Transformers Armada. While a portion of the long-time Transformers fans aren't very fond of it, for a lot of the younger fans the anime series became their gateway to the Transformers universe. It wasn't long before Atari decided it was time for a video game based upon the series.

The plot of the game is generally the same as in the TV show. The Autobots' home planet, Cybertron, is under attack by Megatron and his Decepticlone forces. Optimus Prime and Megatron are fighting one-on-one, firing blow after blow. Megatron's assistent tells him about the mini-cons, small robots which the Autobots can arm themselves with to gain access to special weaponry, scattered on planet Earth. Megatron decides to seek out them all, and it's up to Autobots Optimus Prime, Hotshot and Red Alert to find them before the Decepticons do, and stop Megatron once again.

Transformers looks gorgeous. There generally aren't a lot of levels, but they make up for that by being huge, and filled with stuff to find. The robots look varied and stylish. The advanced animations and ragdoll physics are impressive as well. Overall, there isn't a lot to complain about here. I guess the only thing worth mentioning is that the environments may look drab once you really decide on exploring them.

You probably know the classic Transformers tune, right? Well, you're gonna hear it a lot here, and that's not a bad thing at all. Every stage has two main themes, one calm for when you're exploring the landscapes, and one action-oriented when you're in combat. These all sound great, it's pretty ahead of its time. The weapons sound cool, you'll hear the ground shake each time your huge autobot takes another footstep, the Decepticlones have several different audiobytes, and you have the classic transforming sound when you transform between robot and vehicle mode. I do think it's a little lame how the Autobots lost their robot-esque voices like in the TV show and now just sort of have human voices, but the pros hugely outweigh the cons.

With there being a total of forty mini-cons to collect, there are a LOT of ways you can customize your favourite of the three selectable Autobots. And with Optimus Prime being playable from the get-go, you'd think your Autobot of choice would be obvious. But things are actually balanced out better than you'd think. There are three Transformers you can pick; Hot Shot, being a sports car, so he can go really fast in vehicle mode. He isn't great on the defence and mini-con capacity though. At times though, you'll need speed in order to do well. Red Alert turns into an all-terrain SUV in vehicle mode, so he's great for climbing steep hills, but he's not as quick, and not as powerful as the other two. In the end, he's the most balanced of the three. Then there is Optimus Prime, who is the biggest, and the strongest. He can carry the most of the more powerful weapons, and is the most suited for combat. However, being a truck, he is really slow. The choice is up to you!

There aren't a lot of levels, however. And aside from the fact that they are gigantic, there isn't a ton of variety in them. There are 7 levels in total, plus one bonus level if you happen to find all the mini-cons. Some of these levels are quite alike. They still look amazing, but a little more variety would've been great. The boss battles are exhilirating though.

You can also find data-cons, which unlock neat little things in the Extras menu. These range from artwork, to music from either the game or the TV show, or even TV spots to the Transformers Armada. It's pretty much advertising, but with this game, it's advertising done right.

Transformers can be very difficult if you don't choose the proper mini-con loadout. The Decepticlones are really skilled at shooting you, capable of aiming ahead of you to hit you when you're moving around. Some enemies are fitted with annoying EMP blasts which temporarily disable all your weaponry leaving you pretty much helpless except for your melee attacks which generally aren't that helpful in the first place. You die pretty quickly if you don't watch out. Also what I found to be quite annoying, is when you get knocked down, the physics engine kicks in. And this can be quite awkward. When you get knocked into a wall, your helpless body has to slide down before you can get up. This is pretty irritating as you're still vulnerable to attacks. All in all though, the action is awesome enough to be willing to push through.

The Verdict
I love this game. Great action, awesome music and tons of stuff to collect make this a really good addition to the Transformers video game series. This game is certainly more the meets the eye!

Pros:
-   great action and boss battles
-   environments are huge
-   great Autobot balancing
-   hunting down every last mini-con is rewarding
-   awesome music score

cons:
-   ragdoll physics can be awkward
-   a little on the difficult side

This was a good review.

A little critique from me though.
I would start categorizing some of the sections ,as this review I got sidetracked and a little bit lost with the flow.

I think the description of the levels should've been merged in with the transformers sprites as a graphics section.

Rating this review a 5/5 great job otherwise.