Transformers: The Game [PSP]

Whatever the cause of this war against enjoyment, it isn't cool. Robot-on-robot action is supposed to be the pinnacle of machine-based combat, and the fights in this title can't compare to what the upcoming movie is supposedly packing. You'll spot an enemy, lock-on and fire some weapons, but the attacks will do little damage. To counter, you'll run up to the bot and begin smashing it to death. Your opponent won't stumble backward, it won't crumple to the floor when beaten, and you don't get any animation on your side letting you know you're hitting something. You bash the bad guy until its health bar runs out, and you get a health boost as a reward.

There aren't any fun mismatches with smaller enemies either. You'll come upon a tank or military jeep and simply kick the crap out of it. Imagine what it looks like when you repeatedly kick a wall; that's what this looks like. When the unit's health is exhausted, it explodes. It doesn't flip end over end into the sunset or get crushed beneath your gigantic foot; it just explodes. This is one of the examples that lead to you never getting that sense of being a huge monster in a world you can dominate. Transformers should be juggling cars and throwing trees into the sky, but everything seems anchored the ground in this game -- even when you get an airborne Transformer such as Blackout the helicopter, it's a struggle to get up into the air and maneuver efficiently.

When the missions end, you'll get a set of stats -- objectives completed, enemies destroyed, melee kills and deaths -- as well as what you've unlocked. Performing well in the single-player campaign will bring about new weapons, new missions, multiplayer options and points to spend on the close to 50 pieces of game art and music.

There are four multiplayer options for you and three of your ad-hoc friends to try out -- deathmatch, team deathmatch, Secure the AllSpark (capture the flag) and Ascension Rites (king of the hill). At the onset of each brawl you'll get to choose your weapons -- just like in the single-player campaign -- and then select one of ten maps to do battle in. Because the arenas are all pulled from the main story mode, they suffer from the same bland visual drawbacks, except this time the levels feel even emptier. Although fighting a military convoy in a washed-out canyon by myself was never thrilling, at least there was stuff to do. When you return to the level in multiplayer, the convoy is gone and you're left to chase opponents across desolate terrain. When you catch them, it's the same kicking-a-wall battle from single-player.

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