'TRANSFORMERS' MISSION FALLS FLAT.

Byline: REDMOND CAROLIPIO

>LA.COM 

Is "Transformers: The Game" more than meets the eye? Not really.

Like most games released on the heels of a summer blockbuster, this latest offering from Activision feels like a tired extension of the film and not a special experience. It's certainly not on the level of the "Spider-Man" series or even "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay."

Instead, we get a mission-based, semi free-roaming monster movie, where big things smash little things, buildings crumble, people run around, stuff explodes, dogs and cats live together -- mass hysteria! (OK, that last part about dogs and cats doesn't happen, but you get the idea).

You can play the game from two different campaign perspectives, Autobots and Decepticons. Players who pick the Autobot campaign essentially follow a modified path of the movie, which centers on tracking a giant cube of power called the Allspark. You also have to help humanity by fighting off Decepticon drones while not completely destroying everything around you.

Instead of allowing you to freely select which Autobots to use, you're asked to take control of a particular Autobot depending on the mission. You'll be at the wheel of Bumblebee, Ironhide, Jazz and of course, Optimus Prime.

The Decepticon campaign also focuses on finding the Allspark, but without the confines of worrying about people. Many of the missions are based on causing as much destruction as possible, with Megatron relaying directives to you.

The visuals are solid in a lot of areas, especially when it comes to the robots themselves. They move well enough and look very sharp both in-game and in the cutscenes. They come armed with a variety of weapons, and you can transform at will with one press of the button.

However, the game hits some roadblocks when it comes to gameplay. Driving and flying is an absolute nightmare. Perhaps it's because I'm coming off playing "Forza Motorsport 2," but turning while driving is almost too sensitive and awkward in "Transformers." You'll find plenty of ways to crash into (or through) things while you're in vehicle mode, which can certainly make things annoying in pursuit missions.

Speaking of the missions, they have a way of stacking goals on top of each other to comprise a complete chapter -- with no checkpoints. This means if you die when you're on your seventh mission goal, you have to start all the way from the beginning. That's old-style difficulty right there, and that would probably put off a lot of younger or casual gamers. Some of the mission goals are repetitive -- I remember a mission in the Hoover Dam where I had to chase down security drones three times in a row before I could move on. Then I had to run around and destroy a handful of generators. Not exactly nail-biting stuff.

Finally, the fighting is just flat-out annoying. Yes, there's plenty of car-tossing and fire and explosions everywhere. But the game also has a way of throwing these annoying mini-bosses at you, where you can't use your weapons -- but you have to throw something at them to disengage the shield. So, they can block my rain of artillery but can't defend against a flying pipe? OK. I could handle this kind of battle a few times, but it happens way too much during your time with the game.

Perhaps what hurts most is that nowhere do you really get the feeling that you're embroiled in the epic war between the Autobots and the Decepticons. The game is simply content to toss you into the fray and do what you're told. There's no spirit of the Transformers mythos (or even the movie) to be found -- and because of that, transforming and rolling out just isn't as fun.

Redmond Carolipio, [phone],

[e-mail]

Transformers: The Game

T for Teen

For multiple platforms 

Our rating: One and one half stars

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