There’s good news and bad news in regards to Transformers: Autobots and Transformers: Decepticons for the Nintendo DS. The good news is that Vicarious Visions has made the best video game adaptation to date of the live action Transformers movie. The bad news is that it’s still not saying much.
Transformers: Autobots and Transformers: Decepticons allow you to throw your robotic chips in with the faction of your choice as each group works to obtain the Allspark and keep it from the other side. Unlike the non-handheld versions of the game, which lets the player play both sides of the conflict in one game, the DS versions are split up into two different games, one for the Autobots and one for the Decepticons. As the differences between the two games can be summed up in a couple of sentences, this review will cover both flavors.
Splitting the action across two different games isn’t the only differences present in the DS versions. Along with the usual gaggle of characters from the movie (Prime, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Jazz and Ratchet for the Autobots, Megatron, Starscream, Barricade, Blackout and Brawl for the Decepticons), you also play a generic Autobot or Decepticon soldier. This soldier differs from the other Transformers in that he can scan Earth based vehicle forms and use them to pick and choose how he looks when not in robot form. There are roughly 40 different vehicles to find, and scan, ranging from school buses and maintenance trucks to attack choppers and police helicopters. The ability to assume different forms, and the need to track down the vehicles for scanning, gives the player something to do when in free roaming mode, however as the different forms don’t really change the gameplay much, the feature can be easily ignored.
The other, and more compelling difference, is the ability for the soldier character to gain experience points and level up, thereby unlocking new combat abilities. This mechanic helps make free roaming more worthwhile as you’ll come across drones to destroy when playing as either character, and also helps take the sting out of failing missions. Sure, you may be on your fifth attempt at protecting Ironhide, but at least you’ve been gaining valuable experience points throughout!
Unfortunately, the missions are fairly bland an uninspiring and consist mostly of going to an area, destroying the drones or satellite dishes or salt and pepper shakers or whatever, and then moving on to the next area to take your anger out on some other inanimate object or enemy combatant. Sometimes you’ll have to protect someone while they do something, made all the more annoying by the fact that the robot you’re protecting doesn’t have a life gauge to tell you how perilously close to death it is.
Sometimes you’ll have to go and destroy a set amount of stuff in a set amount of time. Here lies the main difference between the Autobot and Decepticon missions. As Autobots, you have to beat up on Decepticons while not hurting anything else, lest your wanted level rises too high and brings the heat upon you, or you inadvertently destroy human vehicles that, unbeknownst to you, required your protection. As Decepticons, you’re supposed to destroy anything you come across. The other slight difference is that as a Decepticon, you’ll gain experience for causing property damage, which is nice for leveling up quickly, however you constantly have the annoying cops to deal with. Thankfully, both sides have the ability to transform into an Earth vehicle, run away and lay low until the heat subsides. Neither side has mid-mission saves, which means you may be doing the first two parts of a three part mission over and over again as you try for success. When everything goes right, most missions can be completed in 10 – 15 minutes, placing the game squarely in the 4 – 6 hour time frame.
The boring missions aren’t helped much by the dodgy controls, especially the ranged weapon controls. Movement is handled via the d-pad with melee attacks mapped to the A button and jumping mapped to the B button. Picking up objects and throwing them is mapped to the X button, however your robot can also use procured trees and light poles as massive clubs. The camera is rotated via the left and right shoulder buttons, and pressing them simultaneously sets the camera behind the player.
In melee mode, things work marginally well, as walking towards an enemy and starting your melee attack usually means you’ll hit some part of them, even if you’re not directly facing your enemy. Moving into ranged weapon mode, by pressing the Y button, is when things get loopy. When in ranged weapons mode, you can only strafe left and right, and must rotate the camera to target any enemies. As the camera seems to be less responsive in ranged weapons mode, having an enemy get behind you becomes an exercise in frustration. Your weapons auto-lock on enemies, which is helpful when you finally manage to swing the camera around, however due to the destructive environments, you may also lock onto a light pole and unleash your destructive fury on the Tranquility Department of Public Works rather than the pissed off enemy drone bearing down on you.
Driving and flying controls are a little easier to manage, however driving is slow, regardless of the vehicle form you’ve chosen, and using the A and B button to raise and lower your airborne form is somewhat clunky.
Visuals are a mixed bag with the outdoor areas having a lot of activity in the form of different cars driving around, however even with the activities, the cities still seems sterile and lifeless. Perhaps it’s the lack of pedestrians, or the sameness of the buildings, but something seems off. Character models are well done, and while not nearly as detailed as the non-handheld game versions, are still distinctive enough for the player to know who they’re playing as or facing off against. Causing copious amount of damage while facing off against multiple enemy drones and dealing with police and military vehicles buzzing about, all with no frame rate issues, is an impressive sight, and highlights Vicarious Vision’s position as one of the premiere developers on the DS.
