Transformers: The Game

"Almost a great movie game... almost."

The film by Michael Bay, a summer hit that old and new fans joined together and had witnessed one of the best special effects in a movie to date. After having fond memories of the series and now the movie, what better way to add on to that excitement by playing the game? Transformers: The game hits the Nintendo Wii and this game would of been perfect if they only put some more thought into it. There are many flaws and stuff left out that makes you wonder what were the developers thinking.

Let's first get into the story, Autobots (good guys) and the Decepticons (bad guys) are in search of a cube like energy source call the Allspark. Of course the Decepticons want to use it for evil, while the Autobots are trying to hide it from the Decepticons. Now the answer to finding the Allspark is deep within a boy on earth who possess his grandfather's glasses that has the coordinates engraved in the lens to where the Allspark is. Because this game is so close to the movie, further information might ruin the actual movie.

When you first start the game, you are given the choices of the Autobots or the Decepticons. Each side is purely unique but I must say, the Decepticons are the most fun. I am not saying that just because I love them, but the fact you have a different array of choices with them. For example, the Autobots are all vehicles. Cars and trucks basically. So each Autobot you are playing with, feels the same and it can get pretty boring after awhile. The Decepticons however, have ground and air characters and the fact they look so much better is a plus.

Since I am on characters, here is one of the flaws I dislike. Each side if you seen the movie, have a certain amount of characters. Autobots have Optimus Prime, Jazz, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Ironhide. Now the game, you are only given the use of four out of the five. So in this game, Ratchet isn't used and on the Decepticon side, they have everyone except Brawl. In case you don't know who Brawl is, he is the tank. Now, I also have this game for the DS and that version seems more superior to the PS2, 360 and the Wii itself. What is going on shouldn't it be the other way around?

On to some good things now, the graphics for this game is beautiful and it captures the Transformers perfectly. Just by simple walking you can see the weight bares down on the ground leaving cracks. When you climb buildings, the windows and walls break. The backgrounds are detailed too, all the scenes from the movies are in the game, but the only difference is that you can explore more of it. The graphics for this game is definitely one of the good aspects.

I however, can't say the same for the controls of this game, which brings me to my second flaw. This game has one of the worst camera controls I have ever played in my gaming life. You move the camera with the wii mote, by pressing the (-) button it resets the camera forward. Now, what happens is, when you are let's say turning in one direction, the cursor will go haywire and you will find your Transformer spinning around like a chicken with no head. That is very annoying when you have multiple enemies attacking you. Of course, some of you out there will go, "hey that doesn't sound too bad" well let me assure you that to attack is by using the wii mote as well. You have to swing it left and right to do a melee attack while swinging it up and down let's you pick objects up WHICH! is also the Z button. Imagine you are attacking an enemy while the camera is moving around, it is annoying and it just isn't necessary.

Ok ok, I know what most of you are saying after reading my last sentence, "there is a lock on button" ah yes, the lock-on. Many games have that feature, but most games that have that feature usually have a problem when there are more than three enemies on the screen. While you are locked on to one target, you start to strafe and you can't really get away from the other enemies attacking you. So sometimes, using the lock-on is pointless. Besides the camera problem, everything else is pretty good. The way to transform, shoot, accelerate in vehicle mode are all perfectly positioned.

The music for this game isn't really worth mentioning. It has some beats but it isn't so great. Although I must admit it matches the areas you are in whether you are a Autobot or a Decepticon.

Finally, the replay value. This game doesn't offer too much, but if you are able to collect most of the stuff available in the game, you can unlock skins, movies, pictures and an extra mission for both sides. I just hope that if and when they ever make a second game based on Transformers, there will be more things to unlock. The last flaw in this game is the fact it doesn't have multi player while the DS version does. Again, what happened? Was this game rushed in some way? Why are all the console versions inferior to the hand held version?

In closing, if you aren't a die hard Transformer fan, PLEASE! rent this game first. I sort of regret buying it the first day it came out, even before seeing the movie. The game isn't worth it's price, but again, if you love Transformers like myself, you would keep it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/07