If you’re like me, then you’ll start singing the theme tune every time you see or hear the name of the product. If the more likely scenario comes to the fore and you aren’t at all like me, you’ll probably say something along the lines of “Transformers, huh’ I remember that.” However, we may not all be blessed with a memory that remembers such trivial things as a big, dumb cartoon show from the late eighties.
Fortunately for Atari, “big” and “dumb” really are the two main words that sum up the old TV programme and as if by magic, the PS2 version of Transformers really does those words justice. Somehow, I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. This action shooter really is about huge, screen-filling explosions and wasting an entire warehouse full of bullets to dispatch a lone Decepticlone army trooper who is trying to keep out of your reach. This isn’t to say that Transformers is lacking a storyline – far from it. Its just that by the time you’ve deciphered the code that is the Transformers language, you’ll hardly be bothered anymore. The plot is so contrived and pointless at best, that you may as well just get on with the game itself. As we will here.
The actual “transformation” part of Transformers is a very useful addition to the game that quickly becomes a necessity in later levels. If you’re surrounded by Decepticlone warriors and are loathe to try to take them out with your standard weaponry, a quick tap of the triangle button will transform your war machine into its vehicular state, meaning that you can pretty much just ram your way through the opposition. Tapping triangle again will get you back to your two-legged mode, where you can run, jump and climb your way through the level. Thankfully, the transformation animation is seamless, meaning that you can chop and change between modes with no delay.
As was mentioned before, the explosions are big, colourful and darned bright enough to fry your eyeballs at times. Several of the boss battles generally descend into a cascade of flying missiles, bombs and bullets and given that the bosses are “old-school” tough to beat, you’ll be looking at a screen full of light exploding beautifully as Optimus Prime collapses into a heap on the floor more often than not.
Most of the game revolves around the ancient Mini-Con race. Mini-Cons are smaller robots that each have a different advantageous ability. The Decepticlone army has gained control of the Mini-Cons, and as the Autobots (A.K.A. “The Good Guys”) you’ll have to get them back. When you recover a Mini-Con, you also gain the ability to control its weaponry and special moves. On the first level, the Mini-Con you recover gives you the ability to fire homing missiles, which is always a bonus when you’ve got several opponents facing you down. Once the level is over, the Mini-Con goes back to base with you to be stored for later missions and at the start of each stage, you can equip a Mini-Con that you’ve collected. Gotta catch ‘em all, and all that.
All in all, if you liked the Transformers TV show, you’ll like this. Also, shoot-’em-up fans should probably be going crazy for a little PS2 Transformers action. There are a few rough edges such as the enemy AI being a little too dumb and the plot being basically useless to the player, but when it comes to running through a level dispatching bullets right, left and centre, Transformers gets the job done with relative style.
