Score
Gameplay:	5
Graphics:	7
Sound:	9
FunFactor:	6
PlasmaFactor:	8
Overall:	7

Transformers: Decepticons Review
July 15, 2007 by Kenneth Seward, Jr.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you should have heard about the Transformers movie (not the animated one). Directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Transformers was a hit at the box office. The video game adaptations, produced by Activision, didn’t quite live up to the movie.

Deception

 

To begin, I would like to say that I am only reviewing the Transformers: Decepticons game on the Nintendo DS (the Autobots version is being reviewed by Brandon Noel). This game is loosely based on the Michael Bay film. I say "loosely" because the plot is a bit different than that of the film. Upon starting the game, you are introduced as a rookie Decepticon sent to earth in search of a fallen comrade. As the story unfolds, you find out that the comrade was Megatron and that he was looking for the Allspark (a source of great power). The traitorous Star Scream is also looking for the Allspark and is willing to destroy Megatron to get it. Following Star Screams orders, you unknowingly help him in betraying the leader of the Decepticons. The story isn’t very deep. To bad the gameplay isn’t very deep either.

Transformers: Decepticons plays like a GTA clone (Grand Theft Auto) with…well, transformers. You move from one glowing marker to the next, in order to receive repetitive missions from different Decepticons through out the game. In between missions you can freely roam around the environment and cause trouble. While its fun to wreck havoc in a given area (there are four altogether), problems arise when doing missions. Other than the fact that they are repetitive, the missions are also poorly designed. Why does everything have to be timed? You might think that timed missions are ok seeing as how I can transform into a vehicle. Well I have another question for you. Why, when I am in vehicle mode, getting hit by an enemies weapon makes me transform back into a robot? This glitch in the transformers’ amazing technology makes those timed missions very frustrating to complete. Trying to get to from point A to B while having to stop to transform after every few hits is not fun. Another area of concern has to do with how long some of the missions are. Because you have to complete a number of objectives, some missions are broken into parts. Once you complete one objective you move on to the next part of the mission. If you fail any part of the mission, you have to start the whole thing over again. Then there are the missions where you have to fight boss characters (the Autobot characters from the movie). The bosses in this game have the best accuracy I have ever seen in a video game. No matter how much you strafe, the bosses will be able to hit you. To add insult to injury, you are also weaker than they are. So, if you just stand there and trade energy blasts, your transformer will be killed long before you would’ve been able to significantly hurt your adversary. The same thing goes if you try to run in and melee attack them. The only way I was able to beat the bosses was to run away and destroy a lower enemy type, in hopes of them dropping life.

When it comes to the controls, Transformers: Decepticons works fine. The Y button fires your ranged weapon (holding the button fires the stronger range weapon). The X button grabs/throws things, the A button attacks/swings things, and the B button jumps. The L and R buttons rotate the camera left and right respectively. To transform, you touch the Decepticon icon on the lower right hand side of the screen. Of course the controls change when you are in vehicle mode. My only problem was that, in order to lock on to an enemy you have to be facing them and firing your weapon. When your energy weapon overheats, you have to stop firing to let it cool. This causes you to lose your lock with the enemy. If you are strafing an enemy, the moment you lose your lock the camera swings around, causing confusion as well as dizziness. I had to put my DS down a couple of times in fear of throwing up.

 

…in Disguise!

The graphics in Transformers: Decepticons are a mixed bag. On one hand, the character models look great on the DS no matter what they are doing. Depending on your vehicle, your transformer will change the overall size of their body. When you jump off of a building and hit the ground, you create cracks in the concrete. On the other hand, the environments themselves look bland. The lack of pedestrians in the city environments doesn’t help much.

Sounds like…

The sound quality in Transformers: Decepticons is top notch. Vicarious Visions, the developers, was able to get a lot out of the DS. Everything sounds the way it should if it was in real life (and hand size). There are even full voice-overs for the characters in the game. There isn’t much music, but that doesn’t really hinder Transformers from getting high scores in the sound department.

Funbots!

Transformers: Decepticons can be fun. It really depends on how much you like the single player/story mode. It directly affects every other mode in the game. If you want to use your custom robot to fight against friends, you have to play the story mode in order to level them up. This is also where you unlock the transformers from the movie to use in battle. The multiplayer modes would have been better if you could play against friends online. As it stands, you can only play against people using wireless play (you have to be in the same vicinity).

Plasmabot!

The best thing about this game is the fact that you have a custom robot with the ability to transform into different vehicles. While playing, you can press the touch screen and scan a vehicle you would like to transform into. Once it is downloaded, it is added the list of vehicles you can turn into. You are then able to pick which one you would like to be, altering your body and size to accommodate the change. This adds a little Pokemon feel to the Transformers, as you will need to trade with a friend who has the Autobots version to get all the vehicles available in the game.

 

Bottom Line!

The Transformers: Decepticons for the DS is an ok game. It’s has bad mission designs, good controls, decent graphics, and is great in the sound department. The multiplayer modes could have been a lot better. If it had a truly online multiplayer experience, it might have gotten a higher score. As it stands, I would recommend renting a copy before putting down money for a purchase!