While much like WFC, most of the DOTM reviews that are out there aren't for the DS. With the Wii and 3DS versions handicapped as being car mode game, I was pleased to find that the DS was a real Transformers game. Unfortunately I couldn't find a single review to save my life. After finding a somewhat decent preview of the game on YouTube, I decided to make the purchase and take the plunge. I also must admit, I had no idea there was a Lockdown Speed Star until quite recently, so that not only getting one, but getting one free (with an exclusive in-game deco) included in the game was a very nice plus IMHO. I also purchased mine at Target, so I got the exclusive Lockdown deco for in game play. Also, don't trust any website's description of the game, there is no create-a-character. All right, enough yammering about that, how's the game? Well, I won't be starting a thread about how I think it's better then the premium version of the game, but it's not "teh suckz!" either. Con's: It's short. You can play through the entire campaign in one night. Character selection isn't really there. Soundwave, Crowbar, Lockdown, and Megatron. That's it. The ending is terrible. It jumps to what I'd heavily wager to be a generic ending common to both versions of the game. The in game story makes a big deal about Shockwave. The last mission even has the goal of "Locate Shockwave". However, that's it. When you get to the end of the level, it just jumps to the cutscene. During the generic ending cutscene you see Megatron with Shockwave, but that's it. He's not actually in the game! Nor is he playable, even in multiplayer after. Shockwave, the guy referenced more then a dozen times through the story, the guy on the cover of the game, the guy who has a full character model in the ending cutscene like all the other characters is Sir Not Appearing In This Game! There's only about 3 types of generic enemy Transformers, light, medium (looks like G1 Wheeljack!), and tough. At no point do they ever explain or show what Crowbar, Lockdown, or Megatrons unique abilities are, you have to figure them out on your own. Since unique abilities are only triggered when you're standing next to a certain object that only that character can interact with, it means you either obliviously pass them by or you spend a long time looking for something that they can interact with. The difficulty level is pretty low. The only time I died was trying to get Soundwaves special ability to work and I fell off the ledge instead. I'm almost wondering if they made the game based on the idea that you don't upgrade (which you can do, if you so choose, you can not upgrade anything between levels and just save them up. Why? I have no idea). Car mode controls aren't very good. Wide turning radius, mushy controls, plus the turning is weird, it's almost like all four wheels are turning. Given that you've got Robot Mode, Alt Mode, and Stealth Mode, there actually really isn't a need for Alt Mode in the game. Sure it's faster, but there really isn't any need for it. Usually I used Stealth, even when it wasn't called for. (I have a feeling that I'd have the same complaint in the "premium" DOTM game though!) Only 2 player Multiplayer?!? WFC had 4. Local only, but I've got friends who I would play WFC with. Now I can only play with one other. Pro's: Believe it or not, the game actually engrossed me. It wasn't until towards the end that I realized just how long I had actually been playing the game. The upgrade system is pretty neat. Unlike WFC's individual upgrades via XP, this game has a single upgrade screen that enhances everyone. The XP cost is very low, but you have to find upgrade slots somewhat like Dead Space Power Nodes to be able to upgrade a slot then invest the XP into it to actually upgrade. It's 7 stats with three upgrade levels each, for 21 upgrades total, so there's something to do there and a reason to repeat play. (The mission screen shows how many upgrades there are in that stage and how many you've found before you start any mission.) Unlimited ammo on your primary weapon, you never reload, no overheating or the like. Just hold down until they're all dead. Seeing the sometimes drastic difference an upgrade makes to your character was actually fun. Playing as Megatron. Seriously, he was immensely fun to play as. It's the ROTF design (All modes); regular mode is the no frills Tank, Stealth mode is the winged tank like the ROTF Voyager toy. His Stealth mode cannon is enough to kill most enemies before they even get within the autotarget range. A few hits will take out even a tough enemy. I even beat Ironhide just in Stealth form. Hacking a turret and having it fire on the Autobots. Voice Acting. There was a good bit of dialogue between Starscream and Soundwave when Soundwave was going to infiltrate a base about being quiet. Steve Blum does his Prime Starscream voice when voicing Starscream; the result is awesome. Play as anyone after you finish the game. After the first time through the game, you can play as any of the Decepticons on any mission on repeat playthroughs. No platforming, timed, or escort missions make me happy. Multiplayer games. There's two different versions of an Escalation style game, one where it's until the last man standing and one where whomever has the highest score wins, among others. Also, you can play as anyone from either version of the game already. Neutral: Hacking. It was a good way to break up the game at times to avoid monotony, but it was super easy. In robot mode touch the scan button, then push A when the object is in range (red outline). Touch the screen when the Decepticon emblem pops up. Hacking done. On the one hand, I hate hacking games that are foolishly complex, but this was challengeless. Everyone had the same secondary weapon, a missle launcher. A missle launcher that is really powerful. It's limited ammo, but killing any medium or tough enemy drops missles, with some careful shooting, there were times I was swimming in missles. Health Bar and Armor Bar. It's kind of like Wing Commander. Your armor bar depletes first, once it's gone your health bar depletes. When it's gone, you're dead. The armor bar regens with time, health bar is only restored via finding energon. Except every enemy drops energon. As a result, outside of an early boss fight, I was never in any kind of danger of dying. The Exclusive Lockdown deco really doesn't look that different from normal in the game. It's different, but not a night and day drastic difference. The Nav system points the way from the start to the end of the level with a purple line, pointing the way to your ultimate objective. However at one point in one mission I got turned around and didn't realize it until I had driven all the way back to the begining of the level. Decepticons appearing in the game are: Soundwave, Crowbar, Lockdown, Megatron, Starscream (many cutscenes and in game there are times you can call him in for air support), Shockwave (ending cutscene only). Autobots in the game are: Optimus Prime, Mirage, Ironhide, and Bumblebee are all boss battles, including 2 with Mirage and Ironhide. Ratchet is in the ending cutscene only, he's also not selectable in multiplayer unlike the others. There's a credit for Wheeljack, but he's not in the Decepticon version of the game as far as I saw. To make it easier on others who may play the game, here's the unique abilities: Soundwave goes from a high wire to a low wire. He can never go the other way, so if it doesn't work, that would be why (So if it looks even, you're at the wrong end). Crowbar, look for what looks like vent covers with yellow arrows/chevrons on it. He can use them to run up a wall and across to a new area. Lockdown, look for a pole partway across a ledge, he'll jump, catch it with the hook, swing around and leap all the way across. Megatron, look for a dark gray floor panel with a circle on it, he can double jump up from one. Overall, I wouldn't say avoid this game, nor do I say run out and buy it. It doesn't do much, but outside of the driving controls, what it does, it does a good job with. The way the upgrade system works adds a lot of replay, being able to play through as your favorite (Megatron) Decepticon through the entire game on additional playthroughs also adds to the replay value, since I've got DS owning TF friends, we can have a lot of fun seeing how many waves we can survive working together in the Marathon multiplayer mode, and the Lockdown Speedstar means I don't feel like I overspent, but I'm also not feeling inclined to get the Autobot campaign at all, even after the price inevitably drops. I have a feeling that either after seeing the movie or just before we'll rent DOTM on the PS3 and give a it a whirl, so I may like it more or less after that.
Very thorough review, well done. I'll admit, the DS Decepticons has piqued my interest; I'll definitely try and get a hold of it at some point.
Thanks for review. I really wish there were more playable characters like Sideswipe,Ratchet ,Shockwave and Starscream.If they were in the game,it would have been perfect.
Sad that while the 2007 DS: Decepticon game was 98% PERFECTION, the formula seems unable to repeat itself.
I keep wondering why it's like that. I've always wanted to choose a bot I want for a mission in the first game,it's possible now,but the character list is really bad.I mean,WFC game had tons of characters ,DOTM could have done the same and it would have made an awesome game.Also,it would have made the game longer.
Has anyone else here bought the Target Edition? I bought that one because of the code to make Lockdown look like the freebee Lockdown that came in the box, but everytime I've in put the code Lockdown just looks like the regular movie Lockdown. Has the code worked for anyone?
Yes, and yes. Make sure you follow the directions and only put it in once, it's like a toggle switch in that every time you enter it, it goes from on to off, back to on, etc. (Or at least that's the way it seems to). It also only changes the in game Lockdown, the cutscenes don't change. The quickest and easiest way to tell if it's on is if you look at the robot mode left arm, if you see green on the car kibble panel, it's on. The other way is to get somewhere near a wall and make a sharp turn, the autocamera will swing around the vehicle to avoid going through a wall and you can see the vehicle in profile to see if it's on. As I said in the original post, it's not a huge difference.
Exactly the same, even the robot mode kibble. In all honesty, I'm shocked that we're this far into DOTM post-movie toys without having a DOTM redeco Lockdown from the Target exclusive code and Speed Star.
