Hot on the heels of this summer’s blockbuster action movie: the officially licensed game for the movie Transformers, by Activision finally hits homes. Allowing you control of both the Autobot and the Decepticon factions, you get to experience both perspectives of the movie as you attempt to locate a long lost artifact called the AllSpark.

The game loosely follows the plot of the movie. Slight liberties are taken to prevent too many spoilers for those that have not seen the movie yet. However, that approach falls a bit short since there are points and major plot devices that the game hinges on that aren’t properly fleshed out in absence of the movies full storyline. The bulk of the game centers around either: helping protect the young teenagers, Sam Witwicky and Mikeala Banes and keeping the AllSpark out of the hands of the Decepticons, in the case of the Autobot campaign, or locating the AllSpark and eliminating everything that gets in your way, in the case of the Decepticon campaign.

The game allows you control of each of the various robots available in the movie. Taking a cue from the Grand Theft Auto series, most of transformers from the movie are given its own level in one of three sandbox locations. Each level is divided into missions or chapters. Unlike its inspiration, these missions have to be handled in a linear fashion which detracts from the whole sandbox feel, but ensure that the story never veers too far from the movie’s storyline.

In game, the robots all look very much like their movie counterparts. Every gear is in its right place. With the exception of Scorponok, each robot is able to transform from its humanoid form into its alternative, more mobile form. The developers took care to make Transformers into a game where each form is as valuable as the other. You never begin to rely on one form over the other for long. Since many of the missions are time-based, you will find that the vehicle forms are much quicker and are a requirement for finishing most chapters. Motion controls are available for controlling some of the flying Decepticon vehicles, but since they are only rarely used, they seem out of place and an afterthought. Gamers will most likely opt to disable the motion controls after a few frustrating attempts to garner proper control. Controlling most of the vehicles are mixed affairs. Most of the car-based vehicles control loosely, and the lock-on functionality of the weapons tends to jump around as you drive, causing undue frustration. Fighting is handled much easier in robot form. Each character has a combination of light and heavy projectile attacks, a shield, and a single repetitive melee attack combo. Beyond the first few missions, you will notice that your character’s robot nemeses will become permanently shielded from projectile attacks. Your weapons become generally useless against anything other than buildings and human vehicles. This forces you to rely solely on your one melee combo to defeat your enemies, and removes any form of depth or strategy to the fighting engine.

The Autobot missions revolve around protecting the humans, so the game doesn’t allow you to get too carried away with the damage. Not causing damage seems relatively easy until you start to notice how much inadvertent damage you can cause in your robot form by simply standing on top of or attempting to climb a building. If you cause too much trouble, it won’t take long before you start to gather a crowd of police cars. The police cars eventually escalate to helicopters and tanks, a la Grand Theft Auto but easy to swat away. The Decepticon missions on the other hand are slightly more satisfying and seem a bit easier. Being rewarded for all of the damage you do to the city can be a bit more fun.