Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (video game)

Gameplay

As with Transformers: The Game, Revenge of the Fallen features two separate campaigns; one depicting the actions of the Autobots, and the other the actions of the Decepticons. The game expands on the movie plot with additional missions and characters. Unlike its predecessor, Revenge of the Fallen features a hub-like, non-linear mission progression. This allows the player to choose what missions they would like to accomplish and where in order to further drive the story. Multiplayer features five different modes. "Deathmatch" allows players to choose any character in a free-for-all battle. "Team Deathmatch" features Autobots vs Decepticons. "Control Points" features gameplay similar to the Star Wars Battlefront series, with teams battling for control of specific areas to gain points. "One Shall Stand" is similar to Team Deathmatch; the difference is that the objective is for a player to take out the enemy leader (Optimus Prime or Megatron) while protecting their own. The final mode, "Battle for the Shards", features Capture the Flag-style gameplay; teams search for shards of the AllSpark and return them to their base to earn points.

Autobot campaign

At the start of the Autobot campaign, NEST Pilot Sgt. Epps is reporting Decepticons in Shanghai, China. Upon the arrival of the Autobots, Major William Lennox informs them there are Decepticons in the perimeter that must not escape, and Ironhide is sent to fight them. Ironhide then battles and defeats Sideways. When Optimus Prime gets word that Ironhide is missing, Ratchet heads out to find him and get him to safety. After locating Ironhide, his power is recharged and another Decepticon battle ensues. After annihilating Decepticon troops, Optimus battles Demolishor. Upon his defeat, Demolishor states that "The Fallen shall rise again."

The Autobots then head to Burbank, California where a previously unknown fragment of the AllSpark has surfaced in possession of Mikaela Banes. When the Decepticons detect the fragment, Bumblebee is sent to protect Mikaela. Meanwhile, the Autobots learn that a second Allspark fragment held by the Americans has been stolen. Soundwave learns of Megatron's location in the Laurentian Abyss and transmits it to the Decepticons. Breakaway is sent to defend the carrier fleet Deep-6 which guards Megatron's corpse from the Decepticons. Despite his efforts, Megatron is reactivated.NCMANL 0508/

On the East Coast, Sam Witwicky is kidnapped by the Decepticon troops and is taken to an industrial park near his college. Ratchet manages to locate Sam in an abandoned foundry and sends Bumblebee the coordinates. Bumblebee rescues Sam and takes him to the extraction point, upon which Grindor attacks Bumblebee. Following Bumblebee's victory, Optimus decides to give the humans a Cybertronian weapon called the Axiom Gun to help combat the growing Decepticon threat. He personally escorts the Axiom Gun to NEST headquarters. After getting the convoy to their destination, the Autobots escort Sam to meet with former Agent Simmons. With intel from Simmons, Sam has Bumblebee take him to the museum to seek out a robot named Jetfire. While Sam looks for Jetfire, Bumblebee defends the museum from the Decepticon troops. Jetfire emerges from the museum and takes Sam through the trans-dimensional Space Bridge to Cairo, Egypt; the Autobots then follow.

Jetfire reveals that the Dynasty of Primes have constructed a machine called the Sun Harvester hidden in an Egyptian pyramid. He says the device destroys stars to harvest their power, converting it into energon. Upon arrival in the outskirts of Cairo, the Autobots search for Sam while evading Decepticon troops. After locating Sam, Optimus Prime takes him to the Tomb of the Ancients. While Sam is in the tomb, Optimus and Jetfire defend it from Megatron and Starscream. Optimus defeats them, but they escape after Megatron impales Jetfire. The Fallen reveals himself and the Sun Harvester, powering its systems up and begging the harvesting of the Earth's sun. A dying Jetfire lends his wings and parts to Optimus in order to help Optimus defeat The Fallen. Elsewhere, Bumblebee ends up fighting and defeating Devastator. Optimus battles The Fallen, defeating him by impaling his face with his blade. The Fallen falls into the Sun Harvester and destroys it. With the Ancient Transformers avenged, Ratchet informs Optimus that Megatron escaped on a ship to a distant galaxy. Optimus then salutes his troops for their good work in stopping the Decepticons.

Decepticon campaign

The Decepticon campaign begins in Shanghai with Sideways searching the area for fuel and power, and also for Megatron's lost body. He learns of Autobots in the area and hunts and eliminates them. He then learns that Grindor has gone missing and that Sideways must find, repair, and transport Grindor to the extraction site. Once Grindor is safe, he attacks Autobots protecting NEST arrays and infects the arrays with a virus, giving the Decepticons access to NEST communications. Elsewhere, Long Haul destroys NEST bases located around Shanghai. Ironhide emerges to fight Long Haul but is defeated, and Starscream proclaims the victory as a warning to Optimus Prime.

The Decepticons then head to Burbank. There Soundwave has learned that Sam has given a shard of the Allspark to Mikaela. They formulate a plan to recover the shard and use it to revive Megatron. Long Haul captures men who may know Mikaela's location, who are then interrogated by Starscream. Starscream is able to discover Mikaela's location, and he sends Long Haul to retrieve her. Starscream receives word that the Decepticon troops transporting Mikaela have been intercepted by the Autobots. In the wake of defeat, the Decepticons learn of another shard held by American armed forces which is retrieved.

The Decepticons learn from NSA Chief Galloway that Megatron is buried deep in the Laurentian Abyss. Starscream disables the Deep-6 aircraft carriers that guard Megatron's remains in the Laurentian Abyss, allowing the Decepticons to gain access to Megatron's remains. Megatron is revived, and the Decepticons return to the east coast. Megatron disables Optimus Prime and has Starscream destroy a museum that Sam entered, but he is not among the ruins. They learn he was transported to Cairo, Egypt via a space bridge created by Jetfire. Megatron arrives on the outskirts of Cairo and engages Autobots in combat. Jetfire and Bumblebee challenge him, but are defeated. Elsewhere, Long Haul destroys the Axion Gun that the Autobots gave to the NEST Troops. Megatron learns that The Fallen has betrayed him by promising to make him a Prime, learning that Primes are born, not made. Megatron then destroys him before he can fully activate the Sun Harvester. Victorious, he begins plans to form an army of new Decepticons.

PlayStation 2 and Wii

At the beginning of the game the Decepticon Soundwave hacks onto a satellite and finding a piece of Cybertronian technology on a NEST truck in Shanghai. Sideways and Demolishor are contacted to steal the technology. Optimus Prime is transported to near where the technology was stolen, where he confronts Devastator. Nearby Ironhide engages in battle with Demolishor. Elsewhere in the city, Bumblebee chases Sideways through the streets, who narrowly escapes with assistance from Starscream. Starscream and Sideways travel to the Laurentian Abyss, where the dead body of Megatron is being guarded by military forces. Starscream attacks the navy ships, giving Sideways an opportunity to retrieve the body. Megatron is then resurrected by The Fallen, becoming his servant.

Back in Shanghai, Optimus takes down the colossal Decepticon known as Devastator, and retrieves a piece of Cybertronian technology unearthed by Devastator. Optimus and Ironhide find that Bumblebee is missing, and they learn that he has been taken by Starscream. Megatron reveals himself to the Autobots, and challenges Optimus to one final fight. Meanwhile, Bumblebee is released by Jetfire, who has been taken captive by the Decepticons. Optimus and Megatron battle, ending with Optimus close to death. Jetfire places Optimus's body in an escape pod, where Optimus's eyes light up, revealing that he is still clinging to life. Starscream and Megatron take the last piece of Cybertronian technology.

Jetfire then goes to the desert and finds a weakened Optimus, who flew his escape pod to Egypt. Shortly after arriving Jetfire becomes mortally wounded by Starscream and sacrifices himself to give Optimus power to defeat The Fallen. Ironhide destroys the security around the Sun Harvester, and Optimus defeats Megatron. With the security down, Optimus battles The Fallen, destroying both him and the Sun Harvester. Megatron and Starscream get sucked into a space bridge, which transports them to The Fallen's throne room. At the end of the game, the Autobots rebuild the destroyed pyramid, and Megatron and Starscream observe the creation of a massive Decepticon army now under their control.

Characters

^a Character is available in their G1 design as downloadable content in campaign and multiplayer.
^b Character has an unlockable alternate livery.
^c Character is available in multiplayer only via downloadable content.
^d Character has alternate livery via downloadable content.
^e Character is available in campaign and multiplayer via downloadable content.

Development

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developer Luxoflux updated the transformation system of the game to allow for more fluid transforming of the robots. Players can now transform in mid-air, carry over momentum gained prior to transforming, and transform directly into attacks. It features online play and downloadable content, announced on July 15, 2009. New features include the following: new multiplayer characters, including G1 versions of characters and new liveries; new multiplayer maps; the ability to use new characters in the campaign; an expert difficulty mode; and new achievements (Xbox 360) and trophies (PS3). It was released August 27, 2009 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The PS2 and Wii versions of the game were developed by Krome Studios. These versions feature a special cooperative mode, where the second player can "man the guns", utilizing a floating shield and weapon system, which is called the "Remote Weapons System" and is controlled with an on-screen reticule. Players work together to survive against waves of enemies. Unlike the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, the PS2 and Wii versions feature only one campaign. Players alternate between controlling various Autobots and Decepticons over the game's fifteen missions. The Wii version of the game contains motion controls for combat and quick-time events. Each Transformer has a special move where the character transforms temporarily.

The PSP version of Transformers was developed by Savage Entertainment. In this version, the game is played from a top-down perspective while in robot mode, with driving and escort levels also added. Ad-Hoc cooperative play is supported. Gameplay in robot form is reminiscent of the arcade shooter Smash TV and the Dreamcast title Cannon Spike.

Audio

Revenge of the Fallen retains most of the cast from its film counterpart with a few exceptions. Hugo Weaving, who voices Megatron in the live action films, does not voice Megatron in the game. Instead Frank Welker, who voiced Megatron in The Transformers animated series returns to voice the character. Devastator, who was voiced by Welker in the film, is voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the game. The game features Neil Kaplan, the voice of Optimus Prime in the series Transformers: Robots in Disguise. Kaplan does not voice Prime, but instead voices the character Long Haul as well as additional minor characters. Electronic rock band Julien-K, who contributed one track to the first movie's soundtrack, provided the score with Steve Jablonsky. John DiMaggio, who later go on to voice Leadfoot in Dark of the Moon, voices Sideways and Maj. Lennox.

Reception

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen received mixed reviews from critics, with the Xbox 360 version of the game holding a 63.46% at GameRankings and 61 out of 100 at Metacritic. The PlayStation 3 version scored similarly, with a 63.55% at GameRankings and 63 out of 100 at Metacritic. The PC version scored slightly lower at 56% and 58 out of 100, respectively. IGN's Chris Roper gave the game 6 out of 10, saying that it had a "complete and utter lack [of presentation]". 1UP.com's Thierry Nguyen gave the PS3 and X360 versions a C+, saying "Transformers 2 is a significant improvement upon its terrible predecessor". GamePro was more forgiving, giving the game four stars out of five and stating "If you like Transformers, buy this game. Even if you don't (or you just hate Michael Bay), you should still give Optimus Prime a try." Eurogamer gave the Xbox 360 version 4 out of 10, stating "It's never much fun, but nor is it wonky enough to be terrible. It's simply there, a forgettable distraction." The PC port was cited as having a number of technical issues, causing lower scores than its console counterparts. GameSpot scored the PC version 6 out of 10, whereas the 360 and PS3 versions received 7.5 out of 10. GameSpy gave the X360 version three-and-a-half stars out of five, praising the professional voice work and "strong multiplayer gameplay". They further said that "the multiplayer mode [will] keep Revenge of the Fallen relevant long after the movie has gone to DVD".

The PS2 and Wii versions received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with the PS2 version of the game holding a 46% at GameRankings and a 51 out of 100 at Metacritic. The Wii version scored a bit higher, with a 53% at GameRankings and 53 out of 100 at Metacritic. The PS2 and Wii versions of Revenge of the Fallen were panned for having awful controls. Specifically, IGN stated that "the game will often ignore what you want to do, and instead does something different", giving the game 4.2 out of 10. GameZone panned the controls of the Wii version, saying that "control problems – among other missteps – ruined this game".

The PSP version received even worse reviews, earning a 36.50% at GameRankings and a 37 out of 100 at Metacritic. GameSpot's Chris Watters gave Revenge of the Fallen four out of 10, saying that "this dull and unpleasant action game is in desperate need of a tune-up". IGN rated the game 2.8, calling it "one of the worst games on the PSP". GameZone called the game "a considerably flawed game from start to finish".

At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, Megan Fox won the Best Performance By A Human Female award for her portrayal as Mikaela Banes in the game.