High Moon Studios have a knack for making decent 3rd person licensed games on the console, with the fun Transformers games and the silly Deadpool game. This was their first effort on the 360 and it really feels like a clunky younger brother to the Cybertron duo. The game follows the story of the movie, presenting it over around 12 levels with some nice cutscenes throughout. Game play wise it is a nice mix of 3rd person cover shooting and first person hand to hand combat. You also have an adrenaline meter which, when full, lets you pull of a finishing move, either shooting or hand to hand combat, which leads to an instant kill. I enjoyed my time with the game, but the experience was dragged down by some flaws and poor design choices. For example, the game is predominantly a cover based 3rd person shooter, but it struggles to implement the movement into or out of cover, which is really down to the controls. The gunplay itself is good and aiming works fine. The levels are designed with this cover in mind, full of things to hide behind. The issue is that you don't really know which you can use as cover. I found myself running up to objects and then awkwardly standing around getting shot as my characters refused to hide behind whatever it was. It's little issues like this that feel a bit amateur and really highlights that this was one of HMS's first games. The reliance on quick time events was another frustration. When you are not headshotting bad guys, you are punching them in the face in a 1 on 1 fighting game style combat section. This was a nice change of pace from the many third person brawlers on the console, but it can get a bit stale as you basically mash x and y in between blocking. Because of this, the inclusion of random QTEs during these fights was a very weird design choice as you really don't have time to react in the middle of a mash X combo. These issues don't ruin the game, it is still a lot of fun to play and the short campaign doesn't overstay its welcome. I really enjoyed jumping around the globe visiting a variety of different areas, and the few driving sections were a nice distraction. However, it must definitely is a flawed game, clunky and full of strange issues and design choices. If you can get past these, you will have fun with it, but don't expect a polished experience.

Reviewed on Mar 19, 2024


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