TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK - Expedition

My first honest reaction when the transform mechanic clicked was genuine surprise - racing full speed in car mode, hitting a ramp, and landing a combo punch mid-air is exactly the kind of thing a Transformers game should deliver, and Expedition earns real credit for getting that one thing right. The problem is that a five-to-six-hour game can't coast on a single satisfying mechanic when everything surrounding it is this thin. The structure is straightforward: three open biomes - a Canyon Road, a Jungle Citadel, and a Glacial Mountain - each divided into objectives you need to complete before Mandroid's stronghold unlocks for a boss fight. Those objectives are taking over outposts that become fast-travel points, destroying drilling equipment, running timed races, collecting Cybertronian glyphs and trading cards, and fighting enemy gauntlets with a time limit. Sound good on paper. The catch is that the activity list is identical across all three zones, and the enemy roster largely recycles the same bot types as larger or smaller variants. Repetition sets in fast for anyone who has played an open-world game before - which, to be fair, may not be the eight-year-old this is aimed at. Combat has more going for it than the structure does. Tessera borrowed the Arkham rhythm - a perfect dodge drops you into brief bullet time, you chain combos, you launch between enemies. Abilities and combo upgrades unlock as you progress, including a Charged Shot and a Nitro Boost that can be woven into melee chains when you flip between vehicle and robot form. There is a light skill tree and some RPG-flavored upgrade options for health and power. None of it is deep, but for a younger player it is a comfortable introduction to the idea that timing and combos matter. Adult players will exhaust the mechanical ceiling well before the credits roll. The presentation is a mixed bag. Visually the game is colourful and cartoony in a way that suits the EarthSpark cartoon's aesthetic, and it holds up reasonably across hardware generations. Audio is the weaker half - sound effects land well, but the music leaves no impression, and none of the TV show's voice cast returns for the game. Sound-alikes fill every role, which will disappoint fans of the series regardless of how competent the replacements are. Technical polish is also lacking: floaty platforming, respawning enemies that materialize face-down out of thin air, occasional clipping, and invisible walls that nudge Bumblebee back into bounds are all present. None of it is game-breaking, but none of it is invisible either. Accessibility options are genuinely solid - variable difficulty, assisted driving, directional threat warnings, and a customisable control layout mean younger or less experienced players can tune the experience to suit them. If you have a Transformers-obsessed kid in the house who watched EarthSpark on Paramount Plus, this is probably the best available option in that specific lane. For anyone else - older fans, genre-curious adults, or players chasing depth - the loop wears thin within the first biome and the six-hour runtime feels padded rather than earned. Play it in short sessions if you do pick it up, and keep your expectations calibrated to its actual audience.

Alex · Scout Team

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