[bowspearer]

Considering I've read in a few places people wondering about the DS version of the game, and how different it is from the console versions, I thought it was worth writing up a review after playing it for a few days.

In the leadup to it being released I was really excited- the option of playing so many different characters seemed really appealing, almost too good to be true. In some ways it was. I'll get back to this point later on though.

The night I got the Autobots version of the game, I read that one review out there for it was 38% and I was in disbelief about it. In the last couple of days though, I can see how it could have gotten that score, although I still think it's an unjustifiably harsh score.

Before I get into the bad though, the good.

The graphics on the game and video sequences are some of the best I have seen on the DS to date. It almost felt like I was playing a PS2 game on there. The rendering of characters and the designs of even characters like Barricade, is nothing short of superb. In the case of Barricade in particular, the design has a very War Within style G1 feel to it.

The controls are fairly well laid out too. Boosting and e-braking (handbraking) are controlled by the L and R buttons respectively in vehicle mode while in robot mode, the L button controls strafing and target lock when shooting and activates the character's shield in close combat. The shooting is done with the X button, while melee weapon strikes are done with the Y button. The B button controls jumping in robot mode and acceleration in vehicle mode, while character selection is handled with the A button.

While the B and L buttons don't quite hold at times during racing sections, and the movement can feel slightly wooden in a mech piloting simulator sense; overall the controls handle incredibly well.

Unlike the other console versions, there are only 3 character classes in this version of the game: Heavy, Light and Flyer. Characters can fire in both modes, but unlike the Heavy and Light character classes, the energy bar (which determines how many shots a character can fire) will not recharge while flyers are in vehicle mode.

However the character classes manage to overcome a problem which has plagued many prior Transformers games- namely the role of transforming in the game.

Throughout every level, there are sections which need to be traversed in vehicle mode by one of 3 methods- ramming through weakened walls (Heavy), driving through small gaps (Light) or flying through high alcoves (Flyers).

In addition, while the characters have a ranged and a melee attack, they can do 1 or more of 3 different types of damage- laser, plasma or solid. In addition, every enemy is weak to one kind of damage or another. To make things even more interesting, the more elite enemies, mini-bosses and level bosses all have the ability to change the type of damage they are vulnerable to. This can make boss battles require a fair degree of strategy.

In terms of graphics and these aspects of the gameplay, the game works incredibly well and sits head and shoulders above man other Transformers games in the past.

Now for the bad. As I said, the game features many different characters that aren't available in other versions, or rather character skins which is what they effectively are. Sure the weapon damage types get mixed up, and there are some special abilities that are unlocked, but we're not talking about things like Glass Gas or Null rays in the case of Cliffjumper or Starscream respectively. It honestly feels more like a skins mod than actually putting chatracter into the game properly from the ground up.

This carries through to the sound department. While the transformation sounds are spot on (even having the game make a transformation sound when the DS is closed mid game) and the melee and ranged weapon sounds are spot on, the voice soundtrack is a disaster.

I'm honestly having a hard time deciding who was the most inept in this side of game development- the casting director, writing director or Voice Director.

High Moon went to great pains to assure fans that they were hardcore fans, yet the voice track makes this clearly not hte case of Vicarious Visions. To begin with, the casting. The design of the characters was clearly G1 in nature (War Withinesque to be exact), and as such it's obvious that the characters were meant to be the G1 characters, even if in an alternate reality. Sadly the voice track completely fails to encapsulate this and it smacks of laziness.

Yes they got Peter Cullen in to play Optimus Prime, and there are going to be many Transformers fans out there who will love that.

Yet the reality is that not all Transformers fans with favorite characters they look up to have father abandonment issues (I'm not saying that all Prime fans fall into this category, but there are ALOT of fans in the fan community who do) and as such people care about other characters.

Yet when you look at the casting choices, this clearly went over Vicarious Visions' heads. Now I realise that voice actors such as Chris Latta are dead, but many such as Dan Gilvesan, Greg Berger, Frank Welker, Charles Alderson, Rob Paulsen, Jack Angel, just to name a few, are still alive and working so surely hiring them would have been the logical choice when it came to voice casting.

Even Peter Cullen is an issue in this regard. You would have thought that that the Casting director would either have known, or would have been told that for a G1 game, if you have Peter Cullen for Optimus Prime, you've also got your voice actor for Ironhide. Yet they hired a completely different voice actor. Even using different voice actors, the characters sound completely different to how they should for a War Within (ie G1) styled game.

Then there's the dialogue. Jazz for example has been made completely "ghetto". Now I completely recognise that Scatman Crothers was African American, but he was "Bebop" in style rather than "Gangster Rap". Yet Jazz has clearly been scripted with a mentality of "he's 'black' so we'll make him 'from the hood'". This is just one example of how ill fitting most of the dialogue is. Another flaw with the dialogue is that while the intro sections to each level have voiceovers and text; the in game dialogue and end of level dialogue are text only. This makes absolutely no sense.

In terms of Longevity, the game also suffers. With only 8 story levels, 30 arena levels, and 4 bonus missions, the game is rather short, with minimal in the way of multiplayer compared ot other console versions.

Overall this game is really hard to recommend to either buy or avoid. On one hand, as a general Transformers-style 3rd person shooter game, WFC on DS performs fairly adequately compared to prior offerings on the DS.

However if you're looking for a great G1 transformers portable gaming experience, prepare to be dissappointed. The characters specifically just aren't there with any more substance or playability than player skins on a Quake or Doom mod.

In short, if you can get it on sale, it's worth checking out- but otherwise don't rush out and buy it.

5.5/10

[Weezus]

scatman is a personal hero of mine.

making jazz a low life hood rat is inexcusable.

[Dealer Destro]

wow you gave this a 5.5? As a former hardcore G1 or nothing TF fan I thought this game was astounding. The interactions between the robots were very reminiscent of the cartoon and brgining back Cullen to voice Prime was the deal sealer. That and this babay has a campaign worthy of fans from both sides, hell I despise auto-bot scum, yet felt compelled to assist Prime and his buddies in their plight for cybertron. That and if you have friends on live you can play 3 players co op. Well it may not be everyone'e cup o' tea, but it was most def right up my alley.

[bowspearer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weezus

scatman is a personal hero of mine.

making jazz a low life hood rat is inexcusable.

To be fair, it's not exactly "I'm gonna pop a cap in yo ass foo", but lines like "Who wants to throw down?" aren't that far removed from it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dealer Destro

wow you gave this a 5.5? As a former hardcore G1 or nothing TF fan I thought this game was astounding. The interactions between the robots were very reminiscent of the cartoon and brgining back Cullen to voice Prime was the deal sealer. That and this babay has a campaign worthy of fans from both sides, hell I despise auto-bot scum, yet felt compelled to assist Prime and his buddies in their plight for cybertron. That and if you have friends on live you can play 3 players co op. Well it may not be everyone'e cup o' tea, but it was most def right up my alley.

Which version of the game are you talking about though? The DS version isn't anywhere near on the same level as the other versions of it. Case in point Ratchet for example in the DS version doesn't act as a medic- he's just a generic heavy class warrior with a solid damage type ranged weapon and a laser damage type melee weapon.

Furthermore, when they did use Cullen, it was only for Prime (did noone in VV think to get him to voice Ironhide while they already had him under contract). Beyond that the voice casting, direction and scripting was at best off to outright woeful and unfaithful.

I get that Optimus Prime fans love that Peter Cullen is voicing Prime as do the vast majority of Transfans. However Optimus Prime fans need to realise that many fans out there feel the same way about other characters which they feel about Prime and the same way about Prime that they might feel about other lesser characters (in some cases merely a few levels above complete indifference). Amongst them are clearly the vast majority of the Vicarious Visions team.

[Dealer Destro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowspearer

To be fair, it's not exactly "I'm gonna pop a cap in yo ass foo", but lines like "Who wants to throw down?" aren't that far removed from it.



Which version of the game are you talking about though? The DS version isn't anywhere near on the same level as the other versions of it. Case in point Ratchet for example in the DS version doesn't act as a medic- he's just a generic heavy class warrior with a solid damage type ranged weapon and a laser damage type melee weapon.

Furthermore, when they did use Cullen, it was only for Prime (did noone in VV think to get him to voice Ironhide while they already had him under contract). Beyond that the voice casting, direction and scripting was at best off to outright woeful and unfaithful.

I get that Optimus Prime fans love that Peter Cullen is voicing Prime as do the vast majority of Transfans. However Optimus Prime fans need to realise that many fans out there feel the same way about other characters which they feel about Prime and the same way about Prime that they might feel about other lesser characters (in some cases merely a few levels above complete indifference). Amongst them are clearly the vast majority of the Vicarious Visions team.

I had no idea this came out for the DS. I thought this was regarding the 360 version.

[bowspearer]

You didn't read the thread title or the openning post that clearly did you? ;)