Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

Transformers: Decepticons

1. Official Site
2. Platform: DS
3. Publisher: Activision Blizzard
4. Developer: Vicarious Visions
5. Release Date: 06/26/07
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Mitch Youngblood

There are a number of expectations that males belonging to Generations X and Y bring to the table when confronted by a video game based on Transformers but seldom are the chances of expecting the game to be little more than "Grand Theft Autobot." In short, the game crafts a nameless Decepticon for players to take control over which players then use to complete a variety of missions which culminate in unlocking other playable Decepticons such as Barricade, Brawl, Starscream, and Megatron. In addition to the story-based missions, players have the chance of driving or flying around the maps and participating in side missions which include racing, wanton destruction, or collect enough of something in order to win medals and enough experience to level up.

Sound familiar?

Anyone who has played a video game in the past five years has played some variation on this. The only differences between those games and the DS version of Transformers: Decepticons are the graphics are (necessarily) downgraded and the game feels about as challenging as 8-bit Nintendo games did when they simply hurled enemies at you instead because cartridges limited advanced programming AI.

The result is something that may have been shiny and new back in the day feels old and tired now, even if one-touch transformations are included. So what are the main differences between this one and the "Autobot"-centric DS title? For starters, this one is slightly more fun and the wanton destruction seems far more natural when you’re playing a malevolent robot from outer space versus a friendly one.

Transformers: Decepticons hardly pushes the DS to its limits in terms of graphics. I would attribute this mainly to the compressed schedule a multi-platform title like this is built under but the result is nevertheless unimpressive. There are plenty of browns and grays to look at as your Autobot either runs, drives, or flies through the cities but that is about it. Even the neon lights of the Las Vegas strip are somehow washed out to the point where everything becomes one giant brown blur with pink highlights.

The robots, on the other hand, look very cool. Fans have been arguing for months about the over-engineered look of the various Transformers but for better or worse those same designs have been brought into the game world entirely in tact. The result is the feeling of controlling a truly alien robot as it runs/drives/flies around fighting enemies, climbing tall buildings, and completing missions. It is especially fun to watch several tons of living machine transform down into a vehicle then plow into oncoming traffic.

It would have been nice if the visuals popped more on the DS. Instead, players get to watch their robot blend in with the surroundings or walk through a closed door or projectiles knocking you over despite hitting just to the side of your transformer.

One of the things going in Transformers: Decepticons favor is the use of the original cartoon voice actors, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. Cullen’s deep voice gives Optimus Prime a tremendous level of gravitas regardless of what he says. He has several lines in the movie, some of which are used in the game, that are fairly lame by themselves, yet the weight he brings to each makes every thing Optimus says sound like the fate of the world is at stake. He may not sound exactly like he did 20 years ago when he voiced the cartoon, but this works in his favor. Optimus sounds even more like an ancient war veteran than he did on the show, and it remains a treat to hear his voice boom forth from the DS.

Frank Welker’s voice though is something else entirely. Megatron isn’t in the movie or the game until close to the end, which is unfortunate on a number of levels, but when he shows up it is almost worth the wait. Welker’s voice has this amazing ability to sound raspy with a mechanical edge without the use of synthesizers (believe it or not), and hearing it coming out of Megatron again after all this time feels like you’re watching the rebirth of one of the great villains of all time. Welker gets into his role, too, and just radiates anger. He’s in this game far more than he was in the Autobots one and his delivery of several classic lines, as well as his derisive attitude towards Starscream, are just the icing on the cake.

The sound effects must have been taken straight from the movie then converted into a lesser quality to fit onto the DS game. I realize it seems as though I’m stating the obvious but what it means is that the sound effects, other than the voices, pack very little punch. Laser blasts are shrill, explosions lack reverb, and the rest of the audio comes off as flat as the graphics, not to mention the music is the same series of quasi-techno beats throughout the game. After a few levels I completely tuned the music out, but that’s just me.

With the exception of the camera, the controls are fairly easy to pick up and run with in this game. The knock against the camera happens the first time you get into a fight with a Decepticon who will invariably walk around behind you and start pummeling you. Meanwhile, you can turn around and hit both the L and R buttons simultaneously to snap the camera behind you or you can hold down either L or R to rotate the camera in either direction, all while trying to lock onto the enemy that’s currently punching and shooting you.

Know what makes it even funnier? When this happens at the end of every chapter and you’re faced with dozens of enemies all doing the same thing while you’re fighting both them and the camera.

Aside from the complete lack of attention to this issue on the part of the developers, the controls are acceptable. In robot form, Y fires your weapon, X picks up things (like cars) and hitting it again throws whatever is in your hands, the A buttons is for attack and the B button is for jumping. In car more, Y is again used for your weapon while B accelerates, A is the brake, and in both instances you use the directional pad for directions. As your character levels up, additional moves will become available and the game will explain what combination will do what.

Here’s where this game differs from the other one in terms of difficulty with the controls. The example I’ll use is the "boss fight" with Jazz. You’re controlling Megatron who is only about five times larger than Jazz. Hitting Jazz proves to be a problem because the little bugger is jumping all over the screen and is tough to pin down. Not helping matters is the fact that every shot he fires hits you. Do your punches have much of an effect on him? Nooooo. You’re only five times bigger than him but hits barely seem to faze him. Since I was running low on health routinely during what should have been an easier and clear-cut fight, I ran. As Megatron, I had to run from a much smaller robot because I could barely keep up with him and couldn’t turn as fast as I needed to. The result was me luring him into a cavern, trapping him in a corner thanks to a small glitch, then beating the pulp out of him for a good 15 minutes.

Oh what fun.

In a nutshell, here’s how Transformers: Decepticons works. Players start with a nameless Decepticon who can scan vehicles to change into those shapes thus avoiding detection by the humans. Story missions are indicated on the map by green light and optional side missions are illustrated by an orange light. Drive, walk, or fly into any of these lights and hit the "A" button to activate the mission.

Side missions revolve around a limited number of things such as racing, destruction, or item collection. Finish these quickly enough and you’ll win a gold, silver, or bronze medal that brings with it a certain amount of experience points which will raise your level. As your levels go higher, you gain new moves in addition to unlocking fellow Decepticons to play as. Each Decepticon has a different weapon to use, some more powerful than others, and of course they each change into different vehicles. There is something wonderful about transforming into Starscream’s jet or Brawl’s tank and blasting the bejeezus out of everything in sight.

The story follows the movie about as closely as it can while still making the player the star. It doesn’t explain a lot about the motives of various third parties, but players are given just enough story to understand what exactly is going on. If you’ve played a Grand Theft Auto game before then you’ll understand where exactly several of these missions came from, and the gameplay can best be described as "been there, done that."

Once story mode is completed, players can go online and play various multiplayer style games. One game mode is called Battle for the AllSpark which has players logging on to Nintendo’s servers and fighting it out with opponents to take possession of the titular Transformer treasure. Wi-Fi tokens are awarded for your participation, which unlocks additional content, specifically new vehicles.

But to what end? The game itself is a passable way to kill time but is far from stellar or even memorable. In a way, it mimics the film itself a little too closely. Fun while it lasts, but forgettable the second it’s over.

At the end of the day, one question remains: Is Transformers: Decepticons fun? It is up to a point, then it gets frustrating to the point of throwing your DS, then gets a little easier, then becomes frustrating again. The main difference between the two titles is that this one is genuinely more fun to play, and not as frequently DS-smashing frustrating. Normally, the story and side missions are not that tough and some are even quite fun. But there are several times, and it mostly centers around the boss battles, where the game just hits a wall and stops being fun. Even the puzzle aspect of figuring out how to fight each boss is mitigated by the fact that the controls on the DS are not meant for what amounts to a twitch shooter. The result is a game that’s kinda fun for the most part, but has far too many sequences that are far too frustrating for their own good.

As it stands, Transformers: Decepticons feels exactly like what it is – a handheld multi-platform game that was rushed out to meet the deadline the film’s release date. It certainly taps into the nostalgia Transformers brings out in fans, but so does the movie itself, which is vastly more entertaining.

Gaming Trend Score

74

1. Graphics: 70
2. Audio: 80
3. Controls: 82
4. Gameplay: 75
5. Value/Replay: 60
6. OVERALL:74