Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons Developer: Vicarious Visions Publisher: Activision Platform played on: DS Other platforms available: X-BOX 360, PS3, PSP and PC. Review by: adfk What's up with games being based on movies turning up really, really bad? Honestly, Harry Potter, Transformers Decepticons and Autobots, X-Men the official game and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were games which really disappointed me (on DS, that is). I really feel sorry for everyone who actually bought them. But when I downloaded Transformers ROTF Decepticons, it surprised me greatly-not just because I had such low expectations but it is truly an awesome game that anyone about 10+ will have a blast out of. This game is really fun, making smashing up robots and blasting them to bits way more enjoyable than the first game on DS made it. Honestly, it’s quite an exceptional game- games that I play have to be pretty good to get me to stop playing GTA Chinatown Wars! But enough ranting already- read on to find out why this game is so good. Pros: - Upgradable stats - Whole new wide selection of weapons - Good storyline - Game goes for a good length of time - Easy controls and handling - Engaging combat - You are able to upgrade your robot - Sounds are quite realistic - Graphics are fairly impressive for a 3D game Cons: - Some missions are uninspiring and just plain boring - Too many timed missions - Challenges are essential - No free play - You can't get any other cars apart from the one you start with Story: Pretty much, you're a decepticon who landed to Earth and Starscream picks you up before Optimus Prime. The story is pretty much the same to the movie- you help steal the shard of the AllSpark, you help revive Megatron and I'm not going to reveal any more, because it's better if you find out yourself. You also do different missions that are not at all related to the movie like going to Area 51 and blowing it up because they have too much information about you, and destroying Jets. You don't just play as yourself- you can play as other decepticons in challenges and some missions, like Megatron, Starscream, Sideways and Barricade. Gameplay: This is where this game really excels, and also where the previous game miserably failed. It’s great trying out new guns with different effects (homing, freeze, rapid fire), weaknesses (short distance) and trying to decide which one is the best one to use to blow up numerous Autobots, helicopters, turrets and tanks. I love how you have unlimited ammo so you can keep firing without having to recharge like the previous game, and when enemy rockets hit you, you don’t get swept off your feet which was an incredibly annoying factor in the previous game as well. The catch is, you have to find these machines and scan them to be able to equip the weapons which you may find. Fortunately, the machines are very easy to find! You will also find upgrades for your decepticon when you find and scan those machines, and you can arrange them so you can increase your stats. In this game, to make it easier for you, you have regenerating health that grows back when not in combat, so you can last longer to bash more Autobots up! But that can’t get help you get through timed levels that as I said before, there are a LOT of. Also, some levels and challenges are quite hard, so you have to redo levels to gain energon to upgrade your robot so it either regenerates quicker, has more health, becomes more durable, becomes stronger or deal more damage with weapons. Well, that's my opinion but I'm really, really, really unco at action video games so that's why it's so hard. I persuaded a friend to get this game and after I said stuff about the difficulty but he actually laughed and said it was quite easy. I find weird that it’s compulsory to complete challenges- most aren’t too difficult, but you should be able to do them at your own free will. Still, some challenges that are quite easy give you a nice bit of energon so you can keep on doing them to upgrade your robot. I also find the challenges are a bit stupid, but helpful- as I said, many are just roaming around collecting energon under time and in one of them, you even have to dodge Starscream’s rockets as he tries to teach you a lesson for being slow! Also, the makers of this game gave you experiences of different decepticons, hoping to improve your experience of the game but instead, some of those missions just make the game more boring, for example when you're Starscream and you have to fly around in the ocean just shooting vessels and jets. It’s fun to play as Sideways as you get to try out new weapons which you haven’t got yet, or it's also really enjoyable playing as Megatron when you become really strong and can transform into a tank and shoot missiles in vehicle mode. Something which really peeved me was that there was no free play mode! I miss pissing the authorities and Autobots off while gaining energon in the previous game, but there’s GTA Chinatown Wars for that kind of stuff, so who really cares? This is a screenshot of the game. Sound and Visuals: I think the visuals are great for a DS game. They’re not awesome but they’re quite clear and I like how there’s a fair bit of detail in each environment and background so it makes you really feel like you’re in Tokyo, Area 51, the Sahara Desert etc. Your decepticon is pretty detailed, and I like when you’re low on health, you start to spark so that tells you that you should hide and regenerate before you start going into combat. Also, the transformations are very smooth. The vehicles in this game also look pretty sweet (especially Sideways). The explosions in the game are quite realistic unlike the previous game, but I’d like them more like GTA where you can really feel the explosions when you blow things up! I can tell you, I found the SFX very impressive! It improves your experience and makes yourself feel like a decepticon because you can hear yourself grunt when you’re being hit by missiles, you can hear a loud smash when you execute a ground pound and the explosions sound quite realistic! The music is pretty good even though it’s a little bit weird, and I wish they actually got the awesome Michael Bay score for the actual movie into the game! Conclusion: Undoubtedly, Transformers ROTF Decepticons is one of the greatest action games for DS, and I think anyone who plays it will enjoy it too! It’s just that you may need a fair bit of patience to really enjoy this game (actually, you may not have to have that much patience if you're normal unlike me and OK at action games), the combat is just awesome, the graphics are nice and the sound just really enhances the fun you get out of being a decepticon! It’s quite a long game, and you will also probably be playing old missions over and over again to improve your stats, so you will be entertained for many hours. As I said, this is one of the best action games on DS and it’s just fantastic. It would actually be a game worth buying! This is the part of the medical bay which contatins the upgradables and weapons you get from scanning the special machines you have to find in the levels. You can also select two weapons from here to use in combat when in levels. Rating: Storyline: 9.5/10 Good plot that kept me interested, but that’s partly because it’s based on the movie. Graphics: 8/10 The graphics are really quite great especially as it’s 3D (but they aren't the best), and the transformations are quite fluent and smooth. Gameplay: 7/10 Really great combat, it’s fun upgrading your robot so you can kick more butt, but some levels are quite hard which may halt the progress of your game. For the third time, I fail at action games so people will probably find it easier than me. Replay Value: 9/10 While some levels are boring, others are really quite fun and are fun to replay. I don’t know about others but I can never get enough of just demolishing every enemy in my way, so for me, this game will last me ages! Also, the game is quite long so you can replay a lot of levels if you want to. Sound: 9.5/10 The sound effects are really quite top notch, but the music can be a little random and I wish that the original movie music was in here! THE RESULT: Transformers ROTF Decepticons gets a 43/50 score. Apart from some annoying features, this game really shines out of all those movie-adapted games and some action games on the DS. Totally worth playing.
Re: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons DS I congratulate you on trying a different way of making a review here. I thought it was okay. But, I found your negative statements about the game enough to make me not want to play it. That's why I'm confused to see the game have such a high score. After reading your review, I would've given the game something around 35-40/50. But hey, I havn't played the game and you have, so in the end your right and i'm wrong Good review.
Re: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons DS Whoops... I actually meant to do 6 for gameplay. I'll change that now Post Merge: [time]1246950375[/time] BTW, thanks for the constructive criticisim- I should've thought a bit more about it and I'll put more thought into any other reviews I do in future.
Re: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons DS I don't particularly like the BIG text, but that's just my preference... The only thing I disagree with are the scores really. I think most of them are over-inflated. A 9.5 storyline? Really? I'd expect this from FF6, or any RPG with plot twists, surprises, basically the same criteria as a novel. Movie-based games never achieve this high of a score, because there is a lack of depth. But if you say so... Graphics, I guess are okay. It deserves an 8. I must say that the graphics ARE better than usual. I just hate the pixelated look that 3d games have on the DS. Gameplay is in the ballpark. Anything that's close to Vigilante 8 is good gameplay. Driving around collecting upgrades and smashing your opponent into an oblivion is always fun. No multiplayer? Sound is a little inflated. The grounds for a 9.5 would be GTA having talk radio instead of instrumentals. Even putting a negative onto this, you still gave it a 9.5... Lasting Appeal. you said that some of the levels are boring and a lot of them are timed...but you still gave it a 9. If you can play this game start to finish several, several times without it getting old, then it deserves a 9. Your review basically jumped right to the scoring sections without really giving a "body paragraph." Usually, there's an intro, then the body material, then the conclusion (which is the scoring section). You have the intro, a small pro/con list with no explanations (expanding this would be considered the body paragraph section) of each, just a small description, and then a large coverage on the conclusion material, the scoring, and then a final recap of the scoring. The best way to expand on material is keep asking yourself WHY (or what, or any question in general) for anything that you write. WHY are some of the levels boring, WHY does this deserve a 9.5? What makes the timed missions so crappy? Less exploration?
Re: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen Decepticons DS Thanks a lot-it was my first review and I was expecting a lot of comments like that to improve my review writing. I'll use these tips for future reviews to make them better than this one. I probably should've given a bit more thought into the scores...
this game is utterly dissapointed. the first part was in several ways better. the psp version was more dissapointing. you cant jump.you can some what roll only.
The only way the first one was better was because it had free play and all those cars to scan, but nearly every missions was timed and the time limits were ridiculous. This one's way better!
