Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon – Steath Force Edition (3DS) Review

It’s very rare that I am unable to find anything truly redeeming about a product I’ve been given to review, although sometimes it’s unfortunate that it actually happens. With yet another major blockbuster movie release, the market has been flooded with tie-in media which includes yet another videogame in the long running Transformers series, of which there are more stinkers than gems throughout its colourful past. Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Stealth Force Edition may just be one of the most half-baked videogames I’ve ever managed to play, and it does little to try to take advantage of the 3DS hardware, while also omitting what may arguably be one of the coolest things about the Transformers themselves.

Stealth Force Edition is meant to tell a prequel story, assumed to take 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.

In terms of presentation, Stealth Force Edition is incredibly drab and barebones. Menus are particularly blurry, environments are extremely barren and texture work is almost non-existent. It’s a bit of a shame as the designers could’ve definitely added a little bit of life into the game through some foliage or even some environmental effects. The actual models for the Transformers themselves aren’t particularly well detailed or well modeled either, but to their credit they do look like the characters they’re meant to represent. Additionally, the animated cutscenes that take place between each of the missions have some nice artistic direction too, but it’s just a shame they are utilised to deliver a rather boring and unimaginative story.

Unfortunately, the game hardly even uses the 3D effect at all. Most of the cutscenes aren’t in 3D, nor are the menus. Heck, most of the gameplay itself doesn’t seem to be in 3D either. There’s definitely a sense of depth during the gameplay, but it feels like one solid movie being played out far away from the player rather than having different objects appearing at varying levels of depth. The 3D effect is barely used in Stealth Force Edition and it’s kind of disappointing to see it that way too.

Perhaps the most perplexing thing about the Stealth Force Edition is the fact that the player will never actually get to turn into a Transformer’s robot form in the game. There’s heaps of vehicular combat, in similar but inferior vein to Twisted Metal or Vigilante 8, and the player can move their transformer between two forms – a standard and faster car form and the “stealth force” form where the vehicle cracks and weapons are accessible from the cracks. How a ridiculous looking cracked car is stealthier than a normal car, we’ll never know, but each car can only move between these two forms. It’s almost like we’re not playing a Transformers game. Each car has a machine gun weapon and an explosive weapon, with each car also controlling with the Circle Pad usually or with the shoulder buttons when in Stealth Force mode. Generally speaking, the game does control well but the actual game itself is boring to the point where it’s just infuriating.

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 absence 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 2.0

Poor environments, a significant lack of detail and the rather confusing absence of decent 3D effects really bring Stealth Force Edition down.

Gameplay 3.0

While theres 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?

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 games available on the Nintendo 3DS and in 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 fulfill its goal and remain undiscovered.