Transformers: Autobots

"“Just remember, there's a thin line between being a hero and being a memory.”"

Following up on the hit movie Transformers, Activision created a line of Transformer video games. Two of those games hit the Nintendo DS: Transformers Autobots, and Transformers Decepticons. Each game has you playing a different role. Autobots are keepers of the peace and defenders of planet Earth, while the Decepticons are ruthless and destruction machines tearing apart anything they can. Each game has its own unique story line; however, Autobots follows the same plot as the movie more so than its counterpart. Like the name suggests, you can transform into a variety of different vehicles, ranging anywhere from an old Beater to a Combat Chopper to a Peace Van to an Ice Cream Truck. Yes, you can transform into an Ice Cream Truck.

Autobots starts you out at a Casino District. You are a new Autobot ready for action. You contact Ironhide, weapon specialist, who assists you through a tutorial. Here the basic gameplay is introduced. I was impressed how open this game was. Most of the gameplay makes you wander throughout 4 different free-roaming levels: A Casino strip, the town of Tranquility, The Artic, and The Hoover Dam. Each “level” has markers that lead to the next mission to continue the story. Missions can be a variety of things: Escort a fellow Autobot, defend a fellow Autobot, race to a checkpoint, retrieve an item, or battle a boss Decepticon. If you don't choose to do story mode, you can free-roam throughout gigantic levels as your own Autobot. As you play as your own Autobot, you will gain experience and level up. Leveling up increases your stats as usual. Every now and again when you are exploring a level, a car will drive by that just doesn't look right. When you turn around, the Decepticon is already transforming yelling “Death to all Autobots!”. Transforming and destroying that piece of metal will gain you experience as will missions. Even when I free-roam today, I still stop to beat up the Decepticons, even though all my stats are maxed. Autobot pride still stands strong.

Combat in Autobots is a big beat-them-up game. One button is for physical combat, while another button is used for your weapon. Tapping the weapon button will fire missiles, while holding it will fire lasers. Your weapon has a gauge that will decrease when it's being used. Over time this fills back up, but if it is completely depleted, you cannot fire your weapon until the gauge fills back up some.

I have to compliment this game on it's free-roaming feature. Not a lot of DS games have free-roaming this big. Tranquility is the biggest free-roaming place I have seen on a handheld. Scattered along the level are challenges, where if you complete them, you'll get experience and a record to beat. If you destroy too many things, you can get the police involved who will make you their public enemy, shooting you any time you transform into the robot form. If you lay low for a while, your threat level will go down, and soon the cops will be nowhere to be seen.

The story mode is quite fun and mostly true to the movie (however, Sam Witwicky is never to be found). Just like the movie, the Autobots are in search of a cube called the All-Spark. With the All-Spark, the Autobots can re-create their planet (Cybertron) that the Decpticons destroyed. The Decpticons want the All-Spark to destroy everything in their way. Since you are a new Autobot, you are still getting the hang of things and are given a place in Optimus Prime's team of Autobots. Throughout the game, when you hit the mission checkpoints, you get to play as one of six Autobots: Yourself, Optimus Prime, Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee, and Ratchet. The Autobot you play as is pre-selected for that mission. However, you'll see plenty of interactions between Autobots. Every mission of so, you'll be there with another Autobot doing something. Eventually, you'll fight a boss Decepticon, such as Blackout, Brawl, and Starscream. Some of the battles you can run around in circle firing your laser at them until they die; others are a little more complicated and could use some strategy. Some missions are tough, but with a little practice and lots of repetition, it'll be beaten.

The story mode has voice acting from the actors, which I thought was pretty neat. Megatron, however, had a different voice actor than the movie Megatron, so that throws in a little variety. I personally liked the game Megatron better.

What would this game be without being able to transform into vehicles? If you couldn't, this would be another giant-robot-fighting-another-robot-to-the-death game, and everybody knows how many of those we have floating around. Once you finish the tutorial, you can scan cars that pass by and unlock the ability to transform into that car. Some vehicles are hidden away and require some heavy duty searching to find them, some drive by certain areas in certain levels, and some actually make you have to create a ruckus and bring the cops into it, which you can then scan their copters to gain that form. Like I said, there's a variety of things you transform into.

If you have Wi-Fi access, you can help join your group of Transformers in the All-Spark Wars. Each day, the two groups of Transformers will be “fighting” for a piece of the All-Spark by downloading and completing challenges. Once you download and complete the daily mission (which can vary from beating up drones to racing to a checkpoint), you can upload your results into the All-Spark wars to help your faction's score. If you contribute to your faction, you can get Wi-Fi tokens, which when they are accumulated, can get you cheats and new vehicles, including Skydive, the only Autobot plane that is playable. At the end of the day, whichever team has the highest score wins that part of the All-Spark.
If a faction gets a hold of all 7 pieces of the All-Spark at once, the war ends and a new one begins. In addition to helping your faction, if your team wins the war, you can get bonus tokens.

The control scheme is very simple: Move with the D-pad, one button for combat, one button for your weapon, and the shoulder pads for adjusting the camera angle. On the touch screen there is a radar, a button which will blow up a map of the level, and the insignia of you faction. The insignia will transform your transformer into either the robot or the vehicle. If you get tired of always transforming into a SWAT Van, you can go to the pause menu and select the car/chopper/airplane you want to transform into. Each type has different stats, so take into consideration that the Hot Rodder's armor isn't great but the Funky Bus's weapons are outstanding.

I had set this down for a long time because I thought I had done all I wanted to do. I came back to it not to long ago and can't set it down. I'm not even playing the story mode. This game has sucked me back into the transformers world. Just free-roaming throughout the city of Tranquility has brought me back to this game. Choosing from all the vehicle types. Jumping from building to building. Flying across The Artic. Doing donuts as Optimus Prime. I recommend just playing the game. Nowadays, it can be found pretty cheap in the bargain bin. This game may not suit everyone, but I found it a whole lot of fun. This game may have gotten overlooked because it's just a spin-off of a successful movie, but it's definitely worth looking into.

-Title quote: Optimus Prime

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/08

Game Release: Transformers: Autobots (US, 06/19/07)