While we were getting the Tour of Hasbro’s showroom, we were treated to a preview of the new Transformers video game from Activision.

From the Transformers Fact Sheet:

Based on TRANSFORMERS, DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures’ upcoming live-action feature film due out July 4th, and produced in association with Hasbro,  TRANSFORMERS: The Game lets gamers control the outcome in the battle for Earth as they choose to protect it as AUTOBOTS or destroy it as DECEPTICONS.  Players will also experience the unstoppable power and massive scale of their favorite ROBOTS IN DISGUISE such as BUMBLEBEE, BARRICADE and others.

KEY FEATURES:

• Protect Or Destroy The Earth – As the TRANSFORMERS robot’s war comes to Earth, gamers make the choice to join the AUTOBOTS in protecting our planet or to join the DECEPTICONS in destroying it.  With dual campaigns, the fate of the world is in players’ hands.
• MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE – Instantly change from a larger than life robot to a high-powered vehicle such as a sports car, fighter jet or helicopter.  Seamless transformations leave enemies in the dust or enhance players’ combat strategy with a range of options in both vehicle and robot modes that take full advantage of the characters’ dual forms.
• The World Is Your Playground – Players crush, topple and wreck every object, including buildings and vehicles, in their path or use the objects as weapons.  It is up to the gamer to decide how best to use their surrounding environment.
• Freedom of Choice – An unprecedented line-up lets gamers experience the massive scale, unique abilities and sheer strength of an army of characters from the TRANSFORMERS universe when they choose to play as OPTIMUS PRIME, MEGATRON, IRONHIDE, STARSCREAM, BUMBLEBEE and more.  
• Variety of Combat – For head-to-head battles, fans engage in melee combat that reflects each TRANSFORMERS robot’s character, scale, weight and power along with melee weapons and special moves unique to each character.  The game’s ranged combat offers a wide array of projective weapons designed to take out enemies from afar.
• PlayStation® Portable Features – The PSP version features 20 playable AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS, from both the live-action film and previous generations, that battle through an enhanced version of the film’s storyline.  Players can customize their character by choosing more than 10 different weapon types in both single and ad-hoc multiplayer gameplay

The cut of the game we saw was in a very rough stage of development. The cinematics and soundtrack were not completed. The gameplay seemed smooth and seeing a CG bumblebee drive around the city and fight the Decepticons was pretty cool. I liked the fact that you can destroy pretty much anything in your path, or use it as a weapon. Buildings, trees, benches, even other cars are all fair game. There will also be a lot of references to the G1 series that are missing in the movie.

The only thing I wasn’t too thrilled with was the large amount of blatant product placement in the game. The backgrounds weren’t finished, but the Burger King logos were very crisp and clear.

Transformers the Game is being produced by Activision and will be on sale Summer 2007.