My opinion on the DS and PSP Transformers games.
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:39 amI've played a little bit of Transformers Decepticons for DS and Transformers The Game for PSP and I'd like to share with you my opinions on them.
PSP version - Horrible!
I've only played the first 1.5 missions but it seems very bad.
The default controls are hard to manage, and the other control schemes aren't much better and the option to switch to those other control schemes is not easy to find. You have to pause while playing the game to find the options menu in which they can be selected. There is no way of changing them before you start the game.
The graphics are passable. The transformation animations are poor and sometimes the game skips them entirely, resulting in the robot just disappearing and the car re-appearing.
There in-engine cutscenes are very disappointing. It is hard to see what is going on, and the camera angles are very static.
Combat is tragic. You have a few different weapons for long range attacks, but targeting is a pain and the weapons feel very weak.
Up close, you have a 'hit the other robot' button, and a special move button. The special move charges up while you're in vehicle mode, so you get to use it once per combat session because it isn't practical to turn back into a car to charge your move while the enemy is pounding on you.
Other than the special move you just keep hitting that one attack button and hope that you can hit your oponent more times than they can hit you.
The mission structure is very linear and restricted. If you accidentally go a little too far away from your objective you get an Out of Bounds timer that ticks down from about 5 to 0 and if you haven't managed notice it, get your bot turned around and run back into the mission area by the time it reaches 0 you die.
I preferred Tataki to this rubbish. At least that had G1, amusing voiceovers and two attack buttons...
Decepticons for DS - This is much nicer.
I played the first couple of missions of this and quite enjoyed it.
Controls: D-Pad for moving around. When in vehicle mode up is accelerate, down brake and left/right turn. In Robot mode the direction you push is the direction you go. You don't 'steer' your robot like in the PSP version.
Functions such as attacking, jumping and picking stuff up are mapped to the ABXY buttons and the LR buttons control the camera.
Scanning forms and transforming are controlled through 'buttons' on the touchscreen.
Graphics: Obviously the PSP outshines the DS in terms of graphics capability, but the DS version of this game looks better. The graphics may be simpler, but they're mich more fluid. Transformation looks better, the ground cracks when you jump, explosions occur when you shoot things.
Transformation animations in this one seem better than the PSP version. I didn't see it ever skip the animation when I tried to transform.
Combat: Feels more dynamic in this version. Still limited to a couple of buttons, but you can pick up cars and throw them at your opponent. I don't think I noticed any cars driving around in the PSP version. You can also pick up and throw your opponents at eachother.
Missions: The format of the game is more open on the DS. You are given missions in the form of locations you should go to and do things at, but if choose to go the opposite direction you're not penalised for it. In fact, you can choose to go off and destroy human cars and stuff and rack police attention similar to the way you can in the GTA games.
You smash a few cars and you get 1 autobot symbol in the upper right of the screen and the cops start attacking you.
You keep it up and the number of autobot symbols increase and the autobots and the military start tracking you down.
It's great fun picking up army tanks and throwing them at the autobot drones that are trying to take you out.
I haven't bought either game yet, just tried them out, but I'm far more impressed with the DS one than the PSP one.
That's not to say that the DS one is perfect, it has its flaws, but it is still a fun game, unlike the PSP one which is just tedious and annoying.
PSP version - Horrible!
I've only played the first 1.5 missions but it seems very bad.
The default controls are hard to manage, and the other control schemes aren't much better and the option to switch to those other control schemes is not easy to find. You have to pause while playing the game to find the options menu in which they can be selected. There is no way of changing them before you start the game.
The graphics are passable. The transformation animations are poor and sometimes the game skips them entirely, resulting in the robot just disappearing and the car re-appearing.
There in-engine cutscenes are very disappointing. It is hard to see what is going on, and the camera angles are very static.
Combat is tragic. You have a few different weapons for long range attacks, but targeting is a pain and the weapons feel very weak.
Up close, you have a 'hit the other robot' button, and a special move button. The special move charges up while you're in vehicle mode, so you get to use it once per combat session because it isn't practical to turn back into a car to charge your move while the enemy is pounding on you.
Other than the special move you just keep hitting that one attack button and hope that you can hit your oponent more times than they can hit you.
The mission structure is very linear and restricted. If you accidentally go a little too far away from your objective you get an Out of Bounds timer that ticks down from about 5 to 0 and if you haven't managed notice it, get your bot turned around and run back into the mission area by the time it reaches 0 you die.
I preferred Tataki to this rubbish. At least that had G1, amusing voiceovers and two attack buttons...
Decepticons for DS - This is much nicer.
I played the first couple of missions of this and quite enjoyed it.
Controls: D-Pad for moving around. When in vehicle mode up is accelerate, down brake and left/right turn. In Robot mode the direction you push is the direction you go. You don't 'steer' your robot like in the PSP version.
Functions such as attacking, jumping and picking stuff up are mapped to the ABXY buttons and the LR buttons control the camera.
Scanning forms and transforming are controlled through 'buttons' on the touchscreen.
Graphics: Obviously the PSP outshines the DS in terms of graphics capability, but the DS version of this game looks better. The graphics may be simpler, but they're mich more fluid. Transformation looks better, the ground cracks when you jump, explosions occur when you shoot things.
Transformation animations in this one seem better than the PSP version. I didn't see it ever skip the animation when I tried to transform.
Combat: Feels more dynamic in this version. Still limited to a couple of buttons, but you can pick up cars and throw them at your opponent. I don't think I noticed any cars driving around in the PSP version. You can also pick up and throw your opponents at eachother.
Missions: The format of the game is more open on the DS. You are given missions in the form of locations you should go to and do things at, but if choose to go the opposite direction you're not penalised for it. In fact, you can choose to go off and destroy human cars and stuff and rack police attention similar to the way you can in the GTA games.
You smash a few cars and you get 1 autobot symbol in the upper right of the screen and the cops start attacking you.
You keep it up and the number of autobot symbols increase and the autobots and the military start tracking you down.
It's great fun picking up army tanks and throwing them at the autobot drones that are trying to take you out.
I haven't bought either game yet, just tried them out, but I'm far more impressed with the DS one than the PSP one.
That's not to say that the DS one is perfect, it has its flaws, but it is still a fun game, unlike the PSP one which is just tedious and annoying.