A "LMX" Review
As with all the other blockbuster films that have received the video game treatment Transformers is no different. And much like the movie it is more than meets the eye, but just don’t come here expecting a game that you’ll feel compelled to buy. It works best as a rental. So where to begin, Transformers on Wii sounds promising especially if you’re like the majority of movie-goers who were blown away by the film. And this game is somewhat similar, except it features more letdowns than the film did. The story follows that of the film; the Autobots and Decepticons are both hunting for the AllSpark and thus their search has led them to our unfortunate planet.
Starscream never could do anything on his own, so Megatron has to help out.
Now, to start off the review, starting off with one of the first aspects that will strike you with any game, which are of course the visuals. As we all know, the Wii is nothing special in the visuals department so to expect PS3 level visuals would be madness. (Please spare me the stupid “300” jokes). Having said that, the visuals are definitely among the more impressive of the Wii games in my opinion. Boasting large explosions and plenty of opportunities to wreak havoc leaving the surrounding buildings with a load of battle damage comes out surprisingly well with this game. Although they still are not acceptable for what the Wii should be capable of, it shows a bit of promise. At least compared to most Wii games that have been released lately, especially in the movie tie-in department. The environments of the game itself are not overly impressive; you can almost feel the pulse of a PS2 port although it’s only an occasional pulse. Because essentially everything that your massive robot encounters is destructible, and we ALL know how fun it is to destroy things. Imagine your favourite movie Transformer doing it? (If you are by chance on a mission that said Transformer can be used in of course).
The visuals are only one part of the game though; the next part of what makes a game tick is the gameplay. And let me just say: someone must have forgotten to add spark to this Transformer gameplay because it’s pretty ordinary. Since there are two factions, I’ll cover them each individually. Starting with the good guys.
The Autobot campaign is the hero storyline, you know, save the world and all that jazz. Of course that is what the main problem is to the Autobot story, you are here to save the world. So don’t even think about destroy cities and stuff, you are there to protect humanity. The main problem is the repetitive elements of the singe player such as escaping Barricade or defeating Blackout, it seems rather bland.
However, the Decepticons campaign is what makes this game an enjoyable rental. Your no wimpy Autobot, you’re a bad ass Decepticon and you’re here to find the AllSpark no matter the cost. Destroy anything you want, when you want, especially Autobot scum. It also adds the most variety from what I could see, you had to destroy “X” amount of buildings, destroy specified Autobots, get to places in designated time, and all the time having the option to blow the world to Hell. That’s what being a Decepticon is all about. Although the one element that destroys any quality this game could have hoped to have is the lacklustre battle mechanics.
Don't worry Bumblebee, your three hit combo will beat Dreadwing and Sidewinder.
So, you’re a massive robot from Cybertron. You’ve come all the way to Earth; have an alt. form to disguise yourself and an arsenal of weapons at your disposal. You’d think you’d get to use the said weapons, right? Wrong! For some ridiculous reason all opposing Transformers you meet will have a force field that protects them from your projectile attacks. So what does this mean, yes that’s correct. Melee combat, a bit of the old hand-to-hand, which doesn’t sound too bad until you find out almost every enemy, is defeated by a repetitive three hit combo, its rather disappointing in the long run. I thought Transformers were tougher than that. But no, it’ll dispose of almost all of the enemy grunts you’ll encounter and the actual Transformers you’ll fight will go through a repeated process of hitting them three times, then trying to stun them, hitting them three times again, rinse and repeat.
After the frustratingly boring gameplay comes the sound. An area that the game performs well in, the orchestrated music (I assume was ripped from the movie) comes with an epic aura about it. Flying around the army base attacking the humans whilst in F-22 Jet mode as Starscream and trying to help Devastator and Bonecrusher escape while an orchestra pumps out some loud music backed with choral work to drool over is simply amazing. A lot of people complained about the music in the film, I myself enjoyed it a lot, which is why I loved it so much in the game. The music suits the moods of the game, whether it is a pursuit scene or a battle between two colossal robots. The next section of the soundscape is of course the voice acting, and from a Transformers game you are getting what you want. We have the original Optimus Prime and Megatron strutting their stuff, as well strong voice acting for each other character. Overall a very impressive job sound-wise for this game… pity the rest was not up to scratch with this standard.
Blackout is all about rape, especially with his propeller blade weapons.
What is it that makes a Wii game or breaks a Wii game? The controls, and when the developers made this game they probably had a chance to try some crazy schemes but instead tried to keep things simple. Which I understand, some games have tried too hard with the Wiimote and its possibilities (an understandable risk I suppose) but the developers decided not to stress the controls too much. After all, people who have seen the movie will know this game will be all about the action and you can’t have some ridiculous controls messing that up. It would drag the game down to the abyss and ruin whatever potential it may have at. You also have options, swinging the Wiimote will cause you to do your melee attacks, whilst pressing buttons will use your projectiles (missiles, machine guns, ect)
The biggest letdown control-wise is the controlling method of the camera, it is plain frustrating and seems so terribly rushed. You’ll be trying to keep it steady behind you, turn a corner then boom! Its lost and you’ll have to realign it again. No amount of explaining can justify why the camera is so second rate. But it is a disappointing factor in the gameplay and controls, and happens at the most inappropriate times. Like in the mission where as Jazz you have to fight Starscream and Blackout, try climbing a building and you’ll find the camera will screw you right over and you’ll have a hard time seeing your surroundings whilst climbing up trying to formulate a plan in the very unfair fight.
Jazz… meet Starscream. You cretin.
When you get a game, you probably expect it to have awesome replay value, well sadly to say: Transformers is not one of those games. Well not unless you are a die-hard fan and are obsessed with unlocking all the images, clips and repaints that you can possibly get your filthy hands on. Throughout the game (in between missions) you are offered the chance to explore your location and collect cubes and emblems and such.
Overall this game isn’t quite as good as it could have been. Continuously hindered by camera issues, bad gameplay mechanics, and repetitive mission objectives. If you hated the movie, don’t bother with thee game. If you loved the movie, rent the game but be warned its not an amazing experience. Its fun for awhile, blowing stuff up rocks.
Well, Autobots. Transform and roll out!
And Deceptions. All hail Megatron!
Pros
+Decepticon campaign is fun.
+Detail on the Transformers is good.
+Excellent sound and voice work.
+Dealing out justice Barricade style is fun
Cons
-Single player is good only once.
-Graphics, whilst improving, still somewhat lacking.
-Bland, compressed videos.
-Autobots campaign boring.
-Unlockables not *really* worth it.
The scores.
Story: 6/10
-Its Transformers: massive robots fighting for control of the life-creating AllSpark. Awesome but nothing special.
Visuals: 7.5/10
-Shows potential and improvement in typical major flaw of other Wii games.
Gameplay: 4/10
-Why oh why did they not work harder on this, why I oughta "three hit combo" the developers.
Controls: 6/10
-Controls are pretty typical, but the camera is very glitchy and annoying.
Audio: 8/10
-Epic score joined with good voice acting (Including the official Optimus Prime and Megatron voices)
Replay Value: 5/10
-A lot to unlock if you can be bothered. G1 Optimus and Megs, G1 repaint of Starscream ect. But honestly, not worth it. Play it through once and return the game.
Overall: 7/10
-My favourite movie tie-in of the year thus far (I feel like revising my SM3 score), Transformers fans should definitely consider renting it.
Review by LemonManX
)
