Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Almost, but not quite"

I'm sure many of you remember the Transformers toy franchise. I loved the Transformers. Granted back then, my family didn't have a lot of money to spend on trivial things, so I didn't own a lot of them. But I watched nearly every episode of the old cartoon. Fast forward to 2007 with the Autobots and Decepticons making a big comeback with a successful blockbuster movie. So, I was the least bit surprised with the video game. But I was interested enough in trying it out for my 360 and, while it looks fantastic, it doesn't really fare well in terms of gameplay.

For starters, you'll be tasked in the participation of two campaigns: the Autobots and the Decepticons. The game is mostly mission based, but there is a free-roaming environment for you to explore, take in and utterly destroy if you're into that sort of thing (of course, you'll be rewarded for it if you're playing the Decepticon campaign because Decepticons ARE evil.) The campaigns range from destroying robot enemies, getting from one place to another, destroying more robot enemies, getting from one place to another, destroying some more stuff, and so forth. While it is gratifying to be able to convert from robot to vehicle at will, there just isn't a whole lot of variety in these missions. To compensate for this, there are optional side-quests to take part in which are similar to the normal missions that will earn you unlockable bonuses and content--like comic book covers, concept art, photo stills from the 2007 movie, and even Generation One skins for your characters.

When you're not busy with missions and such, you can always hunt down the small cubes and special emblems, which can be a tedious and daunting dask considering the rather large scope of the levels. You don't get many opportunities to fight enemies save for special missions that pit you against behemoths like Blackout, Barricade, Megatron and Brawl. The fights are pretty exciting to take part in--I just wish there were more of them.

The Decepticon campaign can be interpreted as being the more satisfying of the two factions because you get to destroy stuff and not be penalized. For the first time ever, you'll be able to take the reigns of Megatron and Starscream. But it's also nice to be able to play Prime and the Autobots as well.

The graphics are excellent--the environments are richly detailed and it is always satisfying to watch buildings, cars and other structures crumble like dust before your eyes when you destroy them with your fists or with some unfortunate robot being thrown against them. Voice work by Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, who voice Prime and Megatron respectively, is solid and on target, although Megatron doesn't quite sound the same as he did back in the 80s--but the endearing raspiness is still there. Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox reprise their movie roles in the game, and their work is also very well done.

Overall, the game is good, but it left me wanting more variety and depth. It is not a complete disappointment, however. The choice of playing a good guy or a bad guy is always something that draws gamers in these days, and the developers were smart in including the option of ravaging the world as the Decepticons. If you're a fan of the Transformers, and saw and loved the movie, you might get a kick out of playing the game. For everyone else, if it piques your interest at all, give it a rent first before you commit to adding it to your library.