“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is a game based on a blockbuster movie. A movie game. That could serve as the entire review, but you might want a little more explanation as to why you might want to avoid this game.
“Dark of the Moon” tells the story of Decepticon schemes and Autobot heroism leading up to the events in the movie of the same title. It's a third-person shooter with some driving portions sprinkled in to break up the monotony.
Levels are linear - very linear. You go where you need to, shoot the enemy and watch a cutscene. There is little to no exploration to be done, and a lot of invisible walls to be run into.
Controlling the Autobots and Decepticons is clunky and incredibly slow, and actually hitting the enemies I shot at seemed completely random at times. There were instances where bullets literally passed through the enemy they were intended to hit. And other times when shooting anywhere near a baddie caused them to explode.
Stealth-Force mode, which allows players to transform to a partial vehicle mode that includes the use of weapons, is probably the coolest feature in the game. This new mode, however, also renders robot mode nearly useless. In Stealth Force mode, players gain increased mobility, increased damage protection, a lower profile and the ability to fire endlessly without reloading. The game can be played almost entirely in Stealth Force mode.
A saving grace for the game are the graphics, which are pretty impressive in some levels. The Autobots and Decepticons are also rendered beautifully and the transformation animations look great.
Online multiplayer offers up to 10 players three modes in which to blow each other up: deathmatch, team deathmatch and conquest.
The deathmatches play out just as you would expect, and conquest adds a tiny bit more strategy to the game by allowing players to take capture points around the map.
Players can choose from four classes: scout, hunter, commander, and warrior. Each class has two or three body types to choose from and features unique weapons and special abilities such as the hunter's ability to fly or the scout's increased speed.
Controls are the same as in the single-player campaign, with the addition of team-buffing special abilities specific to each class including the ability for commanders to heal teammates and reveal enemies anywhere on the map for a short time.
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” is not the worst game ever made. It's not even the worst movie game ever made, but it's certainly not going to compete with some of the other third-person-shooters out there. If you can find this game for a bargain, it wouldn't hurt to pick it up.
