Developer: Tessera Studios
Publisher: Outright Games
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition – Review
It’s been nearly seven years since this website featured a Transformers game, and we weren’t really expecting that to change anytime soon. Yet, here we are. The 2016 Transformers: Fall of Cybertron was a remaster of the 2012 game with the same name, and it catered to a more adult audience and proved to be a fairly action-packed third-person shooter. The subject of today’s review, TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition, is a more child-friendly adventure developed by Tessera Studios. The game is currently out on all major platforms.
Story
The evil Mandroid is back, and it seems that this time he’s ready to take over the world and use his own robots with Cybertronian technology to do so. The evil villain has a severe hate for Bumblebee, Optimus, and the rest of the Transformers, and it’s up to Bumblebee to stop the scoundrel. There’s of course more story here, but it all boils down to punching other robots in the face in order to save the world. The story is brought by a series of voiced dialogues, which certainly helps with immersion.
Graphics
EARTHSPARK – Expedition is a colorful game that is clearly directed toward younger Transformers fans. The different areas look decently done, but they also feel very empty and devoid of life. You’ll see assets being reused over and over again, and everything still feels a bit rough around the edges. Credit should be given where credit is due, and we have to commend the developers for the smooth combat animations. The fluid onscreen action looks great, and the transformation from robot to car never gets old, even when you have been playing for several hours.
Sound
The sound design is decent. You’ll have an okay soundtrack that more than often fades to the background, as the sound effects are a bit more explosive. You’ll hear the iconic sound effect when Bumblebee shifts to his car form, and the action sounds also provide great audio feedback. The highlight here, however, is the voice acting. Every dialogue in the game is fully voice-acted.
Gameplay
TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition is an action-adventure game that’s geared toward a younger audience. In the game, you’ll be completing missions in a semi-open-world setting. Most missions consist of reducing enemy robots to scrap by fighting them, but you’ll also encounter so-called race missions. The latter does feel a bit like an overstatement, as the races were somewhat clunky and underwhelming. EARTHSPARK shines when it comes to its overall combat experience, however.
Controlling Bumblebee is easy, which is important for a game that focuses on combat and exploration. Combat feels very fluid, and even though there isn’t a real lock-on button, Bumblebee will direct his attacks to the closest target. Punching, kicking and shooting feels just right, and the developers truly nailed this aspect. Dodging is easy, and after a few battles, you’ll easily dispose of your enemies. The further you progress, the more combos you can learn, and you’ll also acquire a few special moves. Controlling Bumblebee’s car form is perhaps a bit clumsier, as all car controls are done by the left stick alone. There is no brake button, no drifting controls, and so on. As a result, the racing missions feel a bit tedious and underwhelming. We also noticed certain input delays when it came to jumping or attacking while jumping.
There is a decent sense of progress in the game, as you will collect more and more materials to start upgrading Bumblebee. You’ll have passive upgrades, but also combos and special moves to unlock. It will take you quite some time to unlock all abilities, and it can be important to choose the upgrades that fit your playstyle at first. The skill progression system is decently implemented, and Bumblebee will actually feel stronger the further you progress through the story.
The game does have a few design flaws that can turn EARTHSPARK into a bit of a chore. The map is somewhat unclear and unpleasant to work with, which makes navigating a hassle at times. Another annoying issue is that you cannot skip quest dialogue for side missions you wish to retry. The map also doesn’t clearly mark your completion rank of these side missions, either. We even encountered cases where certain events would only trigger depending on which direction we entered a camp or area. It’s a lot of small things like this that hold the game back.
You’ll have to clear three different maps of the evil Mandroid’s influence, but there isn’t that much variety in terms of gameplay. While a few other quests are introduced later in the game, such as escort missions, every mission boils down to the same thing. Either you finish a race within a certain time frame, you kill a few enemies to clear a zone, or you collect a few items. There isn’t much more to the game, but looking at this title’s target audience, that’s just fine. The game is rather short, however, as you can beat it in around six hours.
Conclusion
TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition is a decent Transformers game for kids, even though it still has quite a few rough edges. The game has a fun story to play through, the combat is rather satisfying, and the overall presentation is adequately handled. If you have kids who really enjoy Transformers, they’ll probably enjoy what’s on offer here, but even they might get a bit bored due to a lack of variety and content.
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