Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

09 Jun 2009 at 14:22:29 by Andy Alderson

With movie adaptations traditionally receiving a hostile reception in the gaming world, it is perhaps not surprising that the Transformers booth was not exactly at the front and centre of Activision’s display at this year’s E3. Tucked away in another area, the booth was nonetheless busy as gamers took on the brand new multiplayer mode.

Now with a different developer on-board (Luxoflux) and a feedback-oriented approach, the game’s production co-ordinator Mike Mejia believes Revenge of the Fallen is a much better game. And, from the time we spent with the multiplayer game, we’re inclined to believe him.

The first game’s lack of multiplayer outside the DS and PSP versions was a major source of criticism and Mejia said that multiplayer was one of the three key areas the development team focused on with the sequel. Now up to eight players can compete over Xbox LIVE in a variety of familiar game modes. As well as Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, there’s also an assassination/VIP-style mode called One Shall Stand (in which you’re tasked with killing the opposition’s leader while protecting your own), Control Points which involves securing as much territory as possible and Battle for the Shards which is a variation on capture the flag.

Player choice was another focus for improvement and Revenge of the Fallen accordingly features the largest selection of Transformers in a game to date, with the development team bringing older sub-factions from Transformers lore into the fold such as Constructicons and Protectobots. Meija explained that, having observed the considerable amount of feedback on the first game, it was clear that fans wanted a wider range of machines at their disposal and, after we selected the Jet-based Decepticon Starscream for our game, Mejia told us that the development team will offer more characters as downloadable content post-release

The one thing we took away from our time playing Team Deathmatch at E3 was just how much the team has overhauled the transformation system, the heart of any Transformers game. Meija admitted that transforming in the first game took way too long and that the mechanic is much more “fluid and purposeful” in the sequel. By simply holding the right trigger button your robot enters their vehicle form and we found that, playing as Starscream, we could cause havoc on the ground before seamlessly converting to our jet form and hightailing it out of there before we got popped.  And if you don't want to transform, simply release the trigger and the transformation sequence stops completely. 

Regardless, that’s not to say our airborne form was only useful for escaping, however. We had missiles and guns at our disposal and we were also shown how to incorporate attacks into our transformations, as we converted from plane to robot in mid air in order to pull off a pretty devastating ground slam. With a nice variety of ranged, melee and special moves on offer, Revenge of the Fallen’s multiplayer mode handles pretty well and, if it’s adequately supported and expanded upon post-release, could be a real draw for Transformers fans.

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