Introduction: Depending on your age, you may remember the moment you got your hands on your first Transformers toy. Complete with copy-proof heat changing sticker to prove their official nature, these little toys were every young boy's dream. Cars that could turn into robots. The games you previously left to your imagination were now able to be lived out through the transformative powers of a real toy. However, as the years rolled by and the franchise grew ever larger, something seemed to get lost along the way. Rather than toys that could help children better imagine their play-scenarios, they became all controlling definitions of where the play could go. As the toys became more detailed and complex, all the space for play was somehow squeezed out of them. With this in mind it was with some suspicion that we approached the latest turn in this money making machine, the movie and the unavoidable game tie-in. Were these assets able to re-connect with what made Transformers great all those years ago, or would they simply be another re-telling of a tired story to make a quick buck.

GamePlay: The game works around the same basic theme as the film. This plays out the classic Transformers battle between the good and the bad. The good robots and the evil robots come to Earth and their terrible battles come tumbling through the streets and homes of our tidy little planet. All this is in an effort for the two warring sides to find an artefact known as the AllSpark; essentially the power source for all Transformers. Sam Witwicky is an average teenager who happens to hold the key to finding the AllSpark. From here, it's a simple race for both sides to find Sam and consequently get their hands on the AllSpark. With the exception of a few conversations between Sam and the various Transformers, there's very little to mention in terms of story or plot to drive the game forward.

The game is presented in two main campaigns, one for the Autobots and one for the Deceptorcons. The Autobots campaign has you playing as Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, as you battle to find the AllSpark and try to protect Sam. The Deceptorcons mode has you playing as Megatron, Starscream, and Barricade, trying to locate the AllSpark and destroy the Autobots. It's a welcome addition to be able to choose which side you play on, there's not a huge amount of difference here, and you can't help but feel this is an opportunity missed.

Either way these missions both have you working through a number of missions that rely on the same three hit combo fighting technique over and over. This is somewhat relieved by racing around one of the game's few, somewhat open-ended environments, chasing down Autobots or Deceptorcons to battle. But largely things get pretty repetitive pretty quickly. This un-imaginative play is a real disappointment as the environments and basic concepts are quite promising, if only more time had been spent on developing a variety of different play mechanics, rather than relying on the player putting up with an astounding level of repetition.

The high water mark in terms of gameplay are some particular Deceptorcons missions where you have to blow up an environment, Rampage style. As we alluded to above, the worlds in which you fight are probably one of the best aspects of the game and they stand up well to being blown to pieces. There is something primal and satisfying about levelling buildings.

Control: Whilst the Wii picks up the majority of its controls from the other versions of the game, it of course has a variety of different gestures that seem to be been reversed into the control-scheme at the end of the project. Whilst this was excusable at the start of the Wii's life with the various ports, it really is a poor show when the game has been built from the ground up with the knowledge it would be delivering on the platform. As you might expect, you swipe the Wii Remote or the Nun chuck to attack, whilst controlling the camera with the Wii-mote remote. At bottom, these controls turn out to be both too confusing and unresponsive to work successfully.

Graphics: Visually, the Wii version is obviously not as impressive as its next generation counter-parts. But as we often say in these reviews, it certainly holds its own. The main characters all retain a good level of detail and shading, but the wider environment seems to have paid the price. It is significantly emptier than the other versions and with a reduced draw distance. On top of all this the frame rate chugs from time to time. The overall feeling is that this is the absolute minimum they could do to get the Wii game out into stores. It's a real shame that more had not been done to improve the experience as there are times when the original design shines through and you get a glimpse of the game that you could have been playing if only it had been produced with the platform in mind.

Sound & Music: Being a film to game tie in the team obviously had a fare amount of musical asset on which to draw. Because of this it is probably one of the better areas of the game, although in all honesty that is not really saying a lot. There are some good re-occurring themes from the musical score that are well used and some good sound effects. The voice work holds its own whilst not really adding much to the whole affair.

Final Comments: Overall this is a game that does the bear minimum and it really shows. Because of this it should be the reserve of the hard-core Transformers fan, or perhaps the very young player who won't notice the poor look and feel. There really is very little here to convince us to recommend the game. Because of that we would suggest that this is at best a rental title, or one to retrieve from the bargain bin in a few months.

Pro: Transformers!
Con: The game gives away its multiplatform movie tie-in roots at almost every turn.
Final Score: 4.5

Reviewed by: Douglas Andrews