Transformers

Fans of Transformers will love this.

The vast environments coupled with simplistic objectives offer a refreshing approach to the genre, allowing you to progress as you please, destroying anything in your path and using either your robotic or vehicle form to traverse land.

From the lush environments down to the rust on Optimus Prime’s fender, the graphics in Transformers are outstanding.

A confident, playable, arcade shooter that almost does justice to a fantastic licence. Too short and fiddly to be a classic. [GamesMaster]

A special mention must also go to the Minicons, which provide for a lot more variation than expected, offering all manner of power ups and, when you’ve amassed a few to select from, allow you to gear yourself up more for a specific mission with the resultant tactical depth a welcome bonus to what is essentially another third person shoot ‘em up.

The large levels, number of enemies, and variety of weapons thanks to the minicons make the game stand out from most other third person action games.

Melbourne House have still done a fantastic job and the problems the game does have are very much overshadowed by the authenticity and fantastic gameplay contained within the game.

Ridiculous fun.

Gorgeous, fun, challenging, and offers a unique blend of gameplay that tailors itself to the type of gamer, even while they are playing. As an action game, you won’t find anything even close to this on the PS2.

Turns out many of the programmers and artists were fans of the series, and they not only did a remarkable job of bringing the characters to life, they also kick-started a potentially huge game franchise, as future titles will no doubt be even better.

After two decades, there's no rust on these Transformers. [18 June 2004, p.L2T 20]

The best Transformers game ever.

Transformers does a very solid job of capturing the visual style of the cartoon series while running on the PS2 hardware.

There’s certainly room for improvement, but Transformers has a lot to offer any fan of interactive destruction.

It’s fast, attractive and fun, and only a few shortcomings mar its presentation. The poor integration of the vehicular aspect of the license is the biggest disappointment, but sluggish controls and a weak story are also valid, if minor, gripes.

A near masterpiece, managing to not only stay utterly faithful to the subject matter, but in many respects creating a benchmark mech shoot 'em up that practically bends the PS2 out of shape for technical merit.

From the introductory scene featuring a Darth Vader-esque Megatron to the grand-scale boss fights later in the game, this is a thoroughly entertaining and well-constructed title.

What will stop you in your tracks is the scale, detail and beuty of the environments. Even after repeated play it's impossible not to pause and breathe in the magnificant view from the top of the Deep Amazon Temple. [May 2004, p.94]

A thoughtfully designed action shooter with massive, well-rendered and free roaming environments, a great range of enemies and an unparalleled range of gadgets and weapons with which to defeat them.

At the very least, it allows you to drive a truck through your enemies, jump into the air as a robot and come down fighting again. It must be said that this will be enough for a lot of people.

There are a few rough edges such as the enemy AI being a little too dumb and the plot being basically useless to the player, but when it comes to running through a level dispatching bullets right, left and centre, Transformers gets the job done with relative style.

While the game is substantive enough for everyone, it is the fans who will really appreciate it. Fans, rejoice - this is the best Transformers game yet. [July 2004, p.22]

Transformers has just enough of a bright, toy-like look to tickle the nostalgia of those who grew up with the cartoons and the hype, but the game stands up well on -- sorry again! -- its own two feet.

Once you dig into Transformers' gameplay, you'll find a surprisingly intense combat model that's pretty tough but also rewarding once you get a handle on it.

The atmosphere is somewhat ruined by lackluster music, sometimes shoddy level design, and repetitive battles, but if you don’t overdose on the game, you’ll have a lot of fun.

The controls could use a little work, we’d like to encounter more things to shoot, and it’d be nice to be able to play as more than three Autobots, but Melbourne House has laid the groundwork for what can become an exciting shooter series.

Kinda like last year's "Metal Arms," this over-the-shoulder robo-shooter totally ambushed me with how unexpectedly awesome it is. [June 2004, p.103]

However dumb, simple, and to the point it may be, Transformers offers serious, valid reasons to warrant play: The game is fun. The game is pretty. The game is polished. The game offers plenty of extras as enticements.

A memorable fight. [Aug 2004, p.7]

While better level design and improved pacing could have made Transformers even better, what's here is nothing if not enjoyable, and the unlockable bonus features are especially nice. [June 2004, p.55]