The Transformers series is on the rise in popularity again, and with that in mind, Atari is hard at work on a new game based on the new Transformers Armada series.
One of the first things you notice about the game is that it looks great. The character models are pretty detailed; as are the environments (the water in the demo level looked realistic and really neat). The levels are huge as well, and can take a long time to get through. Luckily, each level has a few warp points, which allow you to warp in and out of the level to alter your character and change options etc. These also act as checkpoints.
The background music in the game is basic techno like music, but it doesn’t interfere with anything going on in the game, so it works. Fans of the Armada show should be happy to know that the voices and sound effects are authentic, adding the Transformers feel to the game.
The gameplay is kind of like that of a standard third person shooter. Despite being a big robot, your character moves along fairly fast and almost feels like a person rather than a robot. The weapons are assigned to the L1, R1, L2, and R2 buttons, and it works well in the heat of battle. And these battles can get pretty frantic, with up to 4-5 enemy robots at a time. It seemed as though there might have been a little slowdown when this occurred (or it could have been an in game effect, hard to tell), but this will likely be ironed out in the final version. The camera is player controlled, and works pretty well, with the right analog serving as a way to control the camera. It works quite efficiently. The one major gripe right now is the control when you transform into a vehicle. The R1 and L1 buttons are used to move you forwards and backwards, with the left analog stick serving as a way to steer. It feels a bit awkward and loose, making it pretty easy to spin out of control. Because of this, it is more convenient to travel around on foot, even though it is a bit slower. Perhaps this can be adjusted a bit in the final version in the game to be a bit more forgiving.
In Transformers, you play one of three Autobots (Optimus Prime, Red Alert, or Hot Shot) in a battle against the evil Decepticons. Your main objective is to obtain little robots called Mini-Cons. Not only are they an objective, but each one will grant you new abilities, such as homing missiles and temporary invisibility. You will also be going up against huge bosses in the game. It remains to be seen what other objectives there will be in the game, but hopefully there will be enough to keep the game from becoming too repetitive.
So far the game seems to be coming along quite nicely. Although the car control is a little loose, the rest of the game is pretty good. Transformers looks like it will be a nice diversion from your standard third-person shooter. Transformers will be on store shelves in May. CD
