Rather than get fancy and try to do some kind of prequel or in-the-cracks storyline around the
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen film, you'll find a pretty straightforward adaptation of the movie here. The backgrounds and key scenes from the film find their way into the game intact, and make for very good gaming. Some areas feel overly drawn out, where the impulse to make good gaming rode over the continuity and pacing of the film. Apart from a few draggy parts such as this,
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Wii is a very well-paced game. It feels like you are playing a summer blockbuster, which is exactly how it
should feel. Rarely do games capture the coolest qualities of their film, book, or comic counterparts, so it becomes a moment to celebrate when this actually happens.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen brings gamers successfully into the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. And the best part? You get to sample the action from both sides...
The notion of playing both good and bad throughout a game is a bit new for us. Perhaps it's been done before, but we're hard pressed to think of notable examples. Usually you'll just blaze through a "good" campaign, or do good actions in the case of these new branching-path games that slant your character's development toward some good or bad alignment. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Wii instead takes the approach of playing out both sides of the battle, and inserting you along the way in the form of a key player in the plot at that moment. The descent of Optimus Prime that begins the game is a type of flying level that bears little resemblance to the flying action of Starscream later in the game. Using the unique abilities of each character is all part of the fun, and when you finally get a chance to trigger your character's special attack sequence, it's jaw-drop time.
The objectives throughout each level are clearly stated, and you can blow through the single-player campaign quickly if you aren't concerned with collecting items. The co-op feature is the variety we see more and more, and that we absolutely love, where the second player can pop in at any time by pressing the (2) button on his Wii-mote. There aren't two robots on-screen during the campaign, just the first player's character plus a floating spy satellite. The benefit of this division-of-labor is that the second player can be focused on eliminating different enemies, or focused on taking down a boss. The two players can just talk it out. Playing the Co-op Arena Mode is a true competitive battle, kind of a survival mode. You won't find much online play here, but there's enough packed in that you may not miss it.
