Transformers
Movie Chess Set Review
MSRP: $30 U.S.
Released: June 2007
Every property needs a chess
set, it seems, and Transformers is certainly no exception-- in fact, a
Transformers chess set is definitely long overdue, if you ask me. This
chess set, based off of the movie designs, is fairly straightforward, with
different Transformers characters from the movie taking the places of the
chess pieces.
On the Decepticon side,
Megatron is the king (of course), Starscream the queen, Barricade the bishop,
Blackout the knight, Bonecrusher the rook, and Decepticon emblems the pawns.
Conversely, on the Autobot side, Optimus Prime of course is the king, while
Ironhide is the queen, Jazz the bishop, Bumblebee the knight, Ratchet the
rook, and Autobot emblems the pawns. Using just faction emblems for the
pawns is my only real problem with the pieces-- that idea just seems rather
lazy to me instead of putting another Transformer in its place. I understand
the conundrum on the Autobot side, since there are only five Autobots in
the movie and six different chess pieces, but surely something less symbolic
could have been used, like maybe generic drone robots or military tanks.
And for the Decepticons, of course, Frenzy or Scorponok could have been
used for the pawns. As a smaller aside, I also would have preferred
Brawl to be used as the rook instead of Bonecrusher, simply because of
how little screentime Bonecrusher actually got in the movie.
All of the chess pieces
are extremely well-sculpted, with very intricate, movie-accurate detailing
on all of the figures-- even on their bases are full of metallic detailing
like wires and cylinders. And all of the pieces are coated with a black
paint wash to bring out all the details, which is actually better than
painting them like toys, in my opinion-- at this small scale, at this price
point, the painted details would have no doubt looked rather sloppy. Using
gold for the Autobots and silver for the Decpeticons was another good choice,
as silver has a more sinister feel to it while gold has a more heroic feel.
Another nice detail is that all of the pieces have the traditional symbol
for its respective chess piece on its base, so that no one gets confused
about which Transformer is which chess piece. The only exception I have
to make to the excellent detailing is Bonecrusher-- he's still very intricately
detailed, but his sculpt is off when compared to how he looks in the movie.
He's a bit too tall in proportion to his width (so some of that was no
doubt to get him to fit in the normal dimensions of a chess square), and
his head design is also all wrong, for some odd reason.
The chess board design
is also extremely well-done and had a lot of creativity put into it. It
still has the same standard differently-colored chess board squares, but
the squares are light blue and "computerized" in their look. Plus, the
chess board as a whole is over a map of Earth, which was a great idea--
have the sides battle for control of the planet, instead of just a nondescript
battlefield. Another nice touch on the board is that the Autobot side of
the board has Optimus Prime-like details on it, with flames and all, while
the Decepticon side of the board has Megatron-like sharp silver details
on it.
The only real downer when
it comes to this chess set is that there are no modified "Transformers
rules" for chess whatsoever. I mean, I hardly expected them to reinvent
or drastically change the game, but a few extra rules might be nice, just
to spice things up a little and make it a bit less like "chess, but with
Transformers".
As a whole, the Transformers
chess set is a pretty good product for any Transfan who is even moderately
interested in chess. It's still just as strategic as ever, and with an
excellent game board design and game pieces sculpt. It is rather disappointing
that there are no extra "Transformers rules" to add to the game, and a
few things like using allegiance emblems for pawns could have been done
better, but overall it's a worthy addition to the Transformers Movie product
lineup.
Fun: 19/20
Creativity: 8/10
Board/Game Pieces Design: 20/25
Extra/Modified Rules: 0/15
Game Balancing: 15/15
Depth: 15/15
Overall Rating:
77/100
Good
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