Transformers (2004) Review

Originially Published Nov 28, 2022

Transformers has had a pretty inconsistent history with video games, from the legendarily awful "Convoy no Nazo" to the excellent Cybertron duology from High Moon studios and plenty of middling games inbetween. One game I've always had a passing interest in is the 2004 PS2 title simply named "Transformers"

Despite the title, this game is actually based on the 2003 animated series "Transformers Armada". If I had to guess I'd say they wanted to try and appeal to nostalgic G1 fans as the game features quotes from the original Transformers movie in it's dialouge and unlockable PSAs from the original series.

The game is a 3rd person shooter with sandbox levels that put an emphasis on exploration. You have a specific path you need to follow to progress but the game won't stop you from exploring. The levels are surprisingly vast and can look really pretty at times. Although there isn't much variety, mostly jungles and arctic climates but this can be forgiven given the games short development cycle.

Your main collectibles are the minicons an ancient race of Transformers that act as weapons and upgrades. Each one has a power level with a maximum level you can't exceed meaning you have to be smart about which ones you use instead of just equipping the best ones. Although some minicons like the glider are necessary for level progression and I wish they could've just been additions to your core moveset instead of taking a slot.

There are also datacons which serve as unlockable extras. If you're a transformers fan there's actually some cool stuff in there like reference sheets and toy prototypes.

Your 3 playable autobots are Optimus Prime, Hot Shot and Red Alert. Each have different stats although I personally didn't notice much of a difference between them. Combat will see you strafing around shooting at enemies. You can transform but unfortunately it has no real function outside of traveling across the map slightly faster.

Your main enemies will be the decepticlones, basically a bunch of different types of faceless mooks for you to shoot at. They aren't to be taken lightly though, they can turn your autobot into swiss cheese if you aren't careful even on the easiest difficulty. The boss fights against the main Decepticons are easily the highlight of the game. The most memorable being against the giant carrier transformer Tidal Wave. The ambition and scale that went into this fight really impressed me. The game managed to pull off a fight with a giant enemy so well that it baffles me how the final battle with Unicron ended up so dull.

Yeah the game definitely has its fair share of quirks. The game could definitely use a map and a way of tracking your collectibles in a stage. There are some weird control decisions like how jump is mapped to L1 because X is mapped to accelerate....in vehicle mode....and does nothing in robot mode. The most hilarious quirk is the ragdoll physics, you'll often see your autobot flaiing about when thrown and it's never not funny.

But these quirks are more than likely again, the result of the games short one year dev cycle and despite them all I actually came out really appreciating this game and everything it tried to do. If you're a TF Fan and have a PS2 definitely check this one out.