‘Resident Evil 4’ for the Nintendo Wii — Can we call it ‘Resident Wiivil?’

“Resident Evil” is back and it’s time for another round of shooting zombies in the head. Or should I say, another round of mindless (pun intended) fun?
Anyway, the long running “Resident Evil” series has recently returned to the spotlight as the game’s developer, Capcom, has released “Resident Evil 4” (RE4) for the Nintendo Wii.
The game is essentially the same game that was released on the Nintendo GameCube and the Sony Playstation a few years back, but now it features the innovative controls of the Nintendo Wii to make the zombie hunt all the more personal.
For anyone unfamiliar with RE4, the plot is convoluted, but interesting nonetheless. Leon Kennedy, who was one of the two heroic protagonists from “Resident Evil 2” released for the original Sony Playstation back in 1998 returns for RE4.
Back in 1998, our buddy Leon was an unlucky policeman who — on his first day on the job no less — had to contend with zombies throughout Raccoon City after the biomedical/weapons research company, Umbrella Corp. released a virus into the town as a test of a new chemical weapon.
Well, after that trial under fire, it seems Leon has moved through the ranks of law enforcement because in RE4 he is a full-fledged special-ops agent tasked with rescuing the president’s daughter after she is kidnapped and taken to a remote Eastern European village.
Once he steps into town, Leon is assaulted by a lone villager. But, this time the enemy isn’t a mindless zombie. Instead, the person spoke Spanish and seemed to live a normal life until Leon showed up. Without ruining too much of the plot, Leon soon finds out that the inhabitants of this village have been infected by a new strain of virus (possibly created by Umbrella Corp. as well), and they turn hyper-violent and zombie-like when a foreigner is in their midst or when commanded by the leader of the religious cult that originally infected the citizens.
Anyway, soon Leon finds that the villagers are the least of his worries, as cult experiments have lead to the creation of crazy monsters, and in order to protect their secrets, the cult has created a trap-filled castle from which Leon must escape after he tracks down the president’s daughter.
That's the story in a nutshell, and it leads to some fantastic action and set-piece battles that players will remember fondly long after the game is over. But, honestly, many gamers knew all of this when the game was originally released back in 2005. So, what changes were made to update the two-year-old game and bring it to the Nintendo Wii?
Well, the biggest change is the interactive Wii controls. Players use the Wiimote controller to aim Leon’s weapons on-screen which leads to a more involving experience. Also, the controls feel much tighter, as players are able to point directly at what they want to shoot. The nunchuck controller attachment controls how Leon walks and runs. Also, when using a rifle with a scope, the nunchuck controls the aim and zoom on the scope.
Also, the Wii version includes the same special features that were included on the Playstation 2 and PC versions of RE4.
My only complaint is the fact that, as a huge fan of the Resident Evil games, I’ve played this before. I know where most of the secret items are. I know how to solve the puzzles. Capcom could have changed some things around to make parts of the game fresh for gamers who have already played the original version of RE4.
But, that’s a minor complaint, and if the developer changed things too much, I might find myself complaining that the game is too different than the original, so I’ll take this version any day.
Overall, RE4 is a wonderful game that gamers old enough to handle the excessive violence of Leon’s European excursion will enjoy and return to for as long as they own the title.

Aqua Simpsons Hunger Force(Teaser commercial)

Awesome Video

‘The Simpsons Movie’ is out in theaters — I take a look at the media blitz surrounding the Springfield clan

If you’ve been watching TV, read the newspaper or visited a local 7-Eleven recently, you know that “The Simpsons Movie” opens over the weekend. As of publication of this article, the film had yet to be released, but considering the popularity of the lovable, yellow-skinned family from Springfield, it is easy to assume that the movie will be a success.
Since I have yet to see the film but I feel as if I have been surrounded by the movie for the past month, I want to take a look at the Simpsons media blitz used to promote the film.
7-Eleven’s have become Kwik-E-Marts
As part of the marketing campaign for “The Simpsons Movie,” 11 7-Eleven stores throughout America were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts a few weeks before the July 27 premiere of the film. Many 7-Eleven stores in America are currently selling Simpsons related items. I visited a 7-Eleven near my house earlier this month, and I was able to purchase “Buzz Cola,” the soda from the Simpsons TV show was just Coca-Cola in a new can; a “Squishee” that was just a vanilla-flavored, blue colored Slurpee and a “Simpsons Movie Doughnut,” which was a round doughnut with pink frosting and sprinkles, just like the one used as the “o” on the posters for the upcoming movie.
But, the 11 stores that have been transformed are truly a sight to behold. None of the stores in Pennsylvania or New Jersey got the full Kwik-E-Mart makeover, but coincidentally, I have a brother who lives in Orlando, Fla. and the 7-Eleven near his house was one of the 11 Kwik-E-Marts.
He was kind enough to send me photos of the overhaul, and it’s interesting to see how thoroughly this gimmick changed the store. There were two-dimensional standees of many of the characters from the Simpsons television show throughout the aisles, including many characters re-enacting events that occured in a Kwik-E-Mart. For example, the old man named Jasper, who froze himself in a Kwik-E-Mart freezer in an attempt to hibernate himself into the future, was plastered in the frozen foods freezer of this real-life Kwik-E-Mart.
What is interesting about this promotion, is that while it may be a shameless marketing gimmick, my brother, Eric Mitman, said “It was funny to see everyone there laughing about it.”
So, maybe the promotion turned a monotonous trip to 7-Eleven into something fun, if nothing else.
Springfield, Vt. is the most “Simpsons-worthy” Springfield
Springfield has always been the fictional hometown of the Simpson family, but this year, in a contest to pick a real city to hold the premiere of the Simpsons movie, Springfield, Vt. won. I admit, I don’t understand this choice, especially since the Simpson family once took a road trip to Vermont for the Wordloaf Writer’s Convention after Lisa ghostwrote poems for Moe the bartender. Also, Vermont has no Shelbyville, and any fan of the show knows that the Simpsons hometown has a long-running feud with the Shelbyvillians. The origins of the feud go back to the founding of the two towns, and fighting has even arose over a (supposedly) haunted lemon tree.
After doing some digging, and with some help from snpp.com, I found that Springfield is one of the most common city names in all of America, and most states have a town named Springfield. But, only a few states have a Springfield and a Shelbyville. The state with a Springfield located closest to a Shelbyville is Illinois. So, maybe that is where the “official” Springfield should be. But I guess that is not the case. Oh well, it is just a cartoon after all, so it’s not like they would be living in a real town anyway.
Create your own “Simpson” character
This is great. Burger King teamed up with Fox to promote the upcoming movie, and they are offering Simpsons fans a chance to see themselves made into a Simpsons character.
Just visit www.simpsonizeme.com and upload a photo of yourself. The Web site is picky, so the color photo has to be of just your face, and the photo needs to have a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. I had some trouble with the site, but others didn’t, so it might have just been my computer. Also, if the “Simpsonizer” doesn’t work for you, visit www.simpsonsmovie.com, and you can make your own Simpsons character.
You can see the one I made for myself above.
Anyway, it looks like it’s going to be a “Simpsons” summer this year, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. The movie has been in the oven for a long time, and it’s about time to see the final product. I know many fans have lost interest in the show in the past year due to lackluster episodes, but this movie might be just the thing to bring us all back for another trip through familiar Springfield.

The sad, twisted and sick secret life of Michael Vick

According to a federal indictment issued on July 17, Michael Vick, star quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, has been competing throughout the off-season by participating in illegal dog fighting. This is the type of story that could affect readers in a number of ways. If you look at these allegations strictly as a football analyst, this might not be too big of a deal. Vick’s ability to play hasn’t been affected, and dogs are just dumb animals, right? Maybe, but if you are an animal lover, the allegations are despicable.
The recently released indictment document alleges that Vick and three others ran a dogfighting group, called “Bad Newz” Kennels, in buildings on property owned by Vick in Smithfield, Va. On June 4, Sports Illustrated ran a story reporting the condition of this property when federal investigators initially found evidence of dog fighting. According to that article, on the property there is a big white building that looks like a nice, normal, residential home. However, behind that house, hidden from the road, there are a number of buildings, all painted jet black in an alleged attempt to hide the buildings from sight. It was in those buildings on Vick’s property that investigators allegedly found more than 30 dogs, many of whom showed signs of participation in dog fights (wounds on the face, ears or front legs).
In interviews, Vick has claimed innocence, saying that he let relatives live at the home and therefore, he had no control over their actions. But, in the indictment, Vick (also known as “Ookie,” according to the document) was in attendance during a litany of documented fights.
In fact, the document alleges that Vick was on hand when many of the animals were killed, most by gunshots fired by one of Vick’s three alleged associates. I’ll spare you the detailed accounts of the fates that other dogs allegedly suffered at the hands of these men, but events listed in the indictment are truly deplorable.
The real story is the fact that this isn’t an isolated issue. The Sports Illustrated story points out many other athletes who have been arrested for their personal involvement in dog fighting. Athletes such as former NFL running back LeShon Johnson, former Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton and former NBA player Qyntel Woods all ran into problems with the law due to their involvement in the “sport.”
Maybe these athletes are used to being so competitive in their lives that they feel some need to be competitive with their pets. But, if that is true, why the need for so many dogs? Wouldn’t one dog be enough to be proud of? And if they take pride in these “pets,” why the accounts of horrific treatment and murder of the animals?
I just don’t understand. Vick is a highly paid athlete. With his ability, wealth and youth (he’s only 26 years old), he could be enjoying so many wonderful things in life. But instead he is accused of using a violent means to get enjoyment out of life, and it is hard to fathom.
The shame is that actions like this take the focus off of the good that the spotlight of sports stardom can bring. For example, instead of running some illegal venture, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb runs the DM5 Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at fighting diabetes. In fact, to celebrate his efforts, in 2006 McNabb was awarded the Eagles Man of the Year award for his work in the community.
But, this example is just a look at what a different quarterback has done. Many athletes from all sports do incredible and worthwhile things to give back to the community. It’s a shame the actions of an alleged dog abuser like Vick can cast such a shadow on an industry where so many do so much for others.

The latest gizmos and gadgets were unveiled recently at E3 — what should gamers look forward to in 2008?

The Electronic Entertainment Exposition, or E3, was held recently July 10 to 13 in Los Angeles. and, while we, as East Coast video game fans, might have been far from the action of this year’s event, I’ve scoured the Internet to bring our readers a few highlights of this year’s show.
Information from this year’s E3 event is available all over the Internet at sites like IGN.com, Gamespot.com or even E3’s own Web site at E3expo.com. Also, TV network G4 covered the entire exposition during the week of July 10 through 13 and through all of the information released, I have to say it looks like gamers will have a wealth of games to play before the holidays this year.
E3 used to be a spectacle of lights, games, music and girls — everything that will attract the young male crowd that is so heavily involved in video games. But this year, after the circus that was E3 in 2006, the show’s organizers felt the games were getting swept away in all the spectacle. This year, there were no stage shows to promote games, there were no models (known as “booth babes”) hired to promote games at the show and there were many fewer attendees invited to visit E3 this year.
This all lead to a new exhibition where the games were the stars of the show, and now that the week-long event has wrapped up, here’s a few of the biggest announcements and upcoming games that were shown. I broke everything down by system.
Microsoft Xbox 360
Last year, Microsoft was the only company to have a next generation console on the market during E3. So, how did Bill Gates’ company do this year, now that the other big companies (Sony and Nintendo) also have next-generation systems on the market? Well, I believe they did pretty well.
The company had some big exclusive titles to show off, and I liked that it opened the press conference, shown live on G4, with a small band of “Halo” fans who played an impressive version of the “Halo” theme song.
“Halo 3,” of course, is Microsoft’s biggest game this year. It is due out in the fall and Microsoft showed some footage of the new game at E3. A big focus of Microsoft’s efforts this year, (that I didn’t see from the two other big companies,) was a focus on games that will be available before the end of the year, instead of showing games that players will not be able to get their hands on until 2008. That was an interesting idea.
The Xbox 360 does have some wonderful titles on the way. I personally am looking forward to “Bioshock” by 2k Games (an interesting looking underwater horror/shooter game), “Fable 2” by Blue Box Entertainment (the first one is one of my favorite all-time games), and the awe-inspiring “Mass Effect” by Bioware.
Sony Playstation 3
Sony was relatively quiet at this year’s E3. Prior to the event, Sony announced a price cut on its Playstation 3 (PS3). The move slashed the price of the PS3 with a 60 gigabyte hard drive by $100. However, this didn’t seem to surprise many video game analysts, as the PS3 is seen as overpriced, and the PS3 with a 60 gigabyte hard drive is being discontinued by Sony in favor of a PS3 with an 80 gigabyte hard drive. So, is this a true price cut or an attempt to clear the shelves of the PS3 with the smaller hard drive?
No matter — Sony showed some impressive titles at E3. The action/fighting game “Heavenly Sword” looks incredible, and “Killzone 2” is a follow up to an impressive Playstation 2 game from a number of years ago. But, as a gamer who doesn’t want to pay for a PS3 because it costs too much and, so far, has few good games, I really didn’t see anything in the E3 coverage that would make me want to buy a PS3.
Nintendo Wii
The last company at the show with a next-generation system seemed to show off more than anyone else this year.
Nintendo showed up at E3 with more than just games to show this year — it brought impressive hardware too. The company showed off a “zapper” that connects to the Nintendo Wii controller and makes it work as a gun. This could be used in many upcoming games, and if it’s handled right, it could bring some hardcore games to the system that some players seem to believe is too “casual.”
Also, Nintendo brought a new game and accessory to the table, or should I say to the floor, with the announcement of “Wii Fit” and the “Fit Mat.” The Wii has been known to help players lose weight, as many of the games require the players to get off the couch and move around in front of the TV. Nintendo is capitalizing on that by introducing a weight-sensitive “Fit Mat” that allows players to move their bodies to on-screen instructions in order to lose weight. This is one I’m going to have to try before I can give an accurate impression, but it looks like a lot of fun. Kudos to Nintendo for introducing something like this to make exercise more fun. Also, Nintendo will be introducing big games like “Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” and the new “Super Mario Galaxy”
Keep an eye out for all these games and gadgets in local stores at the end of this year and early next year.

The Phils close in on 10,000 losses?!! Say it ain’t so, Charlie!

As of July 12, the Phillies are one game away from a momentous occasion. The team will soon suffer its 10,000 loss as a franchise, more losses than any other ball club in existence. This is a dubious achievement indeed, but I believe the Phillies could use it to their advantage in a number of ways. Unfortunately, right now, the team is trying to avoid commenting on the record that they are about to break (and on July 18, when this paper reaches your doorstep, the Phils will probably have suffered that 10,000th loss). So, I put together a short list of ways that I believe the Phillies could use this bogus achievement to their advantage.
1) It’s a record, isn’t it? Look, Phillies fans have suffered for years. Heck, I was only a year old the last time the Fightin’ Phils won the World Series, and it’s been 14 years since the Phillies have made it to the World Series. So, honestly, it might be kind of fun for the team to celebrate the loss in a humorous way. At least they could acknowledge the record that their fans have had to suffer under for these many losing seasons.
2) Hold a humorous “bad luck” day at Citizens Bank Park. I found out, thanks to a recent article by Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News, that on June 6,1972, the Phillies hosted a “turnaround” day in an attempt to turn their bad record around. Hagen noted in a article written for the People Paper on July 6 that:
“The ushers wore their caps backwards. The lineups were introduced in reverse order with the players’ last names first,” reported Hagen. “The seventh-inning stretch was held in the third. The scores were posted backwards. When the Astros scored twice in the top of the first, the ‘2’ was posted in the ninth inning. The organist played ‘Good Night, Sweetheart’ before the first pitch and the national anthem after the final out.”
Why can’t they do something similar now? Couldn’t they give away t-shirts to all the fans that read “I survived 10,000 losses, and all I got was this Phillies shirt”? That would at least keep it light-hearted, and fans can have fun with the record.
3) Embrace the record and celebrate the teams of the past.
The Phillies have been a professional baseball team since 1883. That is almost 125 years of baseball. Any team that survives that long will eventually achieve 10,000 losses, so I really don’t think the Phillies should be ashamed. They should do something to recognize the players who played the game throughout the years. It isn’t about blaming the older teams for racking up the losses, but instead it’s about celebrating the fact that they played the game in Philadelphia.
When you come right down to it, Philadelphia sports fans are familiar with loss. Consider the Philadelphia Eagles’ recent Super Bowl loss, the 76ers’ horrendous last season or the struggles that the Flyers have had to endure.
We can’t pretend that the Phillies haven’t reached 10,000 losses. As fans, we’ve all watched more than our share of games in that record number. But, it’s part of being a Philly fan. We know they will get better, although I hope it happens sooner than later. But, I guess sometimes it’s good to root for the underdog.

The top five reasons why the new ‘Transformers’ movie screws up things that were great about the ’80s cartoon

Over the fourth of July, judging by box office receipts, many Americans went to see the “Transformers” movie. I went too, but I need to complain a little bit about the movie. I know anyone else who, like me, grew up in the ’80s probably noticed the same problems that I did in the new movie. These are some things that stuck out like a sore thumb, and I’m going to list them, not in order of how much they changed the original characters or plot, but how much the change bothered me. I know that might make this list very subjective, but it is my name on the article, so I’m going to stand on this soapbox for a minute.
On we go to:
5) Transformers came to Earth for energon!
In the new film, the various Transformers are led to Earth in search of something called “The Allspark,” which supposedly gave life to their planet of Cybertron. But, the movie only gives a vague reason why the two factions, Autobots and Decepticons, would each want to control the Allspark. It seems like it gives life, but the movie Autobots want it destroyed — why? Anyway, the plot in the old TV series was clear. Earth had energon, the substance that made the Transformers live. So, when they heard that our planet had this substance, the giant robots came to Earth. The Decepticons want to possess all the energon they can hoard in order to become stronger, while the Autobots want energon use to be controlled as to allow the life-giving fuel to be able to give life to all of the robots back on Cybertron. It was sort of an Al Gore (in the form of Optimus Prime) versus big oil companies (i.e. the Decepticons) battle that we are seeing today. It was much better, and as a child, even though I watched the show to see big robots fight each other, I remember the lesson of conservation. It’s too bad that was removed from the recent film.
4) Bumblebee is a Camaro?
In the new movie, Bumblebee is a Camaro who makes the first contact with humans. I actually kind of liked the fact that Bumblebee is the Autobot who befriends Sam (played by Shia LaBeouf), as he was also the robot who befriends a human (Spike) in the cartoon. But, why change the type of vehicle that Bumblebee is?
Sure, a Camaro is a cooler, faster car, but he’s named Bumblebee in reference to the fact that he was a Volkswagon Beetle. He was named after a bug because he was a yellow bug. Oh well, I guess a Camaro will just sell more toys.
3) What happened to Starscream?
Starscream is the Decepticon’s conniving second-in-command. He was always willing to backstab the leader, Megatron, at every opportunity, and it showed a struggle in the ranks because the Decepticons would get frustrated since they always lost to the Autobots. But, the fact that he mindlessly follows Megatron in the movie doesn’t bother me, it is how he looks. Starscream was always a jet plane, but in the ’80s he had a sleek look.
As you can see in the picture above, Starscream was a good looking character, and his body was proportionate after he transformed from a jet into a robot. In the new movie, Starscream’s jet form looks fine, but when he transforms into a robot, he looks like a piece of pizza with twigs sprouting from his sides for arms and legs. Why couldn’t they just leave him the way he was?
2) Megatron is a jet?
In the original cartoon, Megatron could transform into a gun. It showed how the Decepticons cherished power so much that they made a gun their leader. But, in the new movie, Megatron transforms into some sort of goofy-looking space jet. He should have at least been a tank. I could understand the change. But why erase the history of the character by making him into something completely different than he was originally? A “Transformer” indeed.
1) Why does Optimus Prime have lips?
This one jumped out at me the second I saw it. In the cartoon, old toys, comic books and even on the poster for the new movie, Optimus Prime has no mouth. He has a ninja-like mouth covering that just looks cool. And, honestly, I never questioned the mouth cover because, even as a kid, I knew one simple fact: robots don’t need mouths to communicate. That should be simple to understand, but I guess the movie studio didn’t like it because the first time you see him, Optimus is speaking using a gigantic, fully articulated mouth. In the film, he only uses the mouth cover during fights. Great. Way to go movie studio. Way to unnecessarily change the character, especially on a character whose face is so iconic. I hope in the inevitable sequel some of these things are addressed. If not, who am I kidding? I’ll still be in line to see it.

Philly mayor John Street waited 15 hours for the iPhone — what an iDiot

Philadelphia mayor John Street was one of the first people to be in line for Apple’s newest must-have gadget, the iPhone.
Street waited for over 15 hours on a Philadelphia street corner to be able to purchase one of the multi-talented, multi-tasking phones, and when the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News reported his 15-hour vigil, they did it with a favorable nod to Street.
Both papers seemed to latch onto the positive fact that Street is a technophile, and he seemingly attends to a lot of his mayoral duties on his Blackberry device. The Inquirer ran an editorial on July 4, which even pointed out that Street is brining free Wi-Fi to the City of Brotherly Love through his personal love of technology.
But, while this paper is hardly a comparable news digest next to the likes of those daily Philly papers, I feel the bigger papers missed the reasons why most Philadelphians on the streets were upset at the mayor’s 15-hour wait for the iPhone.
It isn’t because of his desire for new technology. Heck, who doesn’t want an iPhone? Those things look like fun. It wasn’t even because he was sitting outside waiting in line when he easily could have had a staffer, or even an unpaid intern, do it for him. Or he could have been sensible and waited a few hours and gotten one on eBay. That at least would have saved taxpayer money by not having Philadelphians pay his salary while he sat in line on a weekday.
Nope, instead, what is most upsetting is the fact that he was visible for such a long period of time doing nothing at all when so many Philadelphians feel that so much needs to be done to improve the quality of life for people all over the city.
The Inquirer editorial reported that people in other cities and countries, who had heard about Street’s vigil, had applauded his efforts, and the story insinuated that Philadelphians just don’t get it. The editorial said that Philadelphians seem to feel that “Street can do no right.” But, the fact is that Street is not a visible mayor when it comes to the issues that concern most of the city. Don't get me wrong, Street has attended rallies against gun violence, but that doesn’t seem to be affecting the high rate of crime in the city. I don’t think he’s ever spent 15-plus hours on the streets of the city for any reason other than purchasing an iPhone.
He’s not holding 15-hour long rallies against violence and crime. He’s not sitting outside of a local police station in any 15-hour demonstration to rally public support for anti-gun laws, stricter citywide gun control or anything like that. In fact, he’s probably not doing anything now but programming all of his friends’ phone numbers into his new gadget while, as of July 5, the homicide rate in the city has hit an all-time high of 205 for this early in the year.
As a mayor of one of the largest and most respected cities in the country, Street is a visible figure. If he is outside (especially for 15 hours), he is in the public eye. He should be using it for a better reason than to buy the ability to watch YouTube on a cell phone.
I suggest that the next time Mayor Street feels like sitting outside for a few hours, he should sit on a street corner in North Philadelphia for the night. Or maybe he could do a 15-hour stint on a street corner in Port Richmond or Kensington. Maybe then he’ll see that real Philadelphians don't sit outside waiting to be the first to waste their money on some over-priced gadget. Instead, if they are going to sit outside, they will probably watch the streets so they can protect their family and their neighbors from the violent crime that Street seems to be so reluctant to stop.
Besides, even with all the magical things it can do, I don’t think the iPhone has a “Stop City Crime” button, which is the feature he should be most worried about right now.

It's too bad this game can't transform into something fun

There are few rivalries that will never end: dogs versus cats, Hatfields versus McCoys, Marvel versus DC, and of course, Autobots versus Decepticons.
I don’t know what it is about the Transformers, but the two factions of the giant convertible machines, the Autobots and the Decepticons, have always wanted to tear each other apart. For most of my youth, these sworn enemies have engaged in a galactic war that unfolded in cartoons and in my imagination on too many Saturday mornings to count. And now, in 2007, the bohemoths have headed into movie theaters with one mission: destroy box office records.
Well, they are going to try to do that anyway, with the help of veteran movie maker Michael Bay.
From what I’ve seen of the trailers, this movie looks like the next “Citizen Kane,” but I’m biased. I played with the Transformer toys before I could throw a ball, and I vaguely remember wanting to name our family’s first cat “Optimus Prime.” Needless to say, I was outvoted. But, that’s not the point. Like many kids today who are into collecting all the animals in “Pokemon” or cards in “Yu-Gi-Oh,” I liked the Transformers.
So, I am excited for the movie, and when I heard that there would be a game based on the movie, my interest was again peaked. But, then I thought about the many games that have been based on movies and have been disappointing. Most games based on movies or TV shows tend to be bad. But here we have a unique case. “Transformers: The Game” is based on a movie that in turn was based on a cartoon which was based on a line of toys (which itself was based on a similar series of toys from Japan)!
So, how does the game fare? Not too well. I initially thought I’d make the joke: “For more fun, take the game disk and transform it into a drink coaster,” but that is a little harsh.
“Transformers: The Game” has good intentions. It allows you to transform using many of the most popular Transformers, and battle throughout cities while stomping on buildings. Players are even given an interesting selection of weapons and collectible objects scattered throughout the game world to keep playing to earn unlockable bonuses. But, under all that goodness is a core of lame gameplay.
The game is frustrating, because it has so much potential. The levels are great. They are all medium-sized free-roam playgrounds where players can run around and find missions, items or just mess with the scenery. Players can choose to play as either the Autobots and protect the buildings and people in each level or the Decepticons and try to destroy everything in sight.
If you choose to be an Autobot, you’re already limiting your play. Autobots all transform into wheeled vehicles, while the Decepticons can turn into scorpions, helicopters and jet planes. Also, as an Autobot, you need to protect the city. That means your health is tied into the health of the area you are protecting. So, essentially, if you break it, you bought it, since, if you break enough things, you’ll kill yourself. Clever play on words, right? Yeah, that’s why they pay me the big bucks. Anyway, being penalized for breaking a building can be frustrating. But players will get used to it.
My biggest complaint was that as a gigantic transforming robot, players get a wealth of power, but very little chance to use it. Most of the missions can be completed without ever needing to transform, and when you do need to shape-shift, you’ll only need to do it for a minute or so.
Also, every character gets two kinds of weapons, a heavy attack and a quick attack, but the weapons are completely useless. Except for a few small enemies that appear on only one level, the weapons are ineffective with every other enemy because all the transforming robots have shields to block the shots. So, what could have been an all out, blow-em-up fun fest is instead reduced to you holstering your weapons and using the same three-punch combo to take out every enemy. It’s just a shame.
Overall, i liked the game. It’s a blast to transform at ease and race around the levels, but completing the missions can get boring, and the fighting could use more weapons and less shields. So, if you’re a real fan of the Transformers, give this a try. Otherwise, well, wait two months and get Grand Theft Auto 4.