Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon – Stealth Force Edition (Wii) Review

It’s becoming more and more tedious for me to review movie adaptations that get released on every platform, particularly so with the LEGO series but as more and more platforms are available to developers, more and more titles are coming out for all of them simultaneously. Having already played the 3DS version of the Stealth Force Edition of Transformers: The Dark of the Moon, I’m pretty surprised to find that the version released on the Wii at the same time is almost exactly the same as its handheld counterpart. This is particularly concerning, as neither of these titles are worth your money, and they most certainly aren’t taking advantage of either of the consoles’ strengths either.

Stealth Force Edition is meant to tell a prequel story that assumedly takes place between Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, although nothing is truly definitive nor does the story itself make any sense at all. It’s obviously been put into place in an effort to push the player through some drab locales carrying out very boring objectives, and in this regard it is only mildly successful. The story itself is told through cutscenes between each of the missions which are fully voiced, which is a nice touch, but generally speaking the game’s narrative presentation is severely lacking.

When we talk about the game’s graphical presentation, the overall package feels particularly bare bones without any real effort having gone into it. Menus in particular are blurry, while environments are extremely barren too. What’s even more perplexing about this version of the Stealth Force Edition is the fact that it almost looks exactly the same as the 3DS version, except that the 3DS version benefits from the smaller screen and as such, looks and runs a lot more smoothly. As with the 3DS version, well designed animated scenes are interspersed between the missions to flesh out the rather non-sensical story.

I’ve mentioned this before and I will mention it again – there are no proper transformations in the game, and just like the 3DS version there is no way to turn your own transformer into, well, a proper robotic form. As such, Stealth Force Edition takes the form of a purely vehicular combat shooter, in which players move their transformer about and attempt to complete arbitrarily set objectives while taking one of two forms (which can be switched around on the fly). The original form for your Transformer provides fast handling but no combat, while the “Stealth Force” edition flattens your car and makes it sprout weapons for combat. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk are both used to control the forms, with some rather cumbersome and literal tank-like controls making the Stealth Force forms quite hard to control. Many players will be switching between both forms too which makes for some pretty frustrating control schemes being changed every now and then on the fly.

The game will always choose your character for the player and then put them into a mission that features some very empty feeling objectives – such as destroying a certain number of enemies or destroying a certain landmark. Nothing ever varies too much and unfortunately the game feels like one of those randomly generated games where the content is different every time, but only pulling from a pool of three specific scenarios. As such, there’s not a whole lot of variety here and players will definitely get bored, which is a lot to say since the game can easily be completed in less than three to four hours. This problem of boredom and a general lack of content is exacerbated by a significant lack of unique or properly designed areas throughout the game, with many of the levels just being the same old arena style setups. It’s an incredibly disappointing offering, particularly since we’ve seen what can be done with the franchise in other titles.

The music in particular fails to properly catch the feel of the game and simply adds to the tedium of the title, which is really disappointing. As previously mentioned, there are fully voiced cutscenes between and during missions, but most of the voice actors seem to be either bored or contractually obliged to deliver their lines, as they lack significant punch to get their points across. The rather popular Peter Cullen is here to voice Optimus Prime, and unfortunately it seems he didn’t really care about this venture either.

Overall, Transformers: The Dark of the Moon – Stealth Force Edition is a very disappointing movie tie in that only manages to be fun for a very small amount of time. It’s pretty obvious that the developers were either not interested in developing this game or at least were held to an extremely unrealistic project timeline, as we’re left with a disappointingly barren tie in. Seriously, why create a Transformers game without letting us, well, transform?

Graphics 1.5

Poor environments, a significant lack of detail and the fact that the game looks exactly the same as the 3DS version (but worse) really bring Stealth Force Edition down.

Gameplay 2.5

While there are some parts that can be fun, albeit rarely, the game generally doesnt throw much variety at the player and they will tire quickly. Also, why cant we transform at all? The control scheme unfortunately does not translate well to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

Sound 3.5

A disappointing soundtrack that fails to capture the feel of the action. Voice work is included but is disappointingly phoned in, particularly by series veteran Peter Cullen.

Tilt 2.0

A very short three to four hour game combined with a lack of unique and distinct content makes Stealth Force Edition feel very insubstantial.

Value 4.0

Despite its problems, I did find a little bit of fun in Stealth Force Edition, but generally speaking this game falls flat on its face as a poor clone of the vehicular combat genre, of which there are much better specimens out there.

Overall

While Transformers is a brand that has potential to be amazing, the Stealth Force Edition of the Dark of the Moon tie-in products is definitely one of the worst tie-ins ever produced for the Transformers franchise. You may get a little bit of fun out of this, but nowhere near enough to warrant a purchase. Stay away and let the Stealth Force Edition fulfil its goal and remain undiscovered.