Transformers: Dark of the Moon iOS Review

It feels like the 80s all over again. People are going crazy for Transformers, buying toys, seeing the movies, and playing a bunch of new Transformers video games. The latest film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, has a dedicated game on practically every platform out there, including iOS. Sadly, though, the mobile version of Dark of the Moon is a disappointment, with repetitive level design that drags out the experience long after its ceases being fun.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon iOS is a top down title that mixes twin-stick shooting and beat-em-up mechanics. Each level places you in control of either Bumble Bee or Optimus Prime, taking on countless numbers of unnamed Decepticons. It tells mostly the same story of the movie, with levels that are mind-numbingly similar to one another. Each stage basically has you moving from start to finish, killing everything you see in a mindless fury. The fact that it's repetitive isn't terrible, but what's bad is that it's noticeably repetitious – the core gameplay just isn't fun enough to make me want to play through levels that are largely the same.

The enemies are generally brainless oafs who either stand and shoot or run around swinging their fists, but you have a wide range of attacks at your disposal. Using virtual controls, you can shoot at the Decepticons by using two virtual sticks in a twin-stick shooter fashion, as well as bring it in close to smash them with melee weapons by tapping down on the right virtual stick. At any time you can also transform, roll, and access special attacks with a few other on-screen buttons. The controls function surprisingly well compared to a lot of other virtual systems I've used, with the shooting in particular feeling nice. Thankfully you only have to make minimal use of the other virtual buttons, though, because it's easy to lose where your fingers are when you're focused on the action and have nothing tactile to remind you where your hands are.

No one part of Dark of the Moon is really terrible; it's just that so much of the design is uninspired. Almost every stage will inevitably have a part where you have to transform into a car, driving around bombs and dodging enemy aerial attacks. After that you'll transform again and beat up on a horde of guys until another story sequence begins. Every part of what occurs in between is just mediocre. The driving isn't exciting after the first couple of times, nor is the shooting and melee combat all that much a change of pace when you're basically fighting the same enemies for 85% of the time. Maybe if the AI was more challenging it'd be different, but the combat just isn't fun in a game that's based around combat.

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