GENRE
	Action
	DEVELOPER
	Vicarious Visions
	PUBLISHER
	Activision
	LOCAL WIRELESS MULTI-PLAY
	No
	Wi-Fi/GLOBAL ONLINE MULTI-PLAY
	Yes
	MICROPHONE
	No
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In Transformers: Decepticons, Vicarious Visions -- the developer behind the Spider-Man series and all things Tony Hawk -- has created a GTA-style sandbox game with your favorite robots in disguise. Decepticons is one of two, along with its twin Autobots version, to offer your standard summer movie, licensed cash-in. The results are a mix of high production values, repetitive gameplay and a new twist on online multiplayer.

visuals

Decepticons looks great in all its 3D glory. The engine was no doubt cropped from Vicarious Visions’ DS Tony Hawk efforts. Each Transformer is lovingly rendered, and the draw distance is far and wide. The HUD is cleanly displayed on the touchscreen, while the action takes place on the top screen. The simple, spare cities are filled with quite a few different types of vehicles that drive aimlessly by in typical GTA fashion. Traffic lights and signs, trees, buildings, roads and the like fill out the environs.

audio

The sound effects are standard, and the simple music is subdued and out of the way. But the place Decepticons really shines is in its voice work, which is hands down, phenomenal. The script is well written, well acted and there’s plenty of it. The developers even went so far as to recruit Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, the voices of the original Optimus Prime and Megatron.

gameplay

For all its production values, Decepticons is sadly, a boring game. You begin as a nameless Decepticon grunt whose key priority is to play lackey to whatever menial task your Decepticon overlords set upon you. The story revolves around the Autobot and Decepticon efforts to gain the AllSpark and only loosely ties into the film’s plot. As you progress the game opens up, and you can roam freely within the GTA style city accepting missions at marked locations and wrecking havoc upon the poor, unsuspecting humans of Earth. You receive experience for your efforts, which nets you new moves and more power.

Unfortunately, the missions are generic “Destroy This” or “Find That” tasks that quickly get old, even over the short four or five hours it takes to complete the game. Things get a bit more interesting in the second half of the game, but for the most part, your attacking options are also limited to basic strikes, shooting or jumping. The enemies aren’t too bright, but always manage to have more armor than you, so as to excuse you for being able to stand there and beat the tar out of them. To make things worse, locking-on to an enemy is spotty, if not downright difficult. Fortunately, the camera is easily controlled via the shoulder buttons and can be rotated left or right or flipped directly behind your Transformer.

One of the few standout parts of the game is the ability to scan any vehicle, and then transform into it. With three dozen different cars, trunks, cycles and aircraft, you’ll find the briefest of enjoyment in transforming into what you please. The driving controls are a simple go, turn or shoot. In addition, you can pick up any vehicle in the game and either toss it or wield like grandma’s old switching block.

Decepticons offers one exclusive level, but shares the three other with its twin Autobot version. It’s also slightly easier to earn experience in Decepticons, as you can mindlessly destroy the city for extra experience. (In the Autobots version you’re suppose to protect the humans.) But for a few story tweaks, both versions are identical; and overall, both leave a lot to be desired.

multiplayer

Decepticons offers multi-card and Wi-Fi play. Multi-card features standard deathmatch and AllSpark Sports -- a fun Capture-the-Flag, soccer-type game. It’s too bad that the multi-card modes aren’t single-card or Wi-Fi, the game would have benefited greatly from the inclusion of either.

The AllSpark War mode is Wi-Fi and involves logging into the War Center and downloading a challenge that changes daily. After grabbing the daily challenge, you log back out and are free to complete the daily challenge as many times as you want. Once you’re satisfied with your high score, you can log back in and your score is compared to all the other players that have completed the daily challenge. In addition, your score is tallied to whatever side you’re on as represented by whatever version of the game you’re playing.

In this way, you and hundreds, if not thousands, of other players are duking it out with a multitude of other players to try and win the Transformer war. When logged into the War Center you can check out the results of the previous day's battle, look at your record and compare your score to the day's leaders. While unorthodox, the Wi-Fi mode has garnered a fair amount of popularity as evidenced by the game’s official site and has developed a thriving community.

overall

At the end of the day, Decepticons comes out feeling half-baked. It looks great, it sounds great, but it doesn’t play great. The Wi-Fi will keep you distracted for a while, but considering the hefty full price for admission of what is only one of two, Decepticons is of dubious value. It’s simply too bad that this much bally-hooed series had to be wasted on a movie licensed game.

6.5/10