Transformers (Armada PS2)

This article is about the English PlayStation 2 game. For the Japanese PlayStation 2 game, see The Transformers (PS2). For a list of other meanings, see Transformers (disambiguation).

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Transformers
That's not a game. shhhhhlink This is a game!
Developer	Melbourne House
Publisher	Atari
Platform	PlayStation 2
Release date	April 7, 2004 (EU) May 11, 2004 (NA)
Ratings	ESRB: T
Credits

Transformers is a 2004 video game for Sony's PlayStation 2, developed by the Australian-based Melbourne House, and published by Atari. It is based on the Armada series, though it does not follow any pre-established storyline. It was released in the United States on May 11, 2004, and in the European market on April 7 of the same year. In September 2005, Atari released a "Director's Cut" of the game exclusively in the UK. The only difference between this and the original was a bonus DVD containing a "Making Of Documentary".

Gameplay

In the game, players take control of one of three Autobots (Optimus Prime, Red Alert, or Hot Shot) to battle Megatron and his vast army of Decepticlones over the recently discovered Mini-Cons on Earth.

Decepticons who appear in the game include Megatron, Starscream, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave. The Mini-Cons Sparkplug, Longarm, and Jolt join their toy-partners after the player completes the first level, acting as support fighters. The Decepticons' Mini-Con partners Leader-1 and Crumplezone do not appear as individuals, but are seen attached to their partners. The final boss of the game is Unicron in planet mode; a colossal Dead End in "moon" mode can be seen attached to him.

As well as allowing players to transform into vehicles whenever they wish, the game uses Mini-Con collecting as a way to acquire new weapons and abilities, introducing multiple new (non-toy) Mini-Con characters. Some combinations of Mini-Cons also have additional synergistic effects, such as faster weapon recharging or a larger life meter. In addition, the main partner Mini-Cons follow the player, shooting at enemies. The player can also "Powerlinx" with their partner Mini-Con, allowing for a Max Payne-style "bullet time" mode, though this drains the player's health.

As well as Mini-Cons, players collect Data-Cons that unlock bonus features in the game's main menu, ranging from game artwork (development sketches, renders, and the like), toy instructions, toy prototype photos, the toy pack-in mini-comics, and five previously-unavailable-elsewhere Generation 1-era PSAs (in the same style as the old G.I. Joe cartoon PSAs).

Every level in the game is a very large, detailed environment which allows free exploration rather than short, linear maps. Players can leave levels without completing them through warp gates, and return to any previously-played level to discover more areas using their newly collected Mini-Cons. The game engine is a proprietary engine used by Melbourne House, allowing for large, detailed outdoor levels with no slowdown. An impressive feat of the engine is allowing for many ragdolls to be on-screen at once. Oh and of course, be prepared for your character to ragdoll around a lot.

The reasoning behind the inclusion of a small cast of playable characters was a simple matter of gameplay logistics. By having only three distinctly different characters, the game provides a different experience to players and forces them to adjust their strategy according to whomever they chose. A larger roster of characters would have made it difficult for Melbourne House to create different styles of gameplay, especially considering most of the Armada Autobots were cars and other land vehicles.

Plot

Millions of years ago, the Mini-Cons fled Cybertron and crash landed on ancient Earth, going into stasis all around the planet. In the present, the Decepticons have conquered nearly all of Cybertron thanks to their Decepticlone army. As they overtake Iacon, only Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, and Red Alert stand in their way. Optimus and Megatron face off on a building until they are interrupted by the Mini-Con distress beacon. Both sides head off to Earth to recover the Mini-Cons.

From their headquarters, the Autobots head out one-at-a-time through their space bridge to the different regions around Earth. The first region on Earth they head is the Amazon. After collecting Mini-Cons scattered around the region and fighting through Decepticlone patrols, they are confronted by Cyclonus in some ruins at the top of a mountain. Cyclonus declares Earth to now be Decepticon property and leaves one of the Decepticlone Heavy Units to attack them. After destroying the Heavy Unit, the Autobots reunite and discover the Mini-Cons Sparkplug, Jolt and Longarm, who send out a call to the other Mini-Cons on Earth. The three Mini-Cons then partner up with the Autobots.

Following the signal, the Autobots then head to Antarctica. After making their way through an icy canyon, they come to a large open glacial area. While collecting Mini-Cons and avoiding Decepticlone Sentry Drones, they follow smoke to a human plane that had been shot down. They then make their way to a nearby research facility where a Mini-Con has been discovered and engage the numerous enemy guards. Starscream then erupts from the facility in a massive explosion and attacks the Autobot, both with his sword and his jet mode. After defeating Starscream, Optimus orders the Autobots back to the Amazon to stop Cyclonus, unaware that Starscream still functions.

In a deeper part of the Amazon, the Autobots make their way through the terrain and many Decepticlone enemies, including Guerilla Units, Artillery Units, Sentries, and Turrets. They make their way into and through a large ancient pyramid and after reaching the base, take an elevator to the very top. There, they are attacked by Cyclonus in his helicopter mode. After being defeated, Cyclonus crashes into the pyramid and explodes, while the Autobots observe the enemy Dropships flying away towards the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dropships arrive at Tidal Wave, in his massive warship mode, in the Mid-Atlantic. The Autobots make their way across multiple small islands and gain the ability to glide after finding the Mini-Con Slipstream. After fighting Jet Snipers and making it to a high enough island, the Autobot glides onto the warship, avoiding missile fire from its Turrets. After fighting the many Decpticlone units on board and finding a way into the ship, they make their way to the warship's control room and learn that its destination is Alaska. It is then that Tidal Wave transforms from his warship form to his massive, towering robot form. Due to his massive size and heavily armored body, the only spot the Autobots are capable of wounding him is his head. After sustaining enough damage, Tidal Wave's internal systems begin to explode and he collapses into the ocean.

The Autobots then head to Alaska, believing it to be the location of Megatron's base and make their way through a large mountainous region. They use a cave system to travel through one of the mountains and up to higher ground. Starscream, piloting a starship, purposely crashes the ship in an attempt to crush the Autobot. The ship ends on a steep cliff and the Autobots infiltrate it. After making their way through the ship and battling through its Decepticlone crew, they confront Starscream on the bridge. The scuffle causes the cliff edge to be destroyed and the ship is sent plunging into the valley below. The impact of the crash buried the bow deep into the snow, forcing the Autobots to climb their way up and out to the surface. Once they make it out of the ship, they are confronted by Starscream once again. After being defeated, Starscream is interrogated by Optimus Prime. After proving less than cooperative, Starscream is knocked out and Red Alert hacks his warp transponder.

Thanks to the info extracted from Starscream, the Autobots have discovered Megatron's true base: a volcanic island in the Pacific. The Autobots are forced to glide and fight through the hundreds of various types of Decepticlones swarming the island. They make their way around the island's perimeter then up the side of the active volcano at its center. They descend onto a platform built above the lava and Megatron reveals himself and attacks the Autobots. After a long and fierce battle, Megatron is defeated and the volcano begins to erupt. Optimus Prime attempts to save his nemesis, but after delivering a final bitter insult, Megatron allows himself to fall into the lava and perish. The Autobots escape the volcano and believe they are victorious, unaware that far away, Unicron looms over Cybertron.

Unicron hovers over Cybertron and begins to destroy the planet. The Autobots then return to their home with all of the rescued Mini-Cons, who combine their power to give the Autobots the strength to stop Unicron. Given a special jetpack and extra power, the Autobot flies around Cybertron and into Unicron's maw itself to attack his core before he can destroy the planet. After suffering enough damage, Unicron will utter his final words before his body erupts in a massive explosion. The Autobots and Mini-Cons then celebrate as Cybertron is now safe and at peace.

Hidden Mini-Cons

• Aftershock
• Airburst
• Aurora
• Buildup
• Bulletproof
• Claymore
• Comeback
• Corona
• Covert
• Deflector
• Discord
• Failsafe
• Firefight
• Flashbang
• Fullspeed
• Hailstorm
• Hawkeye
• Highgear
• Highjump
• Jumpstart
• Kickback
• Knockdown
• Lock-On
• Lookout
• Overwatch
• Pressurepoint
• Rangefinder
• Safeguard
• Shepherd
• Shieldwall
• Shockpunch
• Skirmish
• Slapshot
• Slipstream
• Smackdown
• Sparkjump
• Stronghold
• Tractor
• Twister
• Watchdog

Characters

Autobots	Decepticons	Mini-Cons	Other
Optimus Prime (Garry Chalk) Hot Shot (Dublin James) Red Alert (Daran Norris)	Megatron (David Kaye) Starscream (Matt Hetherington) Cyclonus (Daran Norris) Tidal Wave	Sparkplug Jolt Longarm Leader-1 Crumplezone Dead End	Unicron (Matthew King)

Screenshots

• 
  Sometimes, vehicles are the most effective weapon.
• Optimus Prime destroyed one of the Decepticon bunkers in the Pacific Island.
  Optimus Prime destroyed one of the Decepticon bunkers in the Pacific Island.
• "Finally, the egg cracks open!"
  "Finally, the egg cracks open!"
• 
  Ouch.
• 
  Your biggest nightmare... literally.
• 
  GIVE ME YOUR FACE!
• Is that ship carrying... a sun? It has claimed Earth's Sun!?
  Is that ship carrying... a sun? It has claimed Earth's Sun!?
• 
  "Home, finally!" The Autobots have been homesick.
• 
  All the Mini-Cons merge, to form the Matrix Cannon.
• 
  So, this did not exist in the past, or no one knows? Things can go easier!
• 
  So, this is what a planet-eater's stomach looks like.
• 
  Unicron's final moment.
• 
  'Til All Are One!

Soundtrack

Melbourne House's Gavin Parker composed much of the in-game music while Ric Formosa, Danny Beckerman, and Ricky Edwards provided the music for the cinematic sequences. American band Dropbox and Australian band Regurgitator were recruited to create their versions of the classic Transformers theme song to promote the game, while funk band The Brown Hornet sung over the end credits.

Tracks

• 1. Amazon Theme 1
• 2. Amazon Theme 2
• 3. Antarctica Theme
• 4. Starscream Fight Theme 1
• 5. Deep Amazon Theme 1
• 6. Deep Amazon Theme 2
• 7. Cyclonus Fight Theme (by Regurgitator)
• 8. Mid-Atlantic Theme
• 9. Tidal Wave Fight Theme
• 10. Alaska Theme 1
• 11. Alaska Theme 2
• 12. Starship Theme 1
• 13. Starship Theme 2
• 14. Starscream Fight Theme 2
• 15 Pacific Island Theme
• 15. Megatron Fight Theme
• 13. Cybertron 1
• 14. Cybertron 2

Themes

• 1. Transformers: Armada television theme
• 2. Transformers theme 1 arranged by Ric Formosa
• 3. Transformers theme 2 by Dropbox
• 4. Transformers theme 3 by The Brown Hornet
• 5. Transformers theme 4 by Regurgitator
• 6. Wishbone by Dropbox

Impressions and sales

The game was well received by critics and fans alike, and at the time was often considered to be the best of all Transformers video games, despite this being damning with faint praise. Some review sites and magazines seemed to reject the game outright for not being based on the Generation 1 series, though some seemed to begrudgingly accept it due to the gameplay and graphic flair, the latter being one notable standout considering the difficulty of developing games for the PS2, especially as the game sported graphical effects not commonly found in most titles of the era while also maintaining a smooth framerate.

The most common actual gameplay-related complaints are the disappointingly small roster of characters, sometimes stiff control, high difficulty level (not born of bad design, the game is just set too tough), and a lack of a "directional" guide resulting in players getting lost in the vast environments.

Transformers was the #7 top-selling game across all consoles for the month of May 2004... and that's only because the incredibly popular "Red Dead Revolver" was on two different consoles. On the PlayStation 2 alone, Transformers ranked #6. It sold over 600,000 copies by the time the "Directors Cut" was released, although the total was ultimately less than what Atari had hoped for.

In 2010, Transformers was ranked #83 in the Top 100 PlayStation 2 Games list by IGN.

Sequel status

Melbourne House had begun work on a sequel based in part upon the Cybertron series. However, according to a member of the Melbourne House team, the Cybertron game was a few months into development when Atari moved the studio onto a different project, effectively nixing the sequel. A PlayStation Portable port of the original game was also considered, under the title Transformers: 2nd Strike, but never made it past the proof of concept stage.

Dang.

Errors

• Somehow, Starscream is able to use his wing-sword with both wings still attached.
  • However, the sword does not resemble his wings, so it may have been intended to be a separate weapon all together.
• Optimus (Or whichever Autobot you're currently playing as) can orbit Cybertron several times over at a surprisingly fast rate, even though it's a gigantic planet.
• Many of Cybertron's buildings, and the giant Autobot insignia, are somehow easily visible from orbit.
• For reasons unknown, Optimus, Red Alert, and Hot Shot are the only citizens of Iacon. Maybe they're just not good neighbors.
  • Or it's possible that the Decepticlone attack at the beginning of the game may have killed everyone else.
  • Likewise, the oblique absence of any flesh-creatures on-screen during gameplay can be taken as typical budget-related omissions for this sort of project. However, it could also be taken as an implication that any squishies running around were removed by the Decepticlones before the Autobot arrival. Whoever was piloting the plane shot down in Antarctica is almost certainly dead.
  • The Autobots hardly seem to care.
• A rare glitch sometimes occurs at Megatron's death, in which when he falls down, his tank barrel sticks out of...an unusual location on his body.

Notes

Drunk with power

• At the game's launch party, Atari's venue served several signature drinks named for the game-exclusive Mini-Cons.
• One of the game's working titles was Transformers Armada: Prelude to Energon. Another one, used in pack-in catalogs during the Energon line, was Transformers Armada: Battle for Energon.
• Development sketches unlocked in the game show that several characters were ultimately dropped from the original plans. Demolishor was to be a level-boss in the caves, and Tidal Wave's partner Mini-Con Ramjet was going to harass players before they could board the Decepticon battleship.
  • Furthermore, unused data in the game indicates that Scavenger and Smokescreen were intended to be playable characters at some point, likely in a very early version of the game. This is further backed up by an early story draft being present on-disc, featuring these two characters as part of the primary Autobot cast.
    • Furthermore, Smokescreen, Scavenger, Jetfire, Sideways, and Side Swipe were intended to speak or are mentioned in cut audio transmissions.
• Design sketches reveal that initial plans for the levels were different than what is present in the final game.
  • The Amazon and Deep Amazon levels were originally merged, with Cyclonus being the boss of the level.
  • Antarctica originally featured objectives present in both the Alaska and Starship levels, with Demolishor being the boss fight.
  • Pacific Island (which was initially named Easter Island) originally featured objectives from Mid-Atlantic, such as boarding and fighting Tidal Wave. There was also an additional level nicknamed "Volcano" which was cut, with its concepts being implemented into Pacific Island.
• During his boss battle, Cyclonus is shown with the cockpit design similar to the third mode of his Mini-Con partner Crumplezone, indicating the latter being Powerlinxed with him. This would mean that the Autobots essentially kill the Mini-Con along with his master, as the cockpit piece is attached to Cyclonus when he crashes into the temple and explodes. His character model omits his folded up default cockpit kibble.
• It is possible to get an alternate 'Bad Ending'. This ending can be achieved if Cybertron's health meter gets to zero. The full motion video of this ending will be unlocked (as well in the gallery), showing Cybertron's destruction by Unicron.
• During the end credits of the game, Tidal Wave is doing push-ups while the Decepticlones are all doing jumping jacks and side-bends. So that's how Decepticons keep in shape.
• Some of the dialog used in cutscenes is recycled from The Transformers: The Movie.
• In the 'Recruit' difficulty, you need to collect 30 Mini-Cons to form the Matrix Cannon, 35 in the 'Veteran' difficulty, and 40 in the 'Commander' difficulty.. Which means all of them. All hail the cheats.

External links

• Official Transformers game page at Atari.com (dead link)
• Transformers game rankings for May 2004 at Gamespot
• News post from Seibertron.com for Atari's announcement of Regurgitator's involvement
• The game's first story draft, found on-disc.