"Average 3D brawler, with a unique gimmick and more limitations"

In all honesty, I should really just copy and paste my Transformers: Decepticons review here. Virtually everything I said in that review applies here, from the graphics, to the controls, to the extras, to the plot.

However, oddly enough, these are both unique games in their own right.

So! What is Transformers Autobots, and why did I give it a whole point below its Decepticon brother?

Like Transformers Decepticons, Autobots sees you as a rookie bot who lands on some dustball of a world called Earth. Unlike Decepticons, you are sent there to help a group of Autobots track a team of Decepticons who are acting quite odd. Eventually you learn WHY you are there, and why Optimus Prime himself is involved. But I cannot say much here, due to those who abhor spoilers.

Like Decepticons, you can explore one of a few major areas (city, dam, etc) at will, scanning vehicles for alternate forms and completing missions while blasting your foes. Unlike Decepticons, you cannot gain experiance by just blowing everything up. Instead, you must blast only Decepticon bots that challenge you (or are blowing up humans), complete missions, and... well, that's about the only way Autobots can level up. This makes the game notably harder, as once you gain all locked abilities (such as wall climbing, heavy weapons, and turbo), your stats start going up. This can be quite irritating, especially when we get to the second biggest reason why Autobots and Decepticons are not the same.

And what is that reason? The missions. Where in Decepticons you usually were blowing things up with little care (making it more like another "sandbox" series of adult fame), Autobots sees you protecting more people and destroying only when you have no choice. This means more escort missions, more missions where you have to make sure object X is not blown up, and no humans are harmed to keep alive.

As anyone who has played missions like these for years will tell you, this is rather dull. The one chase mission I was involved with thus far was a welcome change, as you had Bumblebee chasing a Decepticon that had blasted up a home with key data, turned into a police car, and began broadcasting like an officer, stating YOUR car as the one that blew up that residence, and sends all the cops after you.

Oh, did I mention that entire bit of dialog, almost a full minute's worth, was full voice acting?

Like Decepticons, there is a LOT of voice acting for a DS game, most of it you will hear only once or twice (or a dozen times, depending on the mission). And like its brother, Autobot's voice acting is spot-on, with some very good actors (plus one that will be familiar to hardcore Transformers fans...).

Graphically the same as Decepticons, there is still fog, bland details, and cool character models. The music is largely the same (with a few themes swapped for the occasion). And like Decepticons, the multiplayer and WFC support is the same.

Again, read my Transformers Decepticon review for most of the details. Except for the story, missions, and the one area unique to the Autobots (the Glacier area), these two games are almost the same. Which is not a bad thing.

Oh, and that one-poing drop? That is due to the increasted difficulty due to the lack of easy leveling up, plus the constant escort missions.

Final Score: 6 of 10

+ Best Features: Character Models, graphics, voice acting, WFC support, playing as Optimus Prime

- Worst Featuers: Escort Missions, lack of easy level-ups, some escort missions WAAY too hard

* If You Liked: Transformers Decepticons, Eragon DS, Super Mario 64 DS, Transformers (XB360, Wii)

* Guilty Pleasure: Reaping the rewards of quickly joining in the WFC when the Autobots won a key victory, and having only played one day.

+ (Great) Reality: Elements, the WFC support for seeing which side gets the best score is both fun and addicting... Now if only other developers will use the WFC more often...

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/07