Product Reviews

A game about robots that turn into cars has to do just two things well: fighting robots and fast cars. Transformers: The Game manages neither, and you quickly get the feeling that it was rushed out in time for the film's release date.

As with so many games based on movies, Transformers is a third-person action game. However, the action is its greatest failure. Presumably struggling with how you create a sense of threat for a near-indestructible robot, the developers have made almost all its challenges time-based, such as the mission where Blackout has to smash buildings spread across the map before the clock stops.

Driving

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is even worse, and usually involves getting Optimus Prime to a green dot before the time runs out, then doing it again, and again. It's frustrating, too, as you can run out of time or fail a mission simply because your robot didn't stop exactly on the specified bit of road. This is nonsensical, and it's hugely frustrating when you have to repeat a dismal and over-precise mission over and over again.

In vehicle mode the robots feel weightless and unresponsive, so rushing to your destination on time lacks any of the thrill of racing. The fighting, when it happens, involves simply pressing one button repeatedly. Your robot has guns, but they're effective only against enemies so weak that they're harmless anyway. Everyone else has an infinite shield that renders weapons useless. Fortunately, there's such a lack of variety among the baddies that you'll muddle through anyway.

The only good aspect of the game is that you can play as the Autobots or Decepticons. Even so, the repetition, poor in-game camera and miserable challenges soon remove any element of fun. In theory a game involving transforming robots is packed with potential, but this one misses the point completely.