On Transformers and related media, part 2.
So as normally happens, there were Transformers video games tied into the movies. Now most of us think of things like the Bebe's Kids movie game when we think of tie-ins. And to be honest, Transforms for the next -gens kind of goes in that direction. They're not very well-made and focus a lot more on the graphics than the game itself. It makes me sad. I'm told it was better, but I played it for forty-five minutes and watched someone else play it for an hour and it made me not want to bother.
Now, someone else got me to check out one of the DS games they made. The Decepticons game, as a matter of fact. I took a 40-dollar gamble on this one. Surprisingly enough to me, it paid off. I've finished this game in a week or so, and I plan to max it out. This marks an inconsistency. Folks, I have serious trouble focusing on a game or anything else for extended peri--
Holy crap where was I?
Oh, right. Game.
Yeah, this game was of sufficient quality to get me to focus. For a fully-3D DS game, the graphics are pretty decent. The voice acting is absolutely excellent. They got people who played the original characters to do voices. And they're not too intrusive, either. The other voices for the new guys are good, too.
Now, the game takes most of the movie into consideration, from the Decepticon point of view, starting a bit before the movie actually begins. It injects some character into the Decepticons that wasn't there in the movie. You play a Decepticon soldier, and you choose your name. You can scan vehicles, from hot rods to helicopters, and switch between them. The normal game is composed of a freeplay system on four different maps. You go to missions, much like your average GTA-clone. You can also do some side missions for fun. Much like your average GTA clone. So. What saves this from being a mediocre GTA clone, exactly?
Three words.
Big. Freakin' . Robots.
Simple as that. The main reason this game is fun is because you're a Transformer, doing transformer-y things. You're a Transformer. It's rather hard to hurt you with conventional weaponry, but they will definitely try. Later on the humans get better weapons and can tear you up pretty bad.
Now, some of the missions in this game are really freakin' hard. Downright incomprehensible at times if you don't know what you're actually supposed to be doing. But you will eventually figure it out, and you will move on.
One of the really awesome aspects of the DS game is the online system. Now, there is no wi-fi battling directly. But I assure you, the replacement is about as intriguing. Every seven days, a round of "Allspark Wars" begins. You and every other owner of either the DS Autobots or Decepticons Transformers game has access to it. It's a fight for seven shards of the Allspark. Every day, you can download a mission, complete it(preferably several times and get a really good rating on it) and upload the results back to the War server. At the end of the day it tabulates results and determines a winner. Wifi points are doled out by the server depending on how well you did. You unlock secrets and new vehicles this way. This bumps the replay value up considerably, I think.
Overall, if I had to put it to a numerical rating, Transformers Decepticons would get a nine out of ten. It's not perfect, but it's very, very fun.
Now, someone else got me to check out one of the DS games they made. The Decepticons game, as a matter of fact. I took a 40-dollar gamble on this one. Surprisingly enough to me, it paid off. I've finished this game in a week or so, and I plan to max it out. This marks an inconsistency. Folks, I have serious trouble focusing on a game or anything else for extended peri--
Holy crap where was I?
Oh, right. Game.
Yeah, this game was of sufficient quality to get me to focus. For a fully-3D DS game, the graphics are pretty decent. The voice acting is absolutely excellent. They got people who played the original characters to do voices. And they're not too intrusive, either. The other voices for the new guys are good, too.
Now, the game takes most of the movie into consideration, from the Decepticon point of view, starting a bit before the movie actually begins. It injects some character into the Decepticons that wasn't there in the movie. You play a Decepticon soldier, and you choose your name. You can scan vehicles, from hot rods to helicopters, and switch between them. The normal game is composed of a freeplay system on four different maps. You go to missions, much like your average GTA-clone. You can also do some side missions for fun. Much like your average GTA clone. So. What saves this from being a mediocre GTA clone, exactly?
Three words.
Big. Freakin' . Robots.
Simple as that. The main reason this game is fun is because you're a Transformer, doing transformer-y things. You're a Transformer. It's rather hard to hurt you with conventional weaponry, but they will definitely try. Later on the humans get better weapons and can tear you up pretty bad.
Now, some of the missions in this game are really freakin' hard. Downright incomprehensible at times if you don't know what you're actually supposed to be doing. But you will eventually figure it out, and you will move on.
One of the really awesome aspects of the DS game is the online system. Now, there is no wi-fi battling directly. But I assure you, the replacement is about as intriguing. Every seven days, a round of "Allspark Wars" begins. You and every other owner of either the DS Autobots or Decepticons Transformers game has access to it. It's a fight for seven shards of the Allspark. Every day, you can download a mission, complete it(preferably several times and get a really good rating on it) and upload the results back to the War server. At the end of the day it tabulates results and determines a winner. Wifi points are doled out by the server depending on how well you did. You unlock secrets and new vehicles this way. This bumps the replay value up considerably, I think.
Overall, if I had to put it to a numerical rating, Transformers Decepticons would get a nine out of ten. It's not perfect, but it's very, very fun.