I bought the new Transformers G1 Awakening mobile phone game from glu, and I wanted to see if anyone else has it and what your thoughts are. FWIW I never watched the G1 cartoon or read the comics. Thus I'm no expert in the G1 characters' abilities, strengths, behaviors, etc., so I can't comment on the accuracy thereof. I must say, tho, while playing, all I could think at first was, Crap, now I have to go buy all these cool G1 toys that I missed out on. I have a few, but this game has really awakened (heh-heh) some G1 lust in me.
OK then. It's a turn-based game, but it can move pretty quickly. There are 3 distinct "zones": Story Mode, Showdown, and Cybertron Arena. You must complete them in order to access the next one. I'm still on Story Mode, so that's what I'll be discussing here. Its best feature, IMO, is that it really forces you to explore alternatives to the obvious courses of action. One example is a level where you have to lure the Decepticons toward your side of the field, rather than engage them where they stand (that's just one way to win, I imagine). There are a couple levels, of the few I've completed up to now, that look pretty impossible to complete unless you really get outside the box. In one of them I ended up playing as Rewind, alone against Megatron trying to secure 4 power stations to win. Did it.
(However, there's one level that has me stumped- I've played it about a dozen times and I just can't win. It's called "Autobots, Roll Out!", and here's how the set up: you have Optimus, Bumblebee, Prowl, and Sideswipe, against Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, a casseticon, and Trypticon. It's a simple matter to wipe out all but Megatron and Trypticon, and I've even gotten as far as Trypticon alone, but then he goes and does something stupid- he regenerates Soundwave, who, a few turns later, proceeds to bring out more cassettes. Great. I just can't win. Anybody beat this level, tell me how!)
The graphics are pretty good, too, for such a tiny screen, particularly the close-up battle scenes. They're only a few seconds long, but they show close-ups of the characters taking shots at each other, and they're fun to watch, Metroplex in particular looks badass- it made me want to go play with the toy version.
The biggest downer for me is the seeming lack of accuracy as far as the characters' strengths and firepower. For example, sometimes Prime and Bumblebee will inflict the same damage on an enemy, or Soundwave will injure Prime far worse then Prime will Soundwave. Now, as I said before, I never followed the original series, so I'm not up on who's actually more powerful than who. The damage you can do and that you suffer does depend on your energy level, but it still seems out of proportion.
It's a fun game, and I find myself playing it a lot ("Too much."- wife), trying to figure out how to win, but sometimes just looking for Decepticons to shoot at. (I've been playing as I wrote this, and I just freed Prime and Metroplex from their Decepticon detention cells. I rule.) I got it thru AT&T for $6.99, full access, and I think it's totally worth it.