Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen Playstation 3 w/ DLC Video Game Review
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Luxoflux
ESRB Rating: Teen
Release Date: June 23, 2009
The Revenge of the Fallen
video game for the main two consoles (the Xbox360 version is the same as
the PS3 version) has gotten a new developer this time around, Luxoflux.
Far from building on the mediocre previous Transformers
Movie game, Luxoflux instead built this game from the ground up. There
are certainly still some similarities with the first game, however-- there
are several different environments to explore, and the third-person-shooter
gameplay style is still apparent. You can also choose to play in one of
two seperate campaigns, as either the Autobots-- which roughly follows
the events & outcome of the movie-- or as the Decepticons, which takes
a slight "what-if" tack towards the end. To be honest, though, even though
both campaigns go through the same environments and are the same length,
the Autobot campaign feels like a lot more effort was put into it, as there
seems to be more of a story going on and there are more spectacular boss
fights. The Decepticon campaign is still good, but there aren't as many
boss fights (why don't you ever fight Ratchet?) and the final boss fight
is, disappointingly, The Fallen (same as in the Autobot campaign), who
betrays Megatron at the end, leading to an ending that really isn't all
that different from how the movie turned out, except more Autobots are
dead.
The gameplay itself
has many more tweaks beyond just a traditional third-person-shooter setup,
however. For one, instead of just pressing a button to transform, you hold
down a trigger button-- this takes a while to get used to, but once you
master it it's actually preferable to the traditional way of transforming,
as you can much more rapidly change forms. Some of the controls-- particularly
involving the trigger buttons-- can stay confusing to your fingers for
quite a while, however. There are also some really neat melee moves you
can pull off when transforming, such as a jump/ground pound or just barreling
headlong into the enemy. Killing the enemies by using these special moves,
as well as under other unique conditions (such as shooting them in the
head or pounding them relentlessly with damage) will earn you points in
your "Overload" meter. When this meter is full, you can press it at the
touch of a button to make yourself invulnerable and have an extremely high
& damaging rate of fire that doesn't overheat your weapons, all for
a limited amount of time. You also have two different weapons for each
character, which you can switch between and which have varied rates of
overheating, cooldown, fire, and damage. Each character also has a special
ability which recharges over a period of time, and taken together they
make each character quite unique to play as. You start off only being able
to play one character for each level, but by doing special tasks you can
unlock other characters and go back and play any of the other relevant
Transformers in your campaign. There are also lots of unlockables such
as character concept art, skins, and even entire G1 episodes that encourage
you to try to complete special feats.
Beyond just completing
certain tasks, the game also encourages you to go back to previous missions
through a rather interesting time mechanic that I personally haven't seen
in a game before. This is definitely a good thing, as it wouldn't take
all that long to beat the game without these extra incentives, given its
fast-paced nature. Yes, all of your missions are timed, but none of them
require you to finish them in a set time limit. Let me explain.
As soon as you start a mission, the clock starts ticking-- up. Platinum
times are the lowest and are generally hard (but not impossible) to get
with the right character, then Gold times are the next-lowest, then Silver,
then Bronze. There are also five special targets-- "Skill Shots"-- in each
level that will pause the timer for 10 seconds, and which are undoubtedly
necessary for some of the toughter times. However, even if you don't make
Bronze, you can still continue onwards if you complete your objective(s).
You do need to at least do somewhat well eventually, however, as later
levels are only unlocked once you get a certain amount of "medal points",
and the better time you get, the more medal points you receive. The number
of medal points needed certainly isn't steep, though, so as long as you
get a decent number of Silvers and perhaps the occasional Gold you'll make
it to the end of a campaign without having to replay any missions, if you
don't want to try for Platinums on everything. Playing in "Expert mode"
that's available as part of the extra DLC makes the Platinum times much
harder-- nigh-impossible, in fact-- to get, but otherwise there isn't any
difference between playing normal and expert, sadly.
By killing enemies and
bosses, you acquire Energon, which can be used to purchase various upgrades
for your Transformers. (By killing them in unique ways, such as the aforementioned
headshots of special melee takedowns, the amount of Energon you receive
for them is increased exponentially.) These upgrades include more health,
melee damage, increased rate of weapon cooldown, and the like. What's cool
is that when you upgrade a stat, it's upgraded for ALL your Transformers,
not just one, so you don't have to worry about playing as everybody equally
just to level them all up if there's one 'bot (or 'con) you're particularly
good at. Things such as times and the amount of Energon gained during a
mission are uploaded online to a Leaderboard, where you can check out how
your scores fall within the general gamer populace's as well as compare
them with your friends. In addition, in the "meeting room" after each mission
the Transformers' banter will reflect on any strengths or weaknesses you
displayed during the previous mission.
Each environment isn't
as big as in the original Transformers Movie game-- in fact, some are quite
small-- but after you complete every mission in the environment you can
go back and free roam if you wish, and there are considerably more environments
to make up for their lack of size-- 13 in all, in fact. The tasks they
assign you with in each environment, however, aren't very varied-- about
2/3rds of them are simply "kill everyone" missions, with some others being
stuff like escort or race missions-- hardly objectives that "think outside
the box". There are secondary objectives on each mission that can score
you bonus energon, and are usually such things as "use an advanced melee
attack to kill 5 enemies". All of the environments are very well-detailed
graphically, even if a few seem rather haphazard, and the character models
themselves shine in both modes. They're not quite the A++ material that
you can get on some of the high-end Playstation 3-exclusive titles, but
they're fairly close. The music is also fantastic, and is a mix between
original music and some tracks by techno artist Julien-K, who I personally
love. Some in particular really add to the feel of the game and pump you
up. Plus, there are some appropriately sounding "epic" themes for the Autobots
and "evil" themes for the Decepticons. The cinematic sequences are also
quite good, with a sort of "virtual projection" feel to most of them as
the appropriate character explains the situation. In-game cinematic sequences
also look very cool and are sometimes quite inventive, such as one where
Breakaway transforms from jet mode to robot mode in mid-air and flings
himself up onto a ceiling by means of grabbing onto a downtown skywalk.
The enemies in the game
are surprisingly varied, and you fight different enemies when you're playing
as Autobots than you do as Decepticons, though many of the differences
are in appearance only. Small aerial long-range specialists, quick hard-to-hit
ground scouts, slow bulky hard-hitters-- every major type of enemy is here
for both sides, and they're all detailed wonderfully (and yes, they all
transform as well). The "normal" boss fights (i.e., against characters
you'd play as if you were on the other campaign) aren't frustratingly hard
nor dull and inventive-- it's rather like you're playing against a real
person who's controlling the character, the only difference is they have
considerably more health for gameplay purposes. They're quite fun, my only
complaint being they run away a little bit TOO often. The three "big" bosses--
Demolishor, Devastator and the Fallen, the former two of which can only
be fought against in the Autobot campaign-- are a mixed bag. Demolishor
is a fair enough fight for being early in the game, alternating between
firing missiles, creating a mini-cyclone with his wheels, and pounding
you close-range with them. I wish his attacks were a bit less predictable,
but otherwise he's a good boss. Devastator is a BIG disappointment. You'd
think for a 'con that huge it'd be a pretty epic boss fight, but all he
does is continuously walk around one city block in circles, completely
ignoring you. Instead, you have to target certain guns on his shoulders,
arms, head, and back which can fire and do modest damage. You also just
have to generally stay away from him, as if he steps on you or sucks you
into his maw, you're automatically dead. And given that you have to face
him initially as the Autobot worst suited to him (Bumblebee, whose missiles
can't lock onto Devastator for some reason and who otherwise does very
little damage), it's the most annoying mission in the game, from either
side. The Fallen, however, is epic, whether you're facing him as Megatron
or Optimus Prime (the way things play out is essentially the same). I wish
the Movie final fight was like this! A huge flaming barrier of floating
cars, trucks, and other debris (which he'll occasionally throw at you)
surrounds him at the pyramid's apex, he has flame attacks, pillars of fire
he can create to harm you, he can teleport around and float in mid-air,
he occasionally sends waves of enemies at you-- it's challenging, but not
frustrating or impossible, and a blast not only to play but to just watch
as well.
You can also go online
and play against friends or random people (it's particularly helpful when
you're searching for friends, as it'll tell you not only whether they're
online or not, but whether they're playing ROTF, and if so whether they're
playing single or multiplayer, in a lobby, or in the game menus). You can
also send invites to friends if you want to have private matches. There
are several different environments to play multiplayer in, with 3 exclusive
to the DLC character & map pack that's $10 in addition to the cost
of the game. (Players using DLC content in multiplayer can only play against
other players who have the DLC, however.) There are five different modes
of play-- the traditional Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, as well as "Capture
the Shard", which involves getting Allspark shards located out across the
battlefield and bringing them back to your "base" for points; "Control
Points", which follow the traditional "hold a point/take it from the other
side by staying there for so long" formula; and "One Shall Stand", where
one player on each team plays as Prime or Megatron, and if either leader
dies, their team has a very limited time in which to win or it's game over.
People only ever seem to play Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch that I've
seen, though. It's still a ton of fun, though, and some would argue the
best part of the game. I'm still undecided about whether it's better than
single player or not, but it's still a blast, particularly against people
you know-- it's great to try out all the different characters and see how
some work well against others and just generally beat the oil out of your
friends (or have your friends beat the oil out of you). (And yes, ROTF
supports voice chat, though you can mute people if they annoy you.)
So, speaking of the
characters that you can play, who are they? Following is a list of all
the characters available to play in the game, including those that are
multiplayer-only or that can only be accessed by purchasing the DLC (which
also adds some more characters into the single-player campaigns), and a
brief summary of their specialties:
Autobots:
- Aerialbot (MP only, unless you have DLC,
in which case he can be accessed in SP)-- fast in the air, slow on the
ground, moderate amount of damage. Good for aerial strikes and hit and
run. Special involves overheating nearby enemies' weapons.
- Breakaway-- Fast in the air, slow on
the ground, used as a sniper because of his rifle. Special involves overheating
nearby enemies' weapons.
- Bumblebee-- fast, doesn't do much damage,
good for hit-and-run. Special involves stunning nearby enemies for a short
period of time.
- Stealth Bumblebee (DLC only)-- Skin,
same as Bumblebee
- Ironhide-- slow speed, high damage--
close-range, front-line specialist. Special involves deploying a turret.
- G1 Colors Ironhide-- Skin, same as Ironhide
- Jazz (DLC only)-- Very fast, very low
health, fairly high long-range damage-- hit-and-run, long-range specialist.
Special involves temporarily increasing his speed.
- Jetfire (DLC, MP only)-- Moderate speed,
moderate damage-- due to his huge size, good as a distraction. Special
reveals all enemies to everyone on your side for a limited amount of time.
- Optimus Prime-- slow speed, high melee
and long-range damage, great front-liner. Special involves a "shield" mode
that drastically lowers the damage he receives for a limited time.
- Power-Up Optimus Prime-- Same as Optimus
Prime, except instead of transforming he flies, which makes his speed a
bit greater but also makes him a greater target.
- Gold Optimus Prime-- unlocked only with
a special code-- Skin, same as Optimus Prime
- G1 Optimus Prime (DLC only)-- generally
the same as "normal" Optimus Prime, but instead of two cannons he has one,
which gives him less fire, but each projectile does more damage.
- Protectobot (MP only)-- high speed, very
low health, moderate damage-- good for support and a distraction. Special
involves blinding all nearby enemies for a short period of time.
- Ratchet-- moderate speed, moderate damage--
generally good for backup and support. Special involves healing himself
and nearby allies for a short period of time.
- G1 Colors Ratchet (DLC only)-- Skin,
same as Ratchet
- Sideswipe (DLC only)-- Fast, high melee
damage, low long-range damage, good for hit-and-run. Special involves charging
up and, if you hit the target, a one-hit kill shot with limited range.
- G1 Colors Sideswipe (DLC only)-- Skin,
same as Sideswipe
Decepticons:
- Grindor-- Fairly slow, but can hover--
high health, moderate damage, front-line specialist. Special involves deploying
a turret.
- Long Haul-- Very slow, high health, high
close-range damage, close-range/support specialist. Special involves healing
himself and nearby allies for a short period of time.
- Yellow Long Haul-- Skin, same as Long
Haul
- Megatron-- Slow, very high health, high
melee and long-range damage, great front-liner. Special involves charging
up and, if you hit the target, a one-hit kill shot.
- Flight Megatron-- Same as Megatron, except
instead of transforming he flies, which makes his speed a bit greater but
also makes him a greater target.
- Gold Megatron-- unlocked only with a
special code-- Skin, same as Megatron
- G1 Megatron (DLC only)-- Same as Flight
Megatron, but has weapons with a lesser rate of fire, but higher damage
- Sideways-- Fast, low health, works well
as a sniper. Special involves him laying a mine that, when activated, will
damage and slow down the target.
- Soundwave-- Fast, low health, low damage.
Works well as suppport. Special involves deploying either Laserbeak-- a
stationary hovering firing turret-- in vehicle mode, or deploying Rumble/Frenzy--
a stationary ground-based turret that does high damage, but in a very limited
radius-- in robot mode.
- Starscream-- Fast in the air, moderate
speed on the ground, moderate health, moderate damage-- jack of all trades,
master of none. Special involves powered-up weaponry for a short time that
both deals more damage and slows down the enemy you've hit.
- G1 Colors Starscream-- Skin, same as
Starscream
- G1 Starscream (DLC only)-- Generally
the same as Starscream, but with faster-firing (but less damaging) weapons.
Special involves taking out G1 Megatron in gun mode and charging him up.
If you hit the target, it's a one-hit kill shot.
- G1 Sunstorm (DLC only)-- Same skin as
G1 Starscream, but different colors-- Fast in the air, moderate speed on
the ground, moderate health, high but close-range damage for the most part.
Best used as support. Special involves temporarily overheating all nearby
enemies' weapons.
Overall, the PS3/360 version of Revenge of the Fallen is not only the best game released for the movie, but the best Transformers video game I've ever played. It's not perfect--some missions are rather repetitive, and some the game length is a bit shorter than I'd like it to be, even if the unlockables help to lengthen it-- but it's still a darned fine game on its own, with many unique twists and a great multiplayer component, and certainly worth picking up if you're interested enough in Transformers to be reading this. HIGHLY recommended.
Graphics: 9/10
Music: 10/10
Gameplay: 18/20
Storyline: 8/10
Level Design: 7/10
Cutscenes: 9/10
Controls: 17/20
Replayability: 10/10
Overall Rating:88/100 Great
(Screencaps taken from Gamespot.com)