Transformers

"An enjoyable if not groundbreaking license game"

License games are tricky to review, because often someone will enjoy a game more if they also enjoy the source material. In this case, I should be completely honest-- I love Transformers and everything about them. I collect the toys, watch the shows, buy the comics-- you get the idea. For the purposes of this review, I will try to touch upon aspects of the game from both the perspective of a Transformers fan and that of a casual gamer, since both are likely to have different experiences playing Transformers.

Until now, the history of Transformers-related video games has not been a good one. From the laughably bad NES game that never made it to America, to the recent poorly reviewed Japanese game, we just haven't had much luck with a solid, fun game based on the Robots in Disguise. That has changed now with Atari's new PS2 game, titled simply Transformers. Fans should note that this game is based on Transformers Armada, in case that influences your level of interest in it.

Transformers combines action and shooting with exploration and some platform jumping. The premise is based on the Transformers Armada cartoon, although it is condensed somewhat. During the war between the Autobots and Decepticons on the planet Cybertron, the rival forces receive a signal from the lost race of Mini-Con robots, who crashed on Earth a million years ago. Since the power-enhancing Mini-Cons are sure to be the key to victory for both sides, they each send teams to Earth to recover as many Mini-Cons as they can. You play as the Autobot team, and your goal is to find Mini-Cons to enhance your abilities, and then defeat the Decepticons. When you find the Mini-Cons, you can equip them (up to four at a time) to get better weapons and special abilities.

The Armada concept lends itself well to a video game. You will have a chance to find a ton of different Mini-Cons that affect your abilities. There are a variety of different guns and secondary weapons that come with fnding new Mini-Cons. There are also some that will provide you with gadgets like a glider, stealth field, high-jump, and different types of vison to help with tracking. Some are armor and shields as well. This is the key concept of the game and it works well. You are encouraged to search not only to find everything, but to see what new abilities are to be had.

You can choose from three characters as you play-- the veteran classic Optimus Prime (reimagined in Armada form), tough guy rescue vehicle Red Alert, and eager young sports car Hot Shot. A pleasant feature of the game is that you can switch Autobots throughout-- you don't have to commit to just one per level. You can return to base at any time and switch characters, as well as change which Mini-Cons you take with you. Unfortunately, the designers didn't do the best job balancing the three robots. Optimus Prime is clearly the best of the three-- he can equip more high-power Mini-Cons (there is a maximum combined power of Mini-Cons that you can attach) and he is the strongest and toughest in just about every aspect. The only slight advantage the others have is that Hot Shot is faster in vehicle mode, and Red Alert is better on rough terrain. When I was playing, I would often use Red Alert and Hot Shot to explore the levels, but I would always switch to Optimus for the boss fights. A little more balance would have helped here. It would also have been nice to see a couple more characters available, such as Smokescreen or Blurr, maybe as hidden characters.

Once you head off to a level, you can explore and look for Mini-Cons as much as you want, but the game gives you general objectives that you are supposed to accomplish as you go. You can return to any of the worlds later and search for Mini-Cons you may have missed. This is often necessary when you get a new ability that lets you explore areas of the levels that you couldn't reach before. Each level is huge in terms of physical size. Not only does this make the environments look very realistic, but it encourages you to use your vehicle mode to travel around. This is one of the many aspects of the game that helps make it a true Transformer experience.

The graphics and sound in this game are excellent. The large levels are rendered with a lot of detail, as are the enemies and the main characters. The animation is smooth and eye-pleasing. I was frequently surprised at the level of quality achieved, particularly for a PS2 game. The sounds are equally impressive. The music contains tiny samplings of classic Transformers tunes, which are also mixed with not-too-bad rock music from a band called Dropbox. Some of the sounds and music are haunting, as you explore remote areas in solitude-- and other times the silence breaks with energetic combat music that gives you a palpable sense of tension.

The controls may take some getting used to if you are not familiar with the style. You move with one analog stick and choose your direction and aim with another. The main buttons used in combat are the L1, L2, R1 and R2 buttons. Transforming is simple and becomes second-nature quickly. There are a lot of controls to remeber, but once you get the hang of them you will find they are very precise.

Although there is a good deal of exploration, there is not a huge amount of variety in the game. One of the biggest flaws I see is the lack of variety in locales. There are two jungle levels, two snow levels, and two island levels. After a time you will find many environments looking the same. There is some exception to this, such as a starship level and some time in an ancient temple. It would have been nice to see a broader range of Earth environments, such as a desert or the outback. In particular, I was surprised to find no levels in cities, which is often where the Transformers end up fighting. This is not a huge drawback, however, since there is still a lot of territory to explore.

The Decepticlone armies you fight feature many different kinds of robots with individual abilities. New and tougher types of robots are introduced throughout the game, and some are quite challenging. The boss fights are extremely tough and will take most players several tries and a lot of quick thinking and strategy. Unfortunately, this is another area where there is not much variety. Out of the available Decepticon characters, only four are used in the game (even Demolishor, who is shown in the concept artwork, didn't make the final cut for the game).

From the perspective of a video game fan with no particular interest in Transformers, this game is an average action title. It should provide some good entertainment, but it's not going to etch itself in your memory as a classic. All of the different play elements here are done better in other games that are more specifically devoted to their genres. But you will not be bored. Transformers fans will likely be the ones to find this game the most exciting. It's a great opportunity to finally live out some Transformer adventures in video game format, even though the amount of material covered in limited (let's face it, the Transformers universe is huge and no game could hope to do more than scratch the surface). It's certainly the most fun Transformers game I've ever played. Despite its flaws and somewhat limited variety, Transformers has excellent graphics and sound, good gameplay and replay value, and an engaging story based on the Armada franchise.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/04