Transformers: Decepticons DS

Game Reviews
Transformers: Decepticons DS
By Josh Hechinger
July 19, 2007 - 20:34

Studios: Activision
Activision
Rating: E
Genre: Action
Platform: Nintendo DS

Admit it: it’s fun to play the bad guy sometimes.

I mean sure, defending the those in need can be fun (and noble, good, altruistic, etc.). But sometimes, you just gotta turn into an alien robot and deliver stompy metal death to the fleshy ones. And thanks to the Decepticon version of the DS’ Transformers game, you can carry that inclination around in your pocket.

The game itself is a fairly plain action romp, featuring free-roam maps peppered with story-advancing missions. It’s Grand Theft Auto with robots instead of drug lords and military operations instead of crime. It’s Grand Theft Autobots.

The missions are basic: find this, destroy that, protect the other thing. Nothing new or particularly special there. The maps aren’t burdened with an excess of innovation either.

But forget all that. We’re here for them robots what do the transforming stuff, right? Of course. And on that front, the game doesn’t disappoint.

Transforming is easy, thankfully. This isn’t one of those licensed games that penalizes you for trying to do the cool things the characters do. Moreover, it’s not just a one note gimmick; robot mode for fighting, vehicle mode for travel, and never the twain shall meet.

Instead, when you’re bearing down on an unwitting group of enemies in your vehicle mode, all you need to do is tap the touch screen and…BAM, your vehicle explodes into a battle ready robot. And when the firefight gets too heavy, another quick tap puts you back in vehicle mode, ready to make a quick getaway or give some poor straggler a chase.

In short, you’re playing an actual Transformer, not just a robot guy that turns into a car.

Speaking of who you play as: you’ll spend most of the game as an unnamed Decepticon, sent to Earth by Starscream to follow up on a fellow Decepticon’s SOS. Far from being a cipher though, your character is a clever, perpetually frustrated rookie caught between Starscream’s backstabbery and the rest of the Decepticons’ loyalty to the missing Megatron.

Your character can be customized by scanning various Earth vehicles,, which changes not only his mode of transportation, but his body type and fighting ability as well. Unfortunately, the versatility of the player character makes the other, more famous Decepticons come off as a little bland when you get the chance to play them in various missions.

However, watching the dysfunctional Decepticons bicker, snipe, and banter with each other between missions almost makes up for how bland playing most of them actually is. All the intermission cutscenes are voice acted; the stand out performances are Keith David as Barricade and Steven Jay Blum as…well, you.

Overall, it’s a decent enough game. Not much more than what meets the eye, but a pretty good way to kill time with the robots in disguise.