My WFC Reader Review.
I must say this game could not be any more geewunn and I mean that in a good way!
Gameplay wise it's nothing new, it's a straight 3rd person shooter. You go around each level shooting bad guys (or good guys) and activating switches and that's about it. However although the gameplay brings nothing new to the genre, it can't be argued that it's a lot of fun specially to a Transformers fan. The scripted events are interesting, the environments do have variation despite some complaints and the boss battles are great! However I can't help feel that a Transformer fan will get more out of this game than an everyday gamer due to what I mentioned before - It brings nothing new to the table gameplay wise.
The campaign mode is really where it's at for fans and it doesn't disappoint. It's plot and use of characters is very geewunny (down to Rumble is blue & Frenzy is red!) and the environments are detailed enough to portray an ancient robotic civilization successfully as well as a 'living' Cybertron. For fans the story and characters will certainly not disappoint but I do wish they had used more than a select few characters. Even by Geewhunn standards the character roster list was pretty small.
Something that I was glad to find is that what were first regarded as 'drones' from the reviews and promo movies are actually not so. They are classed genericons/generibots with their own personality not unlike the generic cybertronians you see in crowd scenes in the G1 cartoon and comic so they are fully individualized cybertronians. However gameplay wise I was a little disappointed that the same classes of generibots are mirrored on both sides. Example: Both the autobots and Decepticons have brutes, cloackers, tanks, etc with no variation aside from colors.
This 'mirrored' classes was a bit disappointing and somewhat nonsensical, specially when Barricade at the start of the Decepticon campaign gets freaked out by clockers as they were something which they have never seen before but in the Autobot campaign Decepticons have lots of them. Another flaw of this 'mirror' system is that both the autobot and Decepticon campaigns are too similar from a gameplay perspective as in both you are fighting exactly the same enemies throughout which can make it kind of boring.
Now to the Transformation. Despite what that retard at Gamespot said, transformation is a big factor in the gameplay. There are some battles in which you cannot be effective without transforming as you need to cover the battlefield quickly and on top of that, the alt mode having it's own weapons also adds a strategic element. For example in the Autobot campaign I chose jetfire, once I was able to clear all the Decepticon rocketeers I was able to transform and take off an pick off the ground forces. The gamespot guy was clearly talking out of his ass as he also mentioned cover mechanics - There are none in this game, it's a straight shooter. The only cover is going behind a wall or pillar.
The advantages of the alt mode become apparent early on the game during standard confrontations and during a boss battle it becomes essential as some boss attacks can only be avoided with the speed of your vehicle mode or your dead. Again the Gamespot guy doesn't appear to have played the same game as everyone else has as he deemed transforming unnecessary.
The quality of the story campaign is somewhat simplistic but satisfying with lots of G1 nods and references. The story is not fully fleshed out and although it is a bit more advanced than a G1 episode, it is certainly not much more so. The story somewhat loosely reminded me of Bob Boudanski's style of storytelling as his form was to tell a simple but still epic story with fun being at the center of it such as Megatron finding some new source of power and the Autobots trying to stop him. The interactions between transformers is also good and fun but there isn't much character development and the voice acting is about on par with the cartoon (ranging from good to corny) but just like the cartoon, the interaction between characters and personalities are fun and entertaining despite the lack of character development.
Overall, if you are a Transformers G1 fan - You need to play this game. It's fun and exciting with lots and lots of G1 nods.
If you are a regular gamer, it is still worth playing as the gameplay is still fun and well executed but don't expect anything new or revolutionary. It's a pretty standard shooter with a short linear campaign but the transforming element may help to keep it fresh.
Specific to PC:
This is a straight console port.
Graphics are sub par to what PC players are used to, specially noticeable in character models and some lighting effects as it's primary designed for consoles. However they are still good enough to be enjoyed and suitably well implemented. The environments are still great looking - As a PC gamer you will easily see passed the graphical shortcomings.
Controls: They are locked into the default keyboard map which can be very bad for PC gamers who like to customize their controls. There is not even a mouse inversion choice and the only option is the standard A, S, D, W for movement. Having said that, the controls are well optimized in layout and 'standard' to what PC gamers are generally used to so although the lack of control customization is annoying, one can easily see passed it.
Multiplayer: No LAN option, you are only able to play through the designated servers and due to the very limited PC release, there aren't that many people playing. There is also no chat within game.
PC Release: As far as I know only the US saw a retail PC release and the UK had the option to download it from Steam which was not available internationally. This has severely limited multiplayer in the PC platform as not many people own the PC release.