More good than bad, It is fun being a transformer.
I got the game home, and a whole pile of others, and put it in immediately. I was a huge transformers fan as a kid growing up, so I was itching to get my robot on. I was not disappointed. The story was a good sci-fi transformers story. It was mostly predictable, but made use of many favorite characters from across the Transformers universe. The Decepticon campaign started off with a bang and had me sucked right in from the start. Getting to play as Megatron in the very first level, and then having a choice of Starscream in the second, I was hooked. When I got through the gripping final stages of the decepticon campaign, I was a little disappointed with the start of the Autobot one. It was fun and all, but the story didn't really suck me in until about the third act, which is also when you get to play as Ironhide! The story plays out nicely though, and sets up the scene for the original cartoon series.
The graphics were alright, and seemed like you were playing Unreal with Transformers. Seeing as it was made with the Unreal 3.0 engine, that makes sense. The settings were a little monotonous, but what do you expect when you are traversing Cybertron? A Meadow?
The sound effects and voice acting were alright, although I thought that the transformation sounds were too much like the movie and not enough like the cartoons.
The gameplay was a blast, and getting the hang of the controls for the different vehicles was pretty easy. Transforming on the fly made some of the battles a lot more fun than they would have been in most other shooters.
The game itself was pretty easy. The computer controlled your two other team members in the campaign and made it pretty simple to know where to go and what direction to shoot. The only time I felt like I was really being challenged was towards the end of the Autobot story when there were some epic ariel battles. The boss fights, especially Omega Supreme and Trypticon were both great. I would have loved to get a crack at Megatron himself though.
Multiplayer was fun, really felt like I was playing UT in third person.
All in all, this game was good, but not really great. It didn't do anything new, other than maybe doing a great job of incorporating the transforming mechanics to the gameplay. It didn't do anything badly however, and it made for a well rounded and enjoyable experience. I will probably play through this game again the next time I get on a Transformer kick, or if I find someone to play a co-op campaign with. I did however leave this game wishing it had given a little more... More playable characters, more weapons, more recognizable characters as enemies... something. I thought that for a game that was clearly desgned to please Transformer fans alike, while at the same time giving fans of the old series some nostalgia value, that maybe they could have given us a little more of something. So, I'd say it is good, but not great.