How do you screw up a concept like Transformers: The Game? Seriously? A game where players can choose between the Autobot and Decepticon factions (either to protect or destroy the planet), then do some missions which involve beating the lubricant out of several characters from the movie in some free-roaming destructible environments. The concept is sound, and even Melbourne House managed to do it justice on the PS2 several years ago... so what is Traveller's Tales' excuse for making such a great concept into a great steaming pile of Dinobot droppings?
The game's structure and design is just plain broken in almost all respects, but this is most chiefly seen in the hideous and repetitive combat. The game features 'drone' transformers, generic no-name robots whose only difference between factions is the head design. The lowliest of these drones, transforming forklifts and cars, can be destroyed by either using your projectile weapons (which come in heavy or light varieties) or using the game's one and only three-hit combo. Any of the further varieties of drones, however, cannot be damaged by your weapons at all. What is the point of being able to launch missiles if they don't do anything? They just get blocked all the time. Further into the game, it gets even more ludicrous, as certain types of these drones can only be damaged in ridiculous ways, such as hurling debris at a cement mixer drone, picking it up, then throwing the drone itself, repeating twice more before it finally explodes.
It's sheer lunacy that a tree can hurt more than bullets or missiles; but what makes it even worse is how incredibly difficult it is to even pick something up to throw at the enemy, never mind actually hitting them with it, due to the absolutely faulty control scheme. You'll be standing right in front of a lamp post, but no matter how many times you hammer the B button, it won't pick up until a little symbol appears over it, causing you to manoeuvre your multi-tonne mecha around until it can finally pick up the thing. Then it's a case of using the left bumper to theoretically lock on to the enemy before hitting the right trigger to throw and hit them. That is if it isn't knocked off course by another piece of flying debris, or explodes, or gets knocked out of your hand... or just goes right through the enemy, registering no damage at all.
The despicable controls apply to the Transformers' vehicle modes as well. The only character whose vehicle mode you feel in vague in control of is the giant Decepticon helicopter, Blackout. The rest, however, feel loose, unresponsive, and barely usable. This is most prevalent with the speedier car transformers, such as Bumblebee and Jazz. Going too fast makes turning unresponsive, but slowing down makes it too easy to accidentally send them spinning in a donut when simply trying to turn left.
Then there are the missions themselves, very few of which deviate from the 'get from A to B and kill something' variety, and those that do are usually either boss battles or checkpoint races. It feels like the developers just simply couldn't be bothered to come up with any other varieties, or even any other missions. Both the Autobot and Decepticon missions can be completed in around 5-7 hours, depending on how annoyed you get with the boss fights (damn you, Ironhide!) or the incredibly restrictive time limits. The only really enjoyable missions are on the Decepticon side, where you're occasionally given free reign to cause as much damage to the environment as possible in a time-limit. There are myriad collectables and sub-missions to find and complete, but to be honest, everything outside the main game is rather pointless, unless you're an achievement point freak and are dead set on seeing G1 versions of Megatron and Optimus Prime bouncing around a city. It's not really worth the amount of time, effort or endurance to unlock them - and besides, there's a cheat for that if you really have to see them.
It's not all doom and gloom, however, but it's pretty close. The Transformer characters themselves look beautiful in their rendered states, mostly due to Traveller's Tales having access to the movie's CGI designs and being able to successfully implement those designs in the game. They all look fantastic, however the same can't be said about rest of the game; while it has enough polygons and textures to look nice, the environment just feel so bland and lifeless.
That's the thing about Transformers: The Game, while there are bits and pieces of fun here and there, it's overshadowed by the complete and utter rushed and unfinished feel to everything else. It's a harsh reminder that, while good movie tie-in games do happen, most are just slapped together in order to make a quick bag of cash. This game is worth three out of ten at best, mainly due to some of the Decepticon missions and because nostalgia may be clouding Gamestyle's better judgement. Rent it if you really have to, but under no circumstances should you buy it. Though this should not put you off seeing the excellent movie it is based on; if you're lucky, it'll help you forget this travesty ever existed.
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