Transformers: Dark of the Moon's moments of joy are overshadowed by repetition at every turn.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a prequel to the film of the same name. Suffice it to say you will see a lot of characters in this game that you will notice from the film - Optimus, Ratchet, Starscream, Megatron etc - including some new and unique characters exclusive to the game such as Soundwave, Mirage and Laserbeak. The presentation is evidently rushed despite good intentions, and the cutscenes - and story - aren't at all compelling. It's clear that High Moon just didn't have enough time to craft this into a great experience.
This rushed feel also extends to the visuals. There are vast technical issues that are rampant during most of the 4-5 hour campaign. There is frequent screen-tearing, large framerate drops, pop-in, occasional crashes and other oddities. It's a shame that these issues couldn't be ironed out because there are moments when Dark of the Moon looks really nice, with lush environments, good animations and some fantastic lighting.
The sound design is great though. The voice acting is strong, especially Peter Cullen and Jess Harnell as Optimus Prime and Ironhide respectively, reprising their roles from the films. Steven Blum reprises his role from Transformers: Prime as Starscream, Nolan North portrays Major Reynolds and Fred Tatasciore rounds out the cast as Megatron, among other characters. The sound effects are good too, with the awesome sounds of transformations from vehicle to robot and vice versa, powerful weapon effects and a great soundtrack from Jeff Broadbent, with some parts of the score evoking that of Steve Jablonsky's work from the films.
The gameplay in Dark of the Moon is similar to that of Transformers: War for Cybertron, also developed by High Moon, yet vastly more simple and accessible. The level design isn't as developed as War for Cybertron, which can make combat a lot more repetitive than it should be. There are far too many "arena" style waves to fend off and not enough transforming. Though you can still transform at will and fire whenever you like, there aren't any moments in the campaign that take advantage of this. War for Cybertron had some thrilling sequences, so its disappointing that Dark of the Moon focuses on fun but mostly bland shootouts. Combat is solid but doesn't go anywhere. Just as you unlock or discover something cool, the level ends. There is a multiplier that tracks your mission score. You get more points for melee attacking enemies, and fewer points for shooting them. This would have been an interesting addition had I been rewarded for achieving a certain score (trophies for 1M scores, but no unlocks) such as new characters, weapons or cheats, but to no avail. The game controls well - zipping into vehicle form or boosting and jumping all work, and it makes the game less clumsy. What can be clumsy, though, is the AI. They are erratic at best and moronic at worst. Most of the time they'll shoot at you and transform - except they stay in vehicle form while you blow them to pieces. At worst they will stand there obliviously while you kill them, or throw grenades that kill their allies. The animations are good, though, and there are done decent sequences such as infiltrating a silo facility with the bird-like Laserbeak, a dogfight above the clouds against a passenger jet and its fighter allies and a tense battle against driller arms. These moments are the ones to enjoy over the so-so combat.
One more criticism is that the game is very short. It's not exactly an exception given the sub-genres reputation, but Dark of the Moon clocks in at just over four and a half hours which is still disappointing. There's no incentive to replay other than to find the hidden symbols, and multiplayer isn't as frenetically addictive as its more expansive Cybertronian counterparts.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is another short, repetitive movie tie-in. It's a rushed game that looks rough and suffers from the lack of development needed to craft a great adaptation. Still, there are some fun set pieces to enjoy and the combat works, but its nothing more than an okay rental. Play War for Cybertron instead.
SUMMARY
Presentation 5.0 - The presentation lacks polish and doesn't contain anything interesting.
Graphics 6.0 - It's a shame that Dark of the Moon has so many technical issues, because it can look really nice at times.
Audio 8.0 - Good voice acting, strong sound effects and a solid score by Jeff Broadbent.
Gameplay 6.0 - Some fun moments aside, Dark of the Moon suffers from repetitious level design, erratic AI and short length.
Replayability 5.0 - A disappointingly short 4-5 hour story, and the multiplayer isn't as compelling as, say, War for Cybertron.
Overall - 6/10