Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

[Shawn Zipay]

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Release Date: June 23, 2009 (North America), June 24, 2009 (Australia)
Reviewed On: PlayStation 3
Also Available On: PC, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS
Developer: Luxoflux
Publisher: Activision
ESRB Rating: Teen - Mild Language, Violence
PEGI Rating: 12+ - Violence
OFLC Rating: M - Violence

Another summer movie game already? That’s right; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the second video game based on the Michael Bay film that released earlier this summer. Can this summer movie blockbuster become a summer gaming blockbuster as well? Or will it quickly be forgotten, like all others of the same genre?

Story:

Taking place after the first film and game, Revenge of the Fallen will have you play as either the Autobots, or the Decepticons. When playing as an Autobot, your task is to prevent the Decepticons from stealing the remaining shard of the “All Spark” which will revive Megatron and “the fallen”. The humans have now allied with the Autobots to form “NEST”, a military organization aimed to keep Megatron’s remains safe, and out of the Decepticons’ hands as the Autobots you will help defend the world from the ever growing Decepticon threat and prevent Megatron’s second coming.

Before Megatron returns Starscream leads the Decepticons.

By allowing gamers to play either campaign you can see both sides of each fight, many of which will put you in the battle either just before the mission starts or stops for the other side. It is interesting to see each point of view for the battles, and the story as a whole, but revisiting the same locations over and over again did become rather dull. With the game following the film’s storyline, I was rather disappointed to see no clips from the film make it into the game even as a cut scene. The story is a good continuation from the first film and game, but doesn’t do a great of a job to tie in the non-Transformers characters or parts of the plot that contain them predominantly.

Gameplay:

Playing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was like playing MechWarrior on Meth. By that I mean everything is very fast paced and bits and pieces blow up all the time, without much of a chance to enjoy the game’s visual aspects. Most of the missions last three to six minutes, depending on how fast you can accomplish the simple task at hand, which prove to be more of a nuisance than an accomplishment, when all is said and done. Each Transformer has a primary, secondary, and melee attack which also varies for every Transformer you play as. On top of this each Transformer has their own unique special ability which will come in handy in tight spots, as does the overload feature, which gives you nonstop firepower without overheating and invulnerability for a short period of time.

Use Breakaway's hover ability to shoot some easy headshots.

The missions are indeed very short, and the quicker you are in them; the more rewards you will gain come the debriefing. Completing selective secondary objectives will reward you with more energon, as does the completion time for each mission. These energon rewards are used to upgrade your Transformers in a variety of ways that give you more health, improve melee attacks, and faster cool down times for your arsenal of weaponry. As you progress through both the Autobot and Decepitcon campaigns you can unlock a variety of special features, one of which is quite possibly the best part of the game; original Transformers T.V. episodes from the G1 series. Even this great addition has a downside; there is no rewind or fast forwarding when watching the episodes. Controlling the Transformers is easy enough, with a wide variety of moves in both vehicle and robot mode that reward you for destroying enemies through the different moves.

Graphics:

Whilst playing Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I tried to take some time to enjoy the visuals, but when I was finally able to hinder the nonstop explosive action, I wished I hadn’t, because the surrounding environment is reminiscent of an old real time strategy game. The landscape is bland and boring; the buildings look terrible, and even the sky boxes have room for some improvement. The explosions are unimpressive and lack gusto which won’t make destroying other Transformers any more enjoyable. The Transformers are the only things that don’t utterly disappoint graphically when playing through. The models and textures, on the other hand, are of a more decent quality in comparison to the rest of the game. One of the additional unlocks that can be achieved in the game is the original G1 character colors for a selective few Transformers, but even this turned out very disappointing, as it just recolors the Michael Bay Transformers with the G1 colors. No new models are to be found here.

Ironhide just doesn't look as good without his G1 model to match.

Audio:

Just like the explosions in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the gameplay sounds won’t be any more extraordinary. Pitiful fire fights and rumblings are nothing more than deplorable. I really could not enjoy any aspect of this game (G1 episodes aside) and the audio helped fabricate that idea. Voice acting is good enough to not become a nuisance, but the scripted audio clips during debriefing sound very out of place as they reflect on your actions in the mission you have just finished, but have little to no flow from one thought to the other. The soundtrack contains your typical classical symphony sounds with a little rock guitar fused with it to give it a bit of extra jazz, but the lack of any of the film’s soundtrack made for a disenchantment from the film and disappointment for the soundtrack.

Prime has that boom boom pow.

Multiplayer:

Online multiplayer is a new addition to the Transformers gaming franchise, and is quite possibly the better part of Revenge of The Fallen. The new multiplayer component contains your typical Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and several spins on other classic games, such as “Capture the Flag” and “Kill the Leader”. Each game contains a good amount of variety and plays out well in the Transformers universe. You can select any Transformer to do your online warfare bidding that appears in the single player campaigns, and additional unlocks can that give players G1 colors for their favorite characters, but just like the single player campaign, the G1 colors are nothing more than that.

Fighting friends online is not as easy as it looks.

Summary:

Is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen enjoyable? In short, no, the game displays remote story telling that cannot really be enjoyed albeit the main plot of the film is present. The game does indeed play out like MechWarrior on Steroids and Methamphetamines, but the variety in each character makes it a bit more interesting. The graphics are very disappointing, and seems as though the game’s engine was taken from a much larger draw scale genre such as a real time strategy or a large open world game. Nothing sounds spectacular, not even the voice acting from Megan Fox or Shia LeBouf. Multiplayer can be a lot of fun, and the variety helps keep gamers engaged and gives the game a bit more worth then the rest of its core components. Revenge of the Fallen can only really appeal to fans of games similar to MechWarrior or the first Transformers game. Other than that, most will get little to no enjoyment from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Story: 6/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 5/10
Audio: 5.5/10
Multiplayer: 6.5/10

Total Gaming Network Rating: 6/10

~Kieran Manzi