups, try to surround the player, run away to call for reinforcements and dodge rockets and other weapons. More dangerous enemies called command units often lead groups of medium units and know some funny battle tactics. Heavy units are the most menacing enemies in the game that pose a serious threat, especially in groups. There aren't that many different enemy types in the game, but in this case quality beats quantity. Each type of enemy is very memorable and acts in its own unique way. Hint: Fire a mine of the Watchdog-minicon on a medium unit(whichever version). It's hilarious!

The bosses of this game split opinions. Some say they're awesome while some say they're frustrating. I'm of course one of those who say they're awesome. There are four Decepticons in the game and each one is a boss: Megatron, Starscream, Cyclonus and Tidal Wave. Megatron is my favourite: Especially on commander-difficulty(most difficult), the battle is the most intense boss battle in shoot'em'up history(the most intense, not the most difficult). Tidal Wave is huge, and although he has lost some of his appeal in the era of "Shadow of the Colossus", he is still a fun boss to fight, especially because he fires so many missiles that you think you're in world war III. All the boss fights are very intense, you fight most of them in large open spaces and each one has great music. The three Autobots, the minicon-system and the vehicle forms offer several different tactics to beat them with. This ensures that the boss fights don't get old in an instant. Also, the ultimate final battle of Transformers is something quite out of the ordinary.

An action game can't be good if the action itself is trash. Fortunately, the action of Transformers is great. In fact, it's so great that it throws all competition out of the way. This is why you should play Transformers. The action of Transformers is about constant moving, firing, dodging and quick thinking. It may not seem special at first, especially on the easiest recruit-difficulty, but when you get the hang of it, you don't want to look back. Wide battlezones, hordes of intelligent and interesting enemies, good controls and a good amount of strategy offered by the Autobots and the minicons make this a war trip you won't forget. Other shoot'em'ups just don't feel right after Transformers. I suggest you screw the recruit-difficulty and move straight to the higher difficulties. They offer the best action with more enemies which are also tougher, forcing you to think a little before heading into the middle of battle. The learning curve of this game is very wide: Recruit may seem somewhat difficult at first, but once you've played through commander, recruit will be laughably easy.

FINAL
Transformers is the only game I've played that actually feels better the more you play it. The first times I played through it I thought it was good, but it didn't have a serious impact on me yet. I used to think that games such as "Metal Gear Solid 3", "GTA: San Andreas" and "God of War" were better than this, but slowly Transformers surpassed all of those. Transformers is like a beat'em'up: First you practise, then you kick ass! The better you know how to play this game, the more you like it. This of course means that Transformers is not suitable to all players. In order to get the best out of it, you need to learn to play it and this means you have to play it a lot. Also, Transformers relies on good action alone, it doesn't have a memorable plot or anything like that. The game has a good amount of extras, but not enough to keep true hardcore players interested. It is also fairly short, only 8 levels, but since it isn't your typical linear scripted rollercoaster shooter, the length varies depending on how you play it. I'm telling you, don't just run through it. Where's the fun in that? Instead, enjoy it while it lasts. Transformers is easily the best shooter on the PS2 and it's not even an FPS, but who said it needs to be? If you like the action, then this game will last. I hope you agree with me. Transformers is pure diamond and you don't have to be a fan to like it.

SCORE: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/05/07