Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Xbox 360) Review

The third game in the series from Activision, Transformers: Dark of the Moon sets out with the goal of creating a satisfying action experience based on the Michael Bay films. Does developer High Moon have the touch? Or is it just heroic nonsense?

Last year’s Transformers War for Cybertron was pretty much the best gaming experience ever created based on the original ‘G1′ characters. But besides an honorable mention going out to Transformers on the PS2 (which was based off of the Armada re-imagining of the characters), it hasn’t been all that great of a legacy to live up to. Still, with Cybertron, High Moon Studios made a game that long time fans and newcomers alike could pick up and enjoy.

Seriously, how many times did Bumblebee get killed off in the comics?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is not a continuation to that series though- it’s a prequel to the third movie, a route that many ‘movie games’ are taking at the moment. It’s eminently better than the old ‘play the movie’ routine that used to pervade the sub-genre. Which is not to say that it works all the time (I’m looking at you Thor), but here’s a case where it actually comes off pretty well.

The main story revolves around the worldwide hunt for the remaining Decepticon forces, most of which were routed in the last movie. Human leaders believe that Megatron and his bots have fled, the Autobots and Optimus Prime aren’t buying it. Throughout the course of the game, you’re shuttled all around the planet, slipping into the gears of many of the biggest fan favorites that the Transformers Movie Universe offers, both Autobot and Decepticon.

Mixmaster- one sixth of the Decepticon's DJ squad

As you go, you’ll uncover part of exactly what it is that Megatron’s after and set the stage (presumably) for the forthcoming big screen film. It’s actually a fairly well put together narrative that is loaded with characters that haven’t appeared in the movies before and pretty cool play situations that are well tailored to some of the individual Transformers that you control.

Mirage has an Italian accent, true story.

Stuff like making the Mirage mission a stealth affair and part of Starscream’s stage into a jet mode flying segment are nice nods to the rich history of the Generation 1 characters. Not to mention that they serve to nicely break up the bulk of the game which, although well done, is basically just run of the mill third-person shooting with transforming.

Stealth Force

Then there’s the Stealth Force mode. High Moon took an interesting approach to the transformational abilities of the title characters here. I’m not sure what role Stealth Force plays in the film (if any) but it comes off pretty well in the game. You’re probably thinking that something that sounds as gimmicky as ‘Stealth Force’ couldn’t possibly be anything good- but you’d be wrong.

The catchy name actually just refers to having a more heavy loadout of weaponry and being able to strafe while in vehicle mode. To put it simply: pretty much every transformer in the game is a triple-changer. You have car mode, you have robot mode, and you have a hover car that’s bristling with guns. It’s implemented well and feels like an authentic convention of the fiction… despite the corny name.

Fly the unfriendly skies...

And DotM plays well too. Controls are tight and just as good as you remember from War for Cybertron. In fact, my only issue with the system used here (and probably the only difference between this and War) is that there are no breaks in the pure vehicle mode. Releasing the gas means you change into Stealth Force, which isn’t a huge issue but I could see where as it could be annoying to some. Though when you think about it, the only reason you’d stop driving through a level would be to fight- and you have no weapons as a plain old vanilla Earth car.

Peace through tyranny!

As far as the audio/visual package Dark of the Moon succeeds. The settings look terrific (although there is some texture pop-in when first loaded up) and run the gamut from tropic jungle to urban cityscape. Likewise, the main bots are well detailed and animated. One thing I didn’t like was the fact that the run of the mill en emies pretty much all fall into about four generic classes. Little, normal, oversize, and hulking. There’s probably no real way around this since every character in the the Transformers fiction is a big name and you need somebody to plug away at through the main game. So armies of faceless ‘Cons are fine… but maybe they could have had a more varied and random skin set?

Prime vs Shockwave... and tentacled drilling... thing

No complaints about the sound though. Other than the fact that the music is not from the classic show, it’s all good. The voice work, on the other hand, is top notch- and I will never, ever, ever get tired of Peter Cullen as Prime. And while the rest of the cast mimics the movies more than the cartoon, they all do a great job as well. Megatron is suitably angry and imposing, Starscream is whiny and boastful, Ironhide is ~~southern~~ British.

Final Thoughts

Don’t be scared off by the movie license! High Moon apparently knows what they’re doing with the Transformers brand and it shows. Even for fans of the classic versions of the characters, there’s almost as much to like here as there was in War for Cybertron.

You’ll find some little issues here and there like the length (not the longest campaign in the world), texture pop, and the fact that there are some big time Autobots and Decepticons stuck in here seemingly just to get slagged. But none of it is a game breaker. I feel pretty comfortable saying that while it isn’t genre defining, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a worthy stopgap for fans (and probably a few non-fans too) till WfC 2 is finally unveiled.

User Score:
4 votes

3.8

Rating: +1 (from 3 votes)

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Jason's been knee deep in videogames since he was but a lad. Cutting his teeth on the pixely glory that was the Atari 2600, he's been hack'n'slashing and shoot'em'uping ever since. Mainly an FPS and action guy, Jason enjoys the occasional well crafted title from every genre.