• Game: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Platform: Xbox 360, PS3
• Publisher: Activision
• Developer: High Moon Studios
• ESRB: T
• Genre: Morphable Action
• Players: 1



• What's Hot: Complex but comfortable controls, simple to play.



• What's Not: Redundant narrative, unnecessary combat additions, lacks personality.

Review by: Justin Amirkhani

Nostalgia is a funny thing; it makes us idolize something long after its appeal should have worn off. Transformers is one of those properties that, given the lackluster performance of both its modern films, should have died already. But alas, a new summer blockbuster season calls Michael Bay back to earn money off the perpetually juvenile with another poorly made game adaptation traipsing over their childhood.

For those who played last year’s game it may come as a shock to realize just how far from grace High Moon Studios could fall in twelve short months. By some strange feat of devolution, Transformers: Dark of the Moon feels more like the cursory debut rather than the refined sequel they already released with War for Cybertron. If there is a lesson to be learned between these two games, it’s that licenses don’t automatically make a bad game but a strict film-centric release window does.

Designed as a companion to the film, the plot lacks the definition needed to make it noteworthy. Forcing the writers to work within film canon, lead into the movie’s events, and remain ancillary to the main story has created a narrative that lacks any relevance or importance. It’s an effective brand extension, but a worthless fiction.

Level design is predictably linear and lacks the controlled spectacle that makes forgoing the freedom of open spaces justifiable. Lacking any sense of verticality, the flat hallways and inescapable pit-arenas that compose the game are unable to inspire the sense of latitude that is to be expected in a game about transforming cars.

At many times through the game it feels like High Moon lost sight of what makes Transformers fun. The ability to turn into a sedan is most cool when it’s used as a means of disguise (like the tagline’s declared since the 80’s). Unfortunately, stealth gameplay that doesn’t require an invisibility cloak and comatose AI is hard to make and so instead they’ve weaponized the vehicles, making them barely distinguishable from their robot counterparts.

In addition to their bipedal and wheeled states, the Transformers now have a pseudo-tank state called Stealth Force that provides improved shields, alternate weapons, and a strafing ability. If this sounds like one step too many, that’s because it is; there was no mob requesting more transformations and the addition only encumbers the experience.