gamefan007's Full Review: Transformers for PlayStation 2
The Transformers are back in Atari's Transformers for the PS2.
This was another anticipated game from 2004 that didn't get too much notoriety because of the unveiling of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, however I found to be a very fun game.
It's basically an adventure/action game that relies more on fighting and transforming than action puzzle solving.
The game is not perfect it has a couple of flaws that fans of the original series and gamers in general will find annoying.
The game is not based on the old classic TF series but the more kiddie like new series called Transformers Armada Prelude to Energon saga.
The new series has taken a barrage of criticism, obviously when your remaking a classic, you'd better do a hell of a job or not do it all, but for the most part, the new fans, that be kids who have no recollection of the old series, love it.
The Story:
As usual the Deceptions and Autobots are at war, after fleeing Cybertron, the Autobots have made Earth their home, trouble is so have the Decepticons and they see earth as a feeding ground for energy. In addition to that story, we have the minicons who basically are little small transformers with special powers of their orwn.
The minicons are written in as "lost" transformers whatever that means, and so Megatron always hungry for an edge to defeat the Autobots decides to go after them.
The Decepticons have captured the minicons, so it's up to you to rescue and destroy the many bases of the Deceptions. Locations such as Antartica, the Amazon, provide interesting locales for battle. The Autobots cannot lose this fight.
One of the first things that bugged me about the game are the small selections of Autobots, however, this game is not based on any events of the original series but the new Toonami series called Transformers Armade. It ignores a lot from the original and introduces new Autobots we've never heard before.
Your limited to choosing about three autbots: Optimus Prime, Red Alert, and Hotshot. No Bumblebee, no Jazz, no Rodimus prime, ho Ultra Magnus!!! Shame.
Graphics ***
Graphics-wise, this is a beautiful looking game. The backgrounds, look as cool as they can be. The Transformers even though they represent the new show, look awesome and amazingly detailed. Optimus Prime couldn't have looked any better!!! Megatron and StarScream and the Decepticons equally look very intimidating.
The game comes loaded with many movies as well, some of them are simply breathtaking, there's a level I forget which one where you face a decepticon boss in the ocean called Tidal Wave. His whole transformation into a giant Deception is worth renting the game alone!!1
Really Atari and company outdid themselves in the graphics department. You expected the best when it comes to a big game based on a hit series and you get it here.
Sound and Music ***
Sound and Music are pretty good too. The designers managed to get the actors for the new series of cartoon and rounded them up to lend their voices here and they are a treat to hear. Gary Chalk the new voice of Optimus Prime for the Armada/Energon series reprises his role here as well as David Kaye as Megatron. They pretty convincing and they say their lines and voices in the game about as best as youd expect from seasoned actors.
The transforming sounds also sound pretty cool TF fans, especially when you go from robot to car and back again. You get the normal barrages of clanking sounds and gunfire that is expeced from this type of game.
Control **
Well, control has to be the weakest factor of the game, sometimes I gave up on some levels because the controls were so limited that I just said screw it!!! Even when I applied some of the cheats for the game, I still found myself unable to pass certain parts because of the mediocre controlling here.
Allow me to explain.
As an Autobot your just giving a light pistol as your weapon, thats it buddy. Yet the Decepticons and their bosses aren't just loaded with pistols, but they have missiles, a huge army of robots and well everything but the kitchen sink armed at you while your still loaded with a single pistol. Pitiful!!!
The transformers from robot to car are stunning and you will definitely have to transform to evade being shot it, but this helps very little. This then explains the MiniCons importance here.
Many of the minicons have several powerups, some which don't help out for crap and others like an Energon shield and a Blaster which help tremendously. However looking at the big picture which I did not find fun at all, your still heavily unarmed when playing and so you are force to track down each of these minicons and pray that they have what you need to get through a level.
For the bulk of the game, I didnt find too much of what the Minicons offered to be useful, the designers should have gone back and made more weapons available to the Autobots but what can you do.
Another area, jumping sucks!!! Now this is expected since they are robots, but I found the jumping in the game to be inefficient. They could have made several Autobots have the ability to fly instead of aimlessly jumping and dying all the time, but again seems the designers were trying to push the game at the same times as the series.Oh well.
Challenge ****
Challenge is big in the game. Unlike the cartoon series where the Autobots seem to defeat the Deceptions in a half hour from episode to episode, things are not as easy with the game.
The Decepticons are tough and formidabble, and they can fight!!! I like a good fight myself so I found this bot smashing, bot battling stuff to be cool, especially when the competion is at your level.
The Deceptions sometimes have little minibots on top of themselves attacking so it can get pretty hair and it shows that there is some intelligence for the game.
Deceptions don't just run into you like morons and allow you to shoot them down. No they're tough and they pick their hideouts and strategies pretty well, so you will have a great challenge here, guaranteed!!1
Bonuses ***
Wow you mean we got some good bonuses on top of a fairly good game? (Aside from the average controls), yes we do!!!
The bonuses range from artwork done during the making of the game, to several individual movies featuring your favorite Autobot or Deception.
You also special behind the scenes footage.
We even get a section devoted to Transformer comics!!! Now that's pretty cool.
One catch though, to unlock the extras, you have to collect special objects called Datacons, which can be a nuisance or you can simply put in the cheats to unlock everything at once.
Conclusion :
Transformers for PS2, definitely has many shortcomings in the control, sometimes the bad controlling took away fun away from the game. The good news is you don't need precise controlling to pass every level and there's about 7 big ones all together. No you can get by every level , it's not impossible to do.
Moving on , the graphics are terrific, doing a great honor to the Transformers genre. The sound was equally as good, and the challenge is of the charts. To conclude, it's a pretty game for the PS2, if your a Transformers fan, buy the game, don't rent it, buy it.
You won't pass the game anyways by renting it, the game is huge. Trust me though when I say it's a great game, I really had a good time playing it and I am sure you will to , so transform and get it now!!
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