SA Exclusive Review: We Play Transformers 2 Multiplayer With The Developers

So, earlier this week we mentioned that we had bagged a South African exclusive multiplayer session with the developers and producers of Transformers 2.

It all went down last night over Xbox Live, where I joined up with seven other guys from Activision and Luxoflux and finally got to find out if running around as Transformers trying to destroy each other was as good as it sounds.

As mentioned in my previous post, the first Transformers game was far from loved by it’s critics and was seen as movie-license cash-in by many. So has anything changed with Transformers 2 and has the addition of multiplayer added a real reason to pick this game up?

Do you think the multiplayer was a last minute attempt to add flavour to another movie-license or does is this new mode the ultimate replacement for those days when we sat on the living room floor bashing Transformers toys together shouting “pew! pew!”.

It’s time to find out if this game is more than meets the eye. Autobots, roll out!

[ Be sure to check out our full review soon ]

Is It Hot In Here?

To be honest, I was slightly nervous. What was I going to do if the game was really bad and I had to suffer through two hours of torture, treading lightly as I sat in an Xbox Live party with the very people that made the game.

In any case, we kicked things off with a little Team Deathmatch. The game supports up to 8 players and has a bunch of different modes, but I will get into that a little later.

The level loads up, and we begin.

Autobots Vs Decepticons

A nice little touch that has been added is that when you spawn, you don’t just appear, but come down from the sky in a fiery blaze, just like in the movies. Sweet fan service right there.

You can pick from any of the Transformers that are on your team, such as Optimus, Bumble Bee, Iron Hide for the Autobots and so on, and each has their own different stats and special abilities.

I was an Autobot, so I went with good ol’ Bumble Bee. Before I knew it the sky had jets dogfighting and I was engaged in a car chase with an Audi R8, with my guns a’ blazing before the both of us transformed into robot form and unleashed our mini guns on each other.

Transformers were climbing buildings, taking shots at each other and swinging their metal fists with deadly intent.

I can honestly say that I was pleasantly surprised at everything going on around me. This was a mixture of aerial battles, car chases and robot on robot action, and it was fun.

How It All Works

So to take a look at how everything works, I am going to go into a little bit of details with regards to the controls and such.

The maps are mostly made up of city areas, that have a cordoned off area that you can play in. You begin in Robot form and go from there. Now, the game plays very much like a 3rd person shooter, with the camera behind your Transformer. You use the left trigger to go into weapons mode and then you have the option between a close and ranged weapon.

As an example, Bumble Bee has a close range mini-gun and lock-on rocket pods as his secondary. The weapons you have can overheat, so you need to be careful with how you use them. The combat is not restricted to guns mind you, as you are also able to fight in robotic hand to hand combat.

Each bot also has his own special ability, and in Bumble Bee’s case, it is an EMP. When he is close to another bot he can unleash the EMP, stunning the opponent for a short while so that he can start bringing the smack-down on them. These abilities range from healing and shields, to flashbangs and damage enhancers.

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Last Updated: June 26, 2009