Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Looks/Graphics:
It's great to see the game paying homage to its inspiration, those of you familiar with the 1986 will recognise a good few lines and scenes taken right out of the film, the developers are clearly fans and/or have done their research and have designed it with fans of the material in mind. For people coming to the game either from the Michael Bay films or perhaps just new to the series all together the game might not be what you're expecting in terms of looks (particularly if you were expecting ultra-realistic robots). The characters and scenery are an excellent adaptation of (largely) Generation 1 transformers with nearly every aspect improved (i.e. they look like high-tech robots rather than classic clunky cars). The animations look as cool as they did in the first and High Moon have been just as ambitious in including some of the larger transformers. The scenery has been improved upon greatly, although the prequel looked very "cybertronian" every level looked very similar which, over time, can make it a little dull. This instalment, however, offers not just greater variety but also greater spectacles (and given the first one that is a tough thing to improve upon).

Combat:
The campaign includes a lot more variety in the transformers you control from level to level, each adding (for the most part) brand new mechanics to the game whether it be rapid grappling to ledges as Jazz or controlling the devastating power of Grimlock. This has taken away some tedium from the prequel as the transformers were largely the same. Many people have complained that the game needed a "cover system" but I think the inclusion in this game (given that it is designed to be a high pace action packed game) would have detracted from the speed of the game making it a lot less fun to play. There are a few gimmicky things that I simply never used, sometimes I could see a use but I was never really encouraged by the game to use them, these included shields, attack drones and damage multipliers. It was only later in the game that I realised how truly powerful some of these things were and perhaps that adds some re-playability (if accidently) to the game. The most important improvement (for me) is how much better the flying transformers feel, there is more of a sense that you are a high speed jet rather than a helicopter with the model of a plane.

Campaign and Level design:
The campaign is an absolute blast and people who have seen the films or know the material well will recognise the signs of an upcoming character yet to be revealed, others not so familiar will simply be wow'd by the scale of some of the things in the game. The levels are varied but not confusingly so, this lets you get a general familiarity with the game, sometimes in the game its not completely clear what to do but this rarely obscures play for more than a minute or so. The story is well written and well researched and is supported by a good cast of voice actors that do the material justice. As previously mentioned the flying sections of the game have been improved massively, some part due to the way they are controlled but I think for the most part the level design has just been tailored to suit more high-speed flights through narrow pipes and such, giving you the satisfaction of the skill of flying without making it difficult to complete these parts. For the "car" based transformers I felt very little need to be in the vehicle mode but I no doubt spent a lot of time in this mode without realising, there are high speed races through canyons and such that encourage you to use it but for the more cramped levels its not that necessary. There are also a great number of sequences involving you pulling an analog down to release a switch, these slow the game somewhat without adding any challenge, in one level you repeat this process a number of times and you are left with a feeling that they could have been more imaginative and included some sort of challenge element to it.

Overview:
Overall the game is very fun for the casual gamer and there is tons of fun to be had in multiplayer (although I haven't mentioned it as most of the aspects are covered from the campaign). I highly recommend it to any Transformers fan and recommend at least a download of the demo to those that aren't as it is, for the most part, a solid game.