Like Grand Theft Auto? Like Transformers? Got a DS? Then get this game.
A young Protoform (You, aka Create-A-Bot), lands on Earth per Starscream's orders. He is asked to go find Barricade and learn the ropes of combat. After performing a few tasks for Barricade, the CaB (Yes. I will refer to him as CaB for the rest of the review) finally meets up with Barricade, Blackout, and Brawl as they follow a signal left by a Decepticon here on Earth. As they dig deeper into the origins of this signal, they realize that it is from Megatron, their missing leader. When Starscream hears of this, he order the CaB to kill Megatron. At this point, the main Autobot forces land on Earth, and the Decepticons get locked in combat against their old foes while racing to recover Megatron and (ultimately) the Allspark.
Controls are simple. D-Pad to move, A to Punch Stuff, B to Jump, X to Grab Stuff, Y to Shoot/Throw anything you're holding. R and L will turn the camera. On the touch screen, there is a button for Transforming and Scanning. You can transform at any time, anywhere.
As I said above, the game is Decepticons, meaning you play a Decepticon story with Decepticon characters. You do not play as any Autobots. Ever. You will mostly be playing as the CaB, who's vehicle mode (and in turn, his robot mode) can be changed outside of missions from a long list of alternate modes. Once you beat the game, you can play Free Mode, where you can play as any of the 6 Deceptions present in the game (CaB, Barricade, Blackout, Brawl, Megatron, Starscream).
Free Mode is, in my opinion, the heart and soul of this game. You have 4 open world maps that you can run around and do anything on. Decepticons have 4 stages, Casino Strip, Tranquility, Qutar Desert (Deception Exclusive Area), and the Hoover Dam. Tranquility is the biggest area, being a massive suburb AND a massive city in one map connected by a bridge. In Free Mode, you can run around and collect more vehicle forms, fight random Autobots running around, fight law enforcement, climb buildings, shoot civilian vehicles, destroy trees and lamp posts, or just go for a joy ride. If you cause too much havoc, law enforcement will chase after you. Up in the right hand corner of the screen there are 4 Autobot symbols that show you how much trouble with the Humans you're in (with none being the lowest and 4 being the highest). If you go on a massive killing spree, you can eventually "Neutralize the Threat", in which you automatically go back to 0 once you've killed enough at 4.
There is an online mode called Allspark Wars. I've played it before and it's fun. It's daily challenges that you complete and you help whatever side you're on get pieces of the Allspark for a week. At the end of the week, which ever side wins gets bragging rights and the war begins again. Now, recently, it seems like the site is down, so I don't know if you can still play it. Which sucks, since some of the cheats and vehicles can only be unlocked through this mode. Luckily, cheat codes via Action Replay can help you get everything EXCEPT the Jet form for the CaB (G1 Starscream). I don't know if it's a technical problem or if the site just shut down completely. I haven't tried actually just getting on and seeing if they are still putting out missions (try getting on your game, not on the comp). If you can't, that stinks.
The cons of the game (ha, I made a funny). Story mode is short. I beat it in about 3 hours. Some of the boss fights are unnecessarily difficult or annoying. Pretty much any fight with an Main Character Autobot, except Bumblebee, is aggravating, since you do so little damage to them and they can do crap ton to you. Weaker Side, my tail pipe! Something else that bothers me is that, other than Tranquility, most of the Open World Maps are kinda small and barren. I almost never go to the other Maps unless forced to.
Also, as more of a personal gripe, there is no official way to get the Jet form (G1 Starscream). Some say you need 2500 Wi-Fi tokens (which are obtained via Allspark Wars). Others say that you need to go to a DS Download Station at Target. I really don't know. The Download Station probably isn't doing that promotion anymore, and we're still in the dark about the Allspark Wars. I also heard that the Wi-Fi token method can only be done OUTSIDE of the U.S., which would suck for us that don't have the PAL version of the game. If anyone can verify the Wi-Fi token thing for U.S. versions of the game, please let us know.
As a closing thought, I would highly recommend this game to anyone who is a Transformers fan with a DS. It's a lot of fun and there is quite a bit of extra content to keep a person occupied well after the story is finished. I've played the Autobot version and my review would pretty much be the same. So, pick up whichever one you want. Pick a side and roll out.