Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Preview

A couple of years ago, Activision launched a game based on the Transformers film. While the game captured some of the essence of the film and its timeless characters, it suffered from some clunky controls, boring mission structures, and generally uninspired gameplay. However, for the sequel, Activision seems to have listen to the criticism that gamers had with the original game and taken strides to fix its issues.

Developer Luxoflux, the folks behind the Shrek video games, are now holding the reins for Revenge of the Fallen, and are looking to make some big improvements to the game’s universe, including a variety of small changes and a much more open world to explore (or destroy). At a press event held in San Francisco, GameZone was given a brief look at the title, and were pretty impressed by its progress.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen puts you in control of certain Autobots and Decepticons in open-ended missions through a variety of locations as you find on your respective side against your robotic enemies. Additionally, you’ll now be able to interact with human characters, including those from the film, like Sam Witwicky.

The development team showed off a stage where a Decepticon incursion in Shanghai was taking place. This stage gave us a good look at the gameplay, which is faster and more kinetic than the first Transformers title. The robots move more fluidly and natural, more like the robots in the film than, well, robots. Transformations carry momentum to them, which is pretty cool to see in the heat of battle, and actually quite functional. By hitting the transformation button at just the right time, you can launch your transformer to higher terrain or perform a cool attack, which keeps with the feel of the films.

If you are on a good kill streak, you can build up your overdrive meter which makes you invulnerable and prevents your weapons from overheating for a limited time. Additionally, you can shoot in vehicle mode now, which is a nice touch.

The biggest new addition in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the inclusion of online play. While details were pretty scant, we were able to find out that Revenge of the Fallen will have token modes like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, all set in the backdrop of the battle between Autobots and Decepticons.

As the presentation for the game was strictly eyes on (we weren’t allowed to play, only watch) we can’t really attest to whether or not Activision and Luxoflux were able to clean up the control issues from the first game, but we could already see that the pace has been improved substantially. Look for more information as it nears its June release date.