Transformers [PS2]

Atari's Transformers has -- sorry, we have to -- more than meets the eye. Players undergo a third-person, mission-based campaign against the Decepticons as one of three Autobots: O.G. Optimus Prime, and fresh contenders Hot Shot and Red Alert.

This time they're in league with the cutely named (in a teeth-grating way) Minicons -- little bitty Transformer-ettes which attach to the big boys like Glade Plug-Ins. Well, except these Glade Plug-Ins keep the area fresh by helping their hosts give the bad guys a hard time. It makes for a cool add-on gameplay scheme, and drives the story, too. The Minicons are our little mechanized buddies, and we have to save them from Decepticon enslavement! Each primary Transformer can equip a complement of four Minicons, and the capabilities they bestow shape the very nature of the gameplay.

Optimus Prime, Red Alert, and Hot Shot have their own innate skills, too. Red Alert (who can transform into a rescue utility vehicle) is an all-around reliable mix of speed and strength; Hot Shot, while not the toughest thing going, is speedy and agile (his automotive configuration is that of a race car). Optimus Prime, as always, can assume his famed semi truck/trailer form. It might sound like a low number of characters, but each can assume alternate modes, so players still have plenty of freedom and variety open to them.

Prior to each mission, players will be able to equip each Transformer's weapon loadout, in the form of the Minicon modules. Each Minicon performs a specific attack or defense function for your Transformer, from upping speed or attack strengths, to employing stealth technology or energy screens, to enabling shock or sniper weaponry. The game is generally played from a third-person perspective, but players can switch to first-person for long-range exchanges.

Each Minicon is mapped to the shoulder buttons of the PlayStation 2 controller for easy access. The Minicon system actually goes a little deeper, as specific groups of Minicons yield relational bonuses when equipped as a "set."

It would have been easy for the developer to overlook the proper sense of scale here, but they didn't. The Transformers and their foes feel nicely massive and stomp through wooded terrain, around ancient ruins, or even down vast metallic corridors of starships. This same awesome sense of scale becomes wonderfully goofy when you make the transformation to vehicle form, eschewing the fine shades of tactical finesse for the roadhouse thrill of lining up a pack of enemies and running the damn things down. Even when it's not the best military move, it's fun, and that's what we're all here for, isn't it?

Enemies are hip to all of this, though -- the sneaky Minicon additions, vehicular subterfuge, all of it. They're smart enough to know they need to pull flanking maneuvers, and to harass you with the types of attacks you're most vulnerable to. And just in case the skill of your enemies isn't quite enough to keep you off-balance, the occasional intrusion of the environments themselves certainly will. Intermittent platform gaming crops up, but the massive ground-pounding Transformers simply aren't suited to pinpoint landings. It's not a massive problem, but you will notice it.

On top of all of that, you've got some serious uber-enemies to cope with: Megatron can change into a colossal mobile armor unit, and TidalWave's game-scale presence is so enormous that his alternate-vehicle form is that of an aircraft carrier (which, at one point, you have to spend time inside... brrrr!).

One cool aspect of the mission structure is that players aren't limited to the Minicon configuration they initially choose. If they warp-gate to a scenario and find their chosen configuration hopelessly outclassed or awkward, they can simply retreat to the entry-point, re-equip, and come back in for a second attempt.

Other malfunctions? There are a few. Despite the wonderful sense of mass when actually moving your Autobots, they sure feel wimpy when they take a hit and reel about. Level design is a 60-40 mix of the truly inspired and a kind of nebulous and "phoned-in." Fortunately, you're never stuck in any one level for too long.

Transformers has just enough of a bright, toy-like look to tickle the nostalgia of those who grew up with the cartoons and the hype, but the game stands up well on -- sorry again! -- its own two feet.