Interestingly (and somewhat surprisingly) the game isn’t awful and actually provides a fair amount of fun. Mindless and simple it may be, but fun none the less. Transformers have built-in appeal. They are sports cars that transform into robots the size of a house and have guns mounted in their arms. The core act of transforming never gets old and the developers have got this base element right, with both Autobots and Decepticons smoothly changing from vehicle to robot as they drive, fly, leap and smash through the non-linear stages. Players take control of their robot of choice (when not forced to play as a specific character) and must complete a number of objectives within each level, fighting against wave after wave of opposing robots, and will occasionally face off against a named Transformer, slamming into the likes of Starscream and Ironhide with their alien weapons.

The game loosely follows the plot of the movie, but it has been greatly expanded with a number of filler scenes between the battles seen within the movie. The story here is largely irrelevant, with it paying lip service to the film and just providing context for an articulated truck to uppercut a jet fighter. What is interesting is the mission debrief, with the assembled Autobots or Decepticons (depending which campaign is being played) commenting on the player’s performance. The player is praised on variables such as their level-completion speed (most levels clock in at less than five minutes) and amount of collateral destruction caused whereas they are chastised for not saving enough innocents or not completing secondary objectives in a conversation between the Transformers that changes each time a level is played. The short nature of the levels lends them to repeated play and this is encouraged within a stat-tracking system that gives the player a score to enter in the high-score table with achievements as a reward. The gold medals are generally easy to acquire but the platinum medals never seem that far out of reach and as the player levels up their abilities, temptation to have a go at getting the higher scores and medals sets in.

The robots move with an athletic bulk and while they may dwarf some buildings they can easily jump, run and climb over the usually urban levels. Particular attention has been paid to making the act of transforming part of movement and combat, with the robots being able to launch into massive leaps and powerful attacks as they shift forms. This is unfortunately let down by some unnecessarily complex controls, whose inclusion seems bizarre in a game so heavily focused at a younger and more casual audience.

The Transformers all have primary and secondary ranged attacks (machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers, etc.) and they also have a limited but effective melee-combo system that will turn most enemies into scrap pretty easily. This is a game where the quantity of combat outweighs the quality of the combat and the player will always have to deal with multiple threats coming from all around them. The combat is frenetic and simple but still satisfying, as the animations pack a punch and the game has the size and frequency of explosions expected of a product related to Michael Bay.

The game is somewhat let down by lacklustre visuals with low-quality environments and muddily textured robots. This is somewhat offset by the pace of the game not really allowing for time to be spent analysing the art quality, but it is hard not to long for a game that does the mechanically intricate robots justice.

In a surprising move, a hefty multiplayer component has been included, offering multiple modes for Autobot and Decepticon teams to smash each other apart in. Players select their preferred robots and duke it out through the arena-style levels of the single-player campaign and, while the inclusion of multiplayer initially seems like an excellent idea, its implementation leaves something to be desired. During the campaign the AI adversaries will either walk directly into the path of your bullets or perch in stationary positions that allow the player to bring their cross-hair to bear and take them out. This is somewhat more difficult in multiplayer where your enemies turbo boost down a street, transform and leap over a building and climb up a tower while deploying automated turrets behind them; or they are fighter jets. The speed and pace of multiplayer is completely overwhelming and people who have merrily plodded through the single-player mode without any trouble will have a brutal wakeup call once they enter this big, wide world.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has all the hallmarks of being a bad game. That is to say it is a blockbuster movie tie-in published by Activision on every format ever invented, developed by a studio that has done nothing of note in a number of years. Fortunately, though, it is an entertaining romp through two campaigns and provides players with a satisfactory dose of transforming robots roundhouse-kicking each other. The game is by no means great but is also certainly not bad. It is simple, popcorn movie-style entertainment that provides as much depth as you would expect from an action movie about transforming robots with Megan Fox in. And no, the motorbike/hot pants scene is not in the game.