Just like every blockbuster movie in our decade, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gets a video game counterpart on every major console. The game is published by Activision and this specific XBOX 360 version is developed by (relatively) unknowns Luxoflux. But it's good!

When I think of past Transformers games, or even clones of them, I always remember heavy robots simulators, with every key on the keyboard having a function and then some, with throttle control for walking and best played with a joystick.

Now, it is assumed many, if not most of the movie fans, and potential players, are not very keen on hard simulator games, and would better respond to a fast paced action title. So, as expected, Revenge of the Fallen comes to bring just that. From the furious timed missions in the two singleplayer campaigns to the quick and dynamic multiplayer fights, Transformers has it all.

Each singleplayer campaign, whether you chose to play with the noble Autobots or the evil Decepticons, will take you around eight hours to complete. An interesting dynamic that was added to each mission is an award for how fast you complete it. This way the designers smartly worked around the relatively low number of gameplay time in singleplayer and the fact levels aren't that big.

So it's one thing to finish a mission and another to finish it with a bang: a gold or platinum medal. There are also several bonus objectives, so for an avid fan, playing a mission more than once, and maybe with a different transformer is imperative.

Both campaigns focus on finding another fragment of the Allspark, the creator of life, and both Autobots and Decepticons struggle for its control in order to prevent the resurrection, or to resurrect Megatron, deactivated in the first Transformers movie. But once this objective is complete, the game doesn't stop there, and extends the story for a bit more.

Levels take you on various places of the globe, "from Paris to Berlin", China, US, Egipt, and more, but without some typical design changes like the way some buildings look, you won't notice much of a difference. At the fast pace you are moving they might as well have added boxes of various sizes.

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Revenge offers a non linear campaign, allowing you to pick your missions. Some will require, at least at first try, to play with a certain transformer, forcing you to experience every robot instead of just picking one you like most and sticking with it. This can be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Some missions are just a pain in the ass with certain robots, while you can breeze through with others. On the other hand, more experience for you in multiplayer and a more varied singleplayer overall.

But this problem is especially thorny when playing with flying transformers. You see, multiplayer balance applies to singleplayer as well, and having the ability to fly, you trade off a lot of speed and maneuverability on the ground. Not to mention flying bots are not as well armed or have longer cooldowns between weapons fire.

In order to increase your mission performance, there are a number of tokens spread on various locations that can be shot down for an added 10 seconds bonus. Time won't add, but instead the counter will freeze for that period, so don't expect to pick up one and jump back to gold from silver just before the mission end for example. Tokens also give you extra experience, or Energon.

Depending on your performance in the mission, time you pull, bonus objectives and tokens gained, extra Energon will be available to you at the end. This Energon works as I said before: experience. Spend it into one of the three tiers of Hit Points, Cooldown Duration, Special Ability Cooldown, Turbo Boost and other abilities to improve on them. Whether you decide to increase you life or decrease your weapons' cooldowns, you will need this precious resource to make it easier in future missions.

The upgrades window insures enhancements for all of your transformers, and you don't have to individually train and improve each of them.

There is also no customization available whatsoever, you cannot add a set of rockets on a bot's shoulders for example, or a laser gun on the left leg. Just these passive improvements I mentioned earlier.

Gameplay wise, it can be pretty fun to smash army tanks and fight other transformer bots, but you cannot attain true glory until you've played some online multiplayer matches. You can see straight out of the box this game was designed to be a fast paced multiplayer game, and the story is just a pretext for that. Well not that much, because it's based on the movie, but you get the idea.

As for tips, I really liked the story of the little engine that could, when I was young, and in Revenge of the Fallen I enjoyed playing with Bumblebee and Sideways the most. They are fast, deadly, and can really get in and out before you even know what hit you. Plus both transform into speed cars. What more could you ask.

It of course depends on your playstile, as heavy bots have extra damage or splash damage, or can fly. Every transformer has a melee attack, and two different attacks on the left and right hands respectively. When transformed, you can also use the vehicle's gun.

To make controls even easier, LT is used to transform into vehicle mode and accelerate. A nice way for fast getaways, or for quick car-to-bot combos or dodge moves. However, the disadvantage is a poor driving control. You'll smash every tree, road sign and crash into every corner building while getting away without proper brakes and constantly accelerating.

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Conclusion

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the Videogame is a nice addition to the Transformers universe and a nice way to go for a more interactive experience. Without being sensational in any way, it manages to steal several hours of your life with its singleplayer campaigns. But whatever you do, you must try the game online, because it was designed for multiplayer.

Gameplay: 79

Everything relates to time, how fast you can complete stuff, kill or destroy. Having to repeat each mission in order to get a decent time and complete bonus objectives can be challenging, but repetitive and boring at the same time. Luckily there are many bots to chose from and alter the playstile just a bit from time to time.

Graphics: 81

Levels vary but you just tend to ignore or get over graphics or level design when time is a concern. There is nothing you've never seen before, but the transformers look top notch and animations, special effects and fights are seamlessly fluid and fun.

Sound: 78

Several specific sounds you've heard from the movie are present, Frank Welker and Neil Kaplan amongst other famous actors are voicing Megatron and Long Haul respectively, Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, and uhh... the music is acceptable. Over.

Multiplayer: 86

Again, this is really what the game is all about. Bots seem decently balanced and levels varied enough for a complete multiplayer mayhem. Charge your batteries, eat your energizer drink, eat some, then go to the bathroom, to make sure you are in top shape - and then go on and join an online game if you feel up to the challenge.