The battle of Optimus Prime and Megatron has transformed onto portable machines with the PSP version of Transformers: The Game. With the new hot release of Transformers in theaters it’s only natural that a game would be released on every major system with the movie.

Transformers: The Game tries to bring the world of giant robots into the handheld realm by shrinking down all the Autobots and Decepticons and telling the story of both sides. Before a mission starts, players will first have a chance to equip their Transformer with four weapons. Each weapon will have its own strengths and weaknesses. The rockets can destroy enemies quickly but takes a long time to reload whereas the machine gun can unload tons of shots into enemies but not do much overall damage -- that sort of rock-paper-scissor type of classification.

Targeting in the game is done with the crosshair that is moved with the triangle button and X button. Like most other shooting titles, the controls will take a few second to get used to with the buttons acting like a second analog stick. Luckily, players can lock onto enemies by tapping left on the D-Pad and then unload damage on them without having to keep the crosshair on the enemies manually.

In some cases players will need to transforms into their vehicle form such as an 18-wheeler or Camero. The transformation is as easy as hitting both shoulder buttons. Sadly, that is the most exciting part of the title. The game, unlike the movie, is incredibly boring. The missions consist of objectives you have seen a thousand times such as protect an ally, destroy all enemies on the screen, and other standards. The battles are slow and uneventful. Taking control of a Decepticon and reeking carnage by destroying enemies sounds like an awesome time but in the end it becomes extremely dull. Most of the times you’ll find yourself fighting against tanks or other small military machinery such as jeeps and since you are a Transformer you simply destroy the hell out of it and that’s that.

Once you complete a mission you’ll be given a list of stats such as objectives completed, enemies killed, and what you have unlocked. The better you perform in each mission the more you will unlock in the game. New weapons, missions, multiplayer options, game art, and music will become available. Outside of single-player there is an obligatory multiplayer mode with the classic modes (Deathmatch, CTF, ect.).

Transformers graphics aren’t anything impressive even by PSP standards. The environments are dull gray and lack detail. The destruction of enemies is even boring. After destroying a jeep or tank, it simply blows up in a very small and non-exciting fashion. Enemies might as well have gone up in a puff of smoke. Even when you defeat a Transformer it just kind of blows up and that’s all, it doesn’t fall over or anything it just… dies.

Transformers: The Game isn’t horrible but it isn’t very fun either. After playing as a Transformer throughout the game I never felt like I was a powerful entity here to save the Earth. The game a generic budget title and doesn’t offer much in terms of gameplay. This Transformer isn’t here to save mankind but in the end makes the day a little less exciting.