Tested from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.
The first Transformers did not leave us with an imperishable memory, far from it. Video game transposition carried out in a hurry, the title of Activision suffered from deficiencies which were severely spot next to the competition. Ultra-limited gameplay, a ridiculous lifespan, graphics unworthy of the consoles on which it was released, and incidentally the crazy job done by the geniuses of ILM on the film... Once again, the reputation of video game adaptations film license took a hit. We then said to ourselves that with two and a half years of reflection, Activision could have rectified the situation by taking advantage of the release of the second Transformers installment in cinemas to offer the player a much better finished product than its predecessor, a game that could to be as fun for our little fingers as the film is for our pupils. Alas, as Michael Bay says when asked if he cares about his direction as an actor, he replies: "Don't dream too much either!"
"Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed"
One thing is certain, whether we like the film or not, Transformers: Revenge is a disappointing product. Whatever our degree of love for the work of Michael Bay, we will not be able to defend such a mediocre title on the pretext of any loyalty to the source material or the pleasure of plunging back into a universe discovered on the big screen, as was the case recently with Ghostbusters, a game designed primarily for fans. No, because contrary to the title of Atari, that of Activision never makes us feel that behind the mercantile approach of this derivative product, there is a real knowledge, a particular affection, a passion other than economic for the film whose he is fired. We feel that the developers of Luxoflux worked on Transformers: Revenge as they would have done on Plus belle la vie or Marine à la plage, that is to say without ever worrying about what makes the charm and the strength of Michael Bay's films: the point of view. The two Transformers opuses are films seen at human height. Their hero is an average American teenager, with problems of his age, easily identifiable for the spectator. In the story, the monolithic giant robots who want to save a giant cube that destroys planets, it's a bit of a grain of sand that will turn the life of the young hero upside down, who at first just wanted to have a nice car and a beautiful chick. In the game, it's the opposite. The point of view switches to the side of the strong element of the scenario (the robots), an aberrant thing in a video game, the story having proven that it is when he has the possibility of controlling a character a priori weaker than the player feels a sense of power. We will therefore be tempted to say that the deliberate choice of the developers to offer the player to embody the Autobots or the Decepticons clearly goes against the vision adopted by Bay and his producer Steven Spielberg. In a recent interview, Ian Stevens, head of Tigon Studios, castigated the Hollywood industry by pointing out the fact that the big shots in the studios didn't understand anything about video game art. A statement that is far from false. But a game like Transformers: Revenge comes to prove that the converse is also true. A defect which could largely have been forgiven to the people responsible for this software if the rest had been up to par... Alas, as Michael Bay says when asked to take it easy on his camera movements, he replies: "What next ?!".
Here, whether we play as Autobots or Decepticons, we will feel neither power nor pleasure, shooting our enemies, climbing buildings at the speed of an old Rampage monster, or piloting our robots when they transform into giant bars of soap."
We could pour out for whole paragraphs to address point by point the many faults that Transformers: Revenge contains. In the jargon, we call it lynching. So, we prefer to simply say that everything offered by the title of Activision borders on disaster and this from all points of view. Graphics from another time, textures more bland than an Activia swallowed dead, handling thought out despite common sense (some buttons on the controller are used for three things at once), gameplay limited to the bare minimum (shoot, jump), incomprehensible menus, annoying voice-overs, maps as big as canton capitals, repetitive missions, a camera that gives even more headaches than Michael Bay's, a distinct lack of NPCs etc. You will understand, Transformers: Revenge has nothing to please. And again, we will not address the problem of the absence of a script, something a tad hypocritical since the film does not necessarily shine with its textual depth. On the other hand, we can be choosy about the total lack of fun, an inadmissible black point for a game taken from a film whose main quality is precisely to do everything to offer unbridled action, until curling disgust. Here, whether we play as Autobots or Decepticons, we will feel neither power nor pleasure, shooting our enemies, climbing buildings at the speed of an old Rampage monster, or piloting our robots when they transform into giant soap bars (in particularly unplayable racing phases). Why? Simply because the proposed challenge is within the reach of the first newbie to come. If we omit the biggest difficulty of the software which is to navigate in its disastrous maneuverability, we will never have been endangered in any of the missions offered. The enemies let themselves be shot at without flinching (when they don't turn their backs on us, congratulations to the AI), the bonuses to be collected are more easily found than a Chinese caterer in the 13th arrondissement of Paris and the secondary objectives can even end without our paying attention to it (true!). As the saying goes, "to win without danger is to triumph without glory." And that's the biggest concern of this title, which offers absolutely no challenge, even for the most casual of players. "All public" is not necessarily synonymous with "disconcerting ease." In the end, only the multiplayer mode will have been able to meet a minimum of our expectations, by being relatively exhaustive, if not original (possibility of playing up to 8, several modes available, including capture of flags or Deathmatch). In short, a game that turns out to be the exact antithesis of the film from which it is inspired: soft, poorly made and without any cachet.
