Transformers Prime The Game - Wii Review

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Details
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Now Prouction Co., Ltd
MSRP: $39.99
ESRB Ratimg: E10+ (Everyone 10 and older - Fantasy Violence)
Also Available For Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS

The Game
Transformers Prime for the Nintendo Wii is a completely new game set within the Transformers Prime universe. The heart of the experience is a campaign mode, in a setup meant to act as a stand alone Transformers Prime story. You play as the Autobots as they interrupt Megatron in the middle of hauling a giant Dark Energon meteor. During the battle, the Autobots and the meteor are scattered throughout the world. The story follows Jack, Miko and Raf as they locate and attempt to reunite the Autobots as a new threat emerges. Along the way you take control of Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Ratchet.

The game itself is a linear experience. You move from Point A to Point B in each level, battling everything from Vehicons to Insecticons. Each level is capped of with a boss battle. Here you face off against one of the main Decepticons such as Starscream, Soundwave, Knock Out and Megatron, among others. You also traverse a variety of locales, such as South America, Greece and even on board the Nemesis. The core experience is built with a younger audience in mind. It's not a particularly long or difficult experience, but there is fun to be had for some of the older fans.

For starters, the story itself is compelling and well written. It draws you in and has the feel of a mini series event being recreated for you to play through. It's actually a shame that aspect wasn't played up here. Also, the presentations is decent. Nice camera work and well done cut scenes definitely kept me interested. There's a nice mix of classic, Transformers Prime and even live-action movie references to be had for those paying attention to details.

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Multiplayer
There is multiplayer component to the game. It is not online enabled and is limited to local split screen and only up to 2 human players. It's best to play through the campaign mode first, as that will unlock playable characters and arenas for the multiplayer modes. You can play against a friend or compete against computer controlled (and appropriately named) bots. There are three different modes; Brawl, Battle For Energon and Emblem Battle. You can go it alone versus 1, 2 or 3 computer controlled opponents or you can add 1 more human to that mix. Unfortunately, there's really little variation to these.

Brawl is a battle to the death, last man standing wins. Battle For Energon sees you racking up kills in a limited amount of time. Player with most kills wins. And Emblem Battle sees players taking control of an Autobot/Decepticon symbol and trying to hold onto it for as long as possible. Player who held onto it the longest when times expires wins. All in all, the multiplayer is tacked on and unnecessary. It adds nothing to the game and gets old after a single match of each.

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Gameplay
Transformers Prime is a 3rd person action game. The game uses the Wii remote and nunchuck. For those hoping that the Classic controller would be supported, you will be disappointed. The nunchuck handles character movement, transformation and target lock. The remote handles camera movement (left to right only), jumping, shooting and melee attacks. To use your melee, you swing the Wii remote up and down. The camera, thankfully, will require very little attention from you. It remains, mostly, focused directly on your back, allowing for the action to be in front of you at nearly all times. Combine that with a lock on system and enemies never feel like they sneak up on you or lost in combat. Speaking of combat, there is variations to a few of these actions. Melee can be modified by holding the jump button, either at the beginning or during a melee combo. As you attack, an "upgrade" bar is filled. When completely filled, you can press jump and fire at the same time to temporarily upgrade your melee and firing weapons. You can also double press and hold your fire button to charge it for a more powerful attack. Melee, though, offers the more powerful of the attacks, especially when used in conjunction with the "upgrade" bar.

Transforming is performed by hitting the C Button. This gives you more speed and the ability to speed boost. You can also perform a vehicle jump that let's you cover larger distances or get to farther away platforms. In vehicle mode you can fire your ranged weapons as well as charge them up for a more powerful blast. You control your vehicle via the thumbstick on the nunchuck. Steering feels very loose and it's common to drive off edges and cliffs in narrow areas where precision is needed.

The game itself has both robot centric and vehicle specific levels. The main levels sees you bot traveling in a set path. The game blocks off your path when enemies attack. So you move from one blocked off spot to another until you reach the levels end. Driving levels are equally simple. Dodge attacks, shoot roadblocks and jump over holes. Boss fights offer a bit of variety, though you will face most bosses more than once and their patterns are easy to figure out and take advantage of. On the whole, the game should take about 2-3 hours to complete, depending on how thorough you want to be with finding the few collectibles there are (usually 1 - 2 per level). Some levels feature a good mix of platforming, fighting and driving all within a short amount of time though, which helps give a little variety.

The controls themselves are fairly responsive. There just isn't much to it. The camera does not help aiming. You cannot aim up or down, so enemies above or below you are untouchable without locking onto them. So you will rely on the auto locking almost exclusively and it makes the game a bit too easy. Once you've mastered the basic combat, you'll blow through most enemies and levels. All the characters have the same setup and attacks, so master one and you've mastered them all. There are speed and strength differences between each of the characters, but nothing that alters the game in any way. There are no upgrades in any form. You do not increase your health, alter your weapons or gain new abilities. With the game clearly aimed at a young audience, keeping is simple and straight forward seems reasonable. But older gamers will likely grow tired of the repetitive nature.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

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Graphics and Visuals
Transformers Prime, as a TV show, features some impressive character set pieces, environments and detailing. It seemed natural that the 3D show should feature an equally gorgeous current generation look. Transformers Prime, as a Wii game, unfortunately doesn't live up to those lofty goals. Right off the bat, the game has a low resolution look to it. I am assuming, though I couldn't find any info, that he game is running at 480i as opposed to offering a progressive scan 480p resolution.

The character models are good representations of their cartoon counterparts. They feature accurate appearances in both vehicle and robot forms. On the downside, they're definitely on the blocky side of things. Tires lack that nice round look, edges have that jagged appearance and textures are low resolution, which makes things look blurry on close ups. Character animations are smooth for the most part, though transformations feature a noticeable change between models being used. There is only a small variation in enemies you'll see. You get the requisite Vehicons and Insecticons as well as a few larger, more powerful troops you'll face in later levels. There's four, maybe five total enemy types besides the boss characters, so you will need to get used to seeing the same faces over and over.

Environments are, for the most part, very basic. You get the standard spaceship level, ancient ruins, industrial, etc. The areas themselves are usually fairly small, and very empty feeling like a textured, boxed in, arena more than an environment you're traversing. Very little populates the levels themselves. Some destructible boxes and rocks here and there. But the levels are nicely designed. A good use of vertical space on a few levels help give the environments a grander look and feel.

In the end the game looks ok, but never rises above that. The Wii has the ability to handle some good looking games, but Transformers Prime never feels like it's pushing the limits of the system. It opts for a clean, efficient look, but one that never reaches the full potential of its source material. It does, however, fair better than some other recent Wii Transformers outings.

Score: 6 out of 10

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Audio
Here is where the game really steps it up. The audio performance here is very enjoyable. The fully voice acted story helps to really sell the idea of this being an extension of the show, as does the use of the actual voice actors from the show (who, as far as I can tell, are all here). For the most part, they do a great job here. Though the kids can get fantastically annoying, especially in area where they keep repeating themselves as you fight (looking at you Raf). The sound effects are ripped right from the show as is the surprisingly effective music. While the music itself is mainly here for effect, it does a good job of selling the scenes and allows it to feel like a more immersive experience. If you close your eyes, thsi sounds like an episode of Transformers Prime, and not many licensed games can boast that.

Score: 9 out of 10

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Final Thoughts
Transformers Prime is a game that has to be taken as a whole. It has some issues in areas. There's no denying that. But for dedicated Transformers Prime followers, there's some fun to be had here. It has the feel of playing through a cartoon and great use of audio to help sell it. There are some unlockables like concept art and character models. Unfortunately, you'll find most of them on your first play through. And once you beat it, there not much incentive to play through again. Multiplayer, being local only won't appeal to many people and the modes available aren't enough to keep you playing against the computer controlled bots. This should be looked at as a strictly single player affair. That all being said, this is easily the best Transformers game to come to the Wii. It captures the feel of the show and has an interesting story to tell. And for a younger player, there's probably a lot more fun to be had here. For older fans, a weekend rental will likely suffice.

Score: 7 out of 10

 

If you picked it up, let us know what you thought.

 

I look forward to playing this.

The developer NowPro have developed several of my favorite games as a kid such as Capcom's Yo! Noid , Hudson Soft's Adventure Island , Konami's Silent Scope and Namco's Splatterhouse , Ninja Assault & Katamari Damacy.

I expect a fun experience and look forward to what the WiiU version has to offer.

For those who do not know much about NowPro their track record is outstanding and chances are you have played one of their games before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowpro

 

All I want is to see Thunderwing!!

 

to the 480i vs 480p debate: all you have to do is check what signal your TV is receiving. Mine shows it when you switch from one source to another (it shows the new sources)

 

Sounds terrible, so hopefully the wiiu can offer better.

 

I'll add it to my library when it gets cheap. Simple as that. By the sound of it there is plenty the big game reviewers can tear into. But I'll have a great colorful weekend with it.
Glad its got an original side story rather than trying to recreate events from the show; just because It does give some more meat for Transformers Prime content.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

Yeah it'll probably just be a straight port of this version.

 

You may have just sold me with the two player bit.

I had zero interest in this. But they just don't make two player home council games to speak of anymore. My wife and I like to play video games together (meaning in the same room on the same machine). I almost never play video games except with her.

I may pick this up.

 

Is wheeljack playble?

 

When is this coming out, in time for Christmas?

 

^^^According to Amazon, it's already available.

I already got Cybertron Adventures for real cheap that I plan on giving my 7 year old for Xmas. I'm very tempted to give him this instead (I only want him to have one).

I assume Prime would be the better choice.

 

With better graphics, but yeah, same game in all likelihood.

 

didnt even realize this came out

might pick up the wii version just for kicks. my parents have a wii so i can just borrow that

looks nifty enough!

 

I'll give it a go! Anything is better than that Stealth Force abomination.

 

Wheeljack is not in the game.

 

Game came out today.  

 

So umm how about Thunderwing?

 

reading this review makes it sound like an evolution of the old japanese ps2 G1 game