Transformers: The Game
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And now we've come to arguably the biggest dent in Transformers' ravaged metal sheath: the controls. Even though your Transformer is capable of launching some powerful weaponry by pressing the A and B buttons, the lock-on targeting goes haywire when multiple enemies appear on the screen at the same time.

Throughout most of the game, you're forced to rely on clumsy melee attacks, which are executed by swinging the Wii-mote or Nunchuk horizontally. You can also pick up random objects by pressing either the C button or making a vertical motion with the Wii-mote or Nunchuk. Of course, not much of this matters due to poor collision detection and the fact that you'll be spending less time fighting enemies in Transformers than fighting the camera from hell.

"I'm open!"

Basically, looking, aiming and targeting are correlated with eachother in this game. An IR cursor is constantly present on the battlefield and aiming that cursor at a bad guy with the Wii-mote will let you lock onto him by pressing the Z button. Problem is the camera remains stationary, moving only when you move the cursor all the way to the end of the screen. This will often lead to you having to press the - button to reset the camera and make your Transformer face the direction of the enemy you're trying to target. Also, remember that the lock-on targeting gets glitchy when there's multiple enemies on the screen. Confused yet?

It wouldn't be fair of me to end this review without highlighting Transformers' good points, so I'll take the time to do so now. The game does look pretty good, with lighting and explosion effects that allow it to rank in, or close to, the top tier for Wii games so far. The cast from the movie also does a spot-on job lending their voices, led by Optimus Prime himself Peter Cullen. Finally, Transformers contains an avalanche of unlockable extras for hardcore fans, including art packs and movies. End good points.

Note you can't actually climb up walls in the game.

Transformers: The Game is your standard rushed-to-market movie game plagued with so many problems, even diehard "Transformers" fans will hiss at it. Boring, linear gameplay, a horrendous control scheme -- made even worse with the Wii controllers -- and the absolute worst camera I've ever dealt with in a videogame make this "Transformers" game a definite loser.



Highs
Better graphics than most Wii games; plenty of things that go "boom!"; tons of extras.

Lows
Dull, linear gameplay; sluggish, beyond awful controls lead to many deaths; no multiplayer.

Final Verdict
A wasted use of a great license that misleads you into thinking it's GTA with giant robots when it's actually a slap-job bore fest with some of the worst controls ever in a videogame. If Megan Fox made an appearance wearing her half-shirt, I might've added 5% to this game's score. Avoid it like the plague.

40%

Aug 6, 2007

Review by Eddie Bracco.

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EverWars.com - You have GOT to play this game!