In just two day’s time “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” will hit theaters.  It’s sure to be one of many blockbusters this summer, despite the fact that it’s the third installment of the series, which often proves to be the worst.  Along side it, EA will launch an accompanying iOS game of the same name, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon“.  It utilizes a 3/4 view and over head shot depending on the action at hand.  You’ll be able to play as OPTIMUS PRIME, or fan-favorite BUMBLEBEE, while you try to defeat those nasty Decepticons through 13 heart pounding (we doubt it) levels.  Throughout the game you’ll be able to unlock 13 upgradeable weapons ranging from the Ion Blaster to the Nucleon Shock Cannon and face off against 5 bosses in addition to the movie famous Megatron and Shockwave.

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” for iOS is expected to release June 28th and cost $6.99 for the iPad and $4.99 for the iPhone.

3 out of 5 stars

The last Transformers game, War for Cybertron, was a fun excapade into the world of Transformers that didn’t take itself too seriously, but was a classic, kid-friendly action-adventure with some surprisingly great multiplayer. The game followed no movie, instead detailing how the war between Autobots and Decepticons started, eventually leading their world to almost utter annihilation.

So what the hell is Dark of the Moon? A $60 4-hour prelude to the movie coming out next week.

Let’s not confuse the issues. Dark of the Moon is every-bit as entertaining and fun to play as War for Cybertron. The single-player campaign features old favorites on both sides of the Transformers character spectrum, and is veritably enjoyable for both adults and kids. Combat is simple, revolving around a two-weapon system, infinite ammo, two special abilities and a melee attack. The familiar voices from the TV show and movies all return, for the most part. It’s just a fun little game.

The issue is just how “little” it is. Seven chapters total last about 4 hours on medium difficulty. The entire last level is a boss fight. The plot starts and ends at essentially the same place, where every action taken, even if successful, makes no difference. Defeat a boss? No worries, he’ll just escape at the last second and live on to wreak more havoc. Blow up a facility? It really made no difference anyhow. There literally is no incentive to play the game to actually “beat it” unless you want the achievements.

And it’s far too easy to see just how the game was made when beating the game is a 125 point achievement.

There really isn’t much to say about the single-player campaign. It’s one-player only, has relatively decent graphics and artwork, but the only thing worth noting is how fun it is to watch the Transformers…well, transform. Weapons are standard, combat is fun but not particularly difficult, and once you put in the four hours everything’s set.

Multiplayer should be a whole different story, especially considering how fun War for Cybertron was. With identical gameplay and a few more characters and weapons, it shouldn’t have been too difficult. But nobody’s playing online. I had trouble finding a decent game for three days. With only three play modes (team deathmatch, deathmatch and “conquest”, a territory-based gametype), it was far too difficult to actually find players. The few times I did have a game available were fun, but it’s exactly the same as War for Cybertron, just on a smaller scale. Levels can be larger, but use smaller corridors that easily bunch up enemies. The level design isn’t particularly satisfying, and while still fun, I can’t imagine playing for more than a few days because there simply aren’t people to play with.

What all this means is that Dark of the Moon is a movie-game. It doesn’t copy the movie. Instead, it’s a prelude, to warm people up to it. I don’t think it’s fair for Activision to charge $60 for a game this small. It could be an iPhone game, after all. Just a week after release and people are selling it for half-price on sites like Amazon. So unless you want to torture yourself or friends by getting it and waiting for like-minded folk to find you online, rent this bad-boy and send it packing. Because it’s fun…just not worth keeping on the shelf at home.

Looks like the big wigs over at Hasbro have the R&D monkeys working overtime.  Just before the release of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, Hasbro will release the Autobot Cine-Mask 3D glasses for kids.  There will be two pairs, OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE, and each pair will include their very own built-in pair of 3D glasses.  That means your kid can go to the theater dressed as one of the two characters from the film and enjoy the 3D experience without having to remove their helmet.  

We’re expecting a serious “nag factor” to be instituted by kids all across the US for one of these.  In case you parents are considering the excuse “we can’t afford it”, consider that they’re just $10 each.  All said and done you’ll be dropping over $25 once you factor in the movie ticket, but nonetheless it sure is a memorable, if not geeky way for your kid to enjoy what we hope is the last installment of the Transformer movies.

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Well, this is really cool. China has just unveiled a 40-foot tall Optimus Prime statue at the new Green Dream Park in Beijing, which if focused on Green Living (another thing we love at GadgetReview). Constructed out of recycled car parts, the statue weighs six tons and took five truckloads of car parts to construct. Why’d they waste that time when they know that Optimus Prime takes only one tractor trailer to make?

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Who doesn’t love a toy that augments the good old voice?  I know I can’t get enough of them.  Just in time for Transformers 2 is the Bumblebee Voice Mixer mask.  Yup, it augments your voice in a variety of ways to what the product page says are ‘six different music styles’ – whatever that is – and plays back many of Bumbleebee’s phrases as well as the good old transforming noise that we all know and love from the cartoon.  Yours for $45.

[via Giz via 2day]

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Transformers 2 will release later this summer and with it will come a tidal wave of promotional crap.  Fortunately, the Ravage USB Flash drive looks to have nothing to do with what will be an epic failure of a film as it won’t officially ship until September of this year.  You can grab the transforming flash drive for $43, that is if it weren’t already sold out.

[via NerdApproved]

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I hardly think that the Nike Transformer sneakers are new, but since I can’t honestly remember I’m posting anyway.  I’m particularly fond of how the Transformers are also wearing Nike sneakers.  Yours for 120 smackers!

[via Toxel]

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In the event that your childhood was a confusing one, here’s something else to throw you off your axis now that you’re well into adulthood.  The Mickey Mouse Transformer takes the fun and cuddly Mickey and cross blends it with a good old fashion transformer.   I think you can take it from there, unless of course you’d like to buy one, which could happen this February for $39 assuming it comes to your nation of choice.

[Dvice]

Believe it or not, this odd looking RC car will transform before your eyes into a walking, talking robot. Nothing more is known, but it sets a great prescedent for toys and vehicles to come.

[Newlaunches}