Transformers: Bumblebee Overdrive
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| Developer | Budge Studios | ||||||
| Publisher | Budge Games | ||||||
| Platform | Android, iOS | ||||||
| Release date | September 8, 2018 | ||||||
Transformers: Bumblebee Overdrive is a top-down shoot-em-up arcade mobile game developed by Budge Studios, released in late 2018. The game is set in the Generation 1 continuity and advertises Bumblebee as its main character (for some reason), but the other Autobots are playable as well. The Autobots must infiltrate and destroy Decepticon bases before confronting a series of Decepticon bosses.
Gameplay
The goal of Bumblebee Overdrive is to achieve a certain target score without running out of health, ranging from as few as 4000 points to as many as 765,000,000. During gameplay, the environment will continuously scroll from top to bottom. Players must hold their thumb or finger on the screen continuously to play; removing it will automatically pause the game. At the beginning of a run, the Autobot will leave the Ark in vehicle mode in pursuit of a Decepticon target, and will track the horizontal position of the player's finger, sliding left and right accordingly as the player moves it along the screen. During vehicle mode segments, players must dodge hazardous obstacles while striking highlighted targets for bonus points. These segments will be randomly generated using any of three types of environments: street driving, where players must dodge civilian vehicles and construction work; desert driving, where players must avoid rock formations and assorted Decepticon weaponry; and canyon driving, where land-based Decepticons appear and try to ram the Autobots from behind, forcing players to dodge and take them out with a side-collision. Various temporary boosters can be found and collected during a run, including a magnet that draws in nearby collectibles, health pickups to restore the Autobot's life, a shield to prevent damage from obstacles, and an additional score multiplier.
After a short period, a Decepticon base will appear and the player character will shift to robot mode, now directly tracking the player finger's position and firing their blaster automatically. Once the player shoots the base door open, they must guide their Autobot through the base, dodging enemy fire and destroying foes such as laser turrets and generic conehead grunts. Various crates scattered around the base can be destroyed to find coins, crystals, and boosters. In addition to those found in the vehicle segments, other booster types found only in the bases will temporarily upgrade the Autobots' weaponry, including a double-shot, a spread shot, target-seeking missiles, and a piercing laser; these weapons can be stacked and combined to do even more damage. Other obstacles include explosive barrels, which will destroy anything within a small radius, and switches, which must be stood on continuously to remove impending barriers. Once the player reaches the end of the base, they must take out its power core, causing the whole base to be destroyed. The Autobot will then shift back to vehicle mode and the cycle repeats, albeit slightly more difficult each time.
During gameplay, players will also collect coins and crystals, which act as the in-game currency. If a player loses all their health, the game ends, but crystals can be spent to continue from where they left off with one of their remaining Autobots. If the player manages to reach the stage's target score, they will enter a boss battle with the target Decepticon, switching to either vehicle or robot mode depending on the opponent. Decepticon battles require the player to dodge their attacks and either hit them with continuous blaster fire or lure them into getting hit by their own traps. If the player successfully defeats the Decepticon, the stage will end and they will receive a large reward, with the target changing to the next Decepticon on the list for future runs, ultimately culminating in a battle against Megatron himself. Each Decepticon has a higher target score than the last, and the base difficulty level of each run will increase with every Decepticon target defeated. So unless players continually upgrade their Autobots and/or purchase new ones, it will become increasingly difficult to make progress during gameplay, to the point where even destroying a set of boxes blocking the way ahead may become impossible.
Upgrades and objectives
The coins and crystals obtained during gameplay can be spent on various upgrades. Coins can be used to upgrade the in-game boosts, making them more effective and longer-lasting during gameplay, or to upgrade an Autobot's blaster and armor. Maxing out the Autobot's blaster and armor stats will give players the option to level up their Autobot by spending crystals. Increasing an Autobot's level will increase their coin and score multipliers, allowing players to make more money and more easily finish a level. It will also give both their blaster and armor stats a hefty boost, as well as resetting the upgrade bar so players can spend coins again to upgrade them further and repeat the process. Once the Autobot reaches Level 11, it cannot be upgraded any further.
At the start, only Bumblebee is available for play, but crystals can be spent to purchase new playable characters, all of whom have slightly different properties, such as their rate of blaster fire or the strength of their shots. Each Autobot's base level and stats also tend to be higher the more crystals they cost, meaning the player doesn't have to spend nearly as long leveling them up to match their other characters. However, five energon cubes act as a sort of in-game timer to limit how often players can play. Every run costs one energon cube, and once a player runs out, they will have to wait for the timer to recharge and grant them another cube. Energon is restored at a rate of one cube every 30 minutes.
The game offers various missions to complete, such as collecting several boosters, destroying a certain number of enemies, reviving multiple times, etc. Completing these objectives will reward players with a prize, such as additional coins or crystals. Only three missions are offered at any given time, and once a mission is completed, players will have to wait half an hour or more before another one is unlocked. There are also events that rotate every few days, which tasks players with hitting target numbers of specific obstacles on the road, such as flower pots, phone booths, road cones, and so forth. (There's usually a thin explanation of how these objects are being used as part of a Decepticon plot, so don't feel bad for causing all that rampant property damage!) Both missions and events are cumulative and do not need to be finished in a single run.
Ads and upsells
Like past free-to-play Transformers games, Bumblebee Overdrive makes heavy use of in-game advertising and microtransactions to make its money.
The option to watch a video ad will pop up after a run is concluded, offering to double the number of coins and crystals collected during the run if the player does so. Players can also choose to watch an ad to skip the timer and make their next Mission appear immediately.
An in-game store offers several options that can be purchased with real-life currency. These include bundles containing a character the player hasn't unlocked yet (along with bonus coins, crystals and energon), a coin-doubler that permanently multiplies the coin collection rate for all characters by two, and a "Fast Energon" boost that increases energon refueling by 50% for one week. Players can also spend their hard-earned money on additional energon cubes, even beyond the five cube limit, as well as crystal bundles ranging from 20 for $0.99 USD to 99,900 for $49.99 USD. Oof. Crystals can also be similarly exchanged for large coin bundles.
Featured characters
Notes
- As with many Transformers mobile games, Bumblebee Overdrive bases the bodies of its unlockable characters on a variety of figures from contemporary toylines...
- The starting character, Bumblebee, turns from his Titans Return vehicle mode into a more generic robot mode. "Stealth Bumblebee", meanwhile, is a virtual redeco of his Thrilling 30 Deluxe Class inspired by the countless "stealth" redecoes of various Bumblebee toys over the years.
- Ratchet uses his evergreen design, which went on to inspire his appearance in Cyberverse.
- Arcee is clearly based on her Thrilling 30 figure, though she holds two copies of her smaller pistol rather than two different firearms.
- Sideswipe doesn't seem to be based on any modern figure.
- Moonracer and Novastar are both in their Power of the Primes designs. Jazz uses his Power of the Primes vehicle mode, but his robot mode seems made up.
- Though Prowl and Mirage both seem to be in their Combiner Wars bodies, they convert into the vehicle modes of their Universe and Classics toys respectively.
- Optimus Prime is based on the MP-10 The Transformers: Masterpiece figure.
- The Decepticon lineup is also draws much of its lineup from modern toylines, though even more loosely. Notable inclusions are Skullgrin (based on his Generations toy), Windshear (from the Thrilling 30 Mini-Con Assault Team), Battleslash and Roadtrap (based on their combining Power of the Primes Legends Class figures). Perhaps the most unexpected inclusions are Ground Hog and Tracer, Micromasters who have yet to receive any modern updates - or indeed, relevancy - since their original releases; they were presumably chosen for their alt-modes. Particularly notable by their absence are Motormaster and Drag Strip (the rest of the Combiner Wars Stunticons appear as enemies) and Needlenose (both Quake and Spinister appear - the former presumably in response to his Titans Return release).
