There are special attacks unique to each Transformer, but they’re either overpowered in cases like Drift's sword slice, or useless, like Sharpshot's cloaking ability. Mindless, unsatisfying melee strikes don’t add anything. The ones that lack overpowered weapons will perform extreme evasive maneuvers that are doubly frustrating, since you usually need to clear out all enemies in particular sections to progress. With the exception of the uniquely shielded “Titan” Decepticon troops, enemies have few intelligent tactics. However, the enemies you'll use them on aren't much fun to fight with. Each of the 20 guns you wield in robot form has a very distinct style, from standards like the semi-automatic and shotgun to more esoteric ideas like an electric beam that chains between enemies, a slime cannon that slows down and poisons enemies, and Dead Space-like blade and bolo shooters. Shooting is serviceable, largely due to a pretty impressive suite of weapons. The few times Rise of the Dark Spark dares to venture outside on other planets it makes for memorable diversions, but those levels are rare exceptions. The dull audio and level design extends outward, as the soundtrack is a grating Hans Zimmer-style bombast mixed with dubstep, while the stages alternate towards bland, dilapidated Earth cities and samey labyrinth outer-space bases. Jazz tries to be the comic relief, but has nothing funny to say, Drift counterbalances his unique design by being exceedingly dull, and the Decepticons only come in two flavors: cackling underlings and brooding leaders. Aside from the always-game Peter Cullen reprising his role as Optimus Prime, there's few noteworthy performances from the rest of the cast. What’s even more confusing is that in order to tie into the concurrently released Transformers: Age of Extinction movie, Rise of the Dark Spark's entire cast sports the same faux-gritty style of the films, where little separates the factions besides a tiny logo. The switches are jarring enough that you might forget which side you're on at more than one point during the early stages. In the middle of the Decepticons capturing the important relic, you jump to an Autobot mission where they're on the hunt, and after the halfway point, the Decepticon's side of the story just stops being told as the Autobots march towards their inevitable victory. Whereas previous Transformers games, War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, had separate Autobot and Decepticon campaigns, Rise of the Dark Spark’s 14-mission campaign switches between sides without much reason or notice, and unevenly at that. That should make for a straightforward campaign, but a few factors derail the plot. Rise of the Dark Spark has a simple storyline about the bad guys wanting to find the Dark Spark and the good guys trying to stop them.
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