Revenge of the Fallen features two sizable campaigns, Decepticon and Autobot, which loosely follow the plot of the movie. The plot is conveyed through voice-acted dialogues and intermittent cutscenes that look like a botched attempt to visualize what goes on inside a computer. While the voice acting is well done and the music is sufficiently dramatic, the sound effects are just awful. Explosions, robotic clanks, and power-up twinkles all blend together in a muddled, muted cacophony that is drowned out by the incessant sound of your guns. Laser beams are merely monotonous, but machine guns are aggressively bad. As in, a kindergarten class armed with pots and wooden spoons bad. And because you shoot your guns almost constantly throughout every level, the only respite is to turn the volume down from the main menu. This takes away the offending effects and leaves the dramatic music in a strange auditory limbo that, sadly, is your best option aside from total muting.

The action plays out from an isometric viewpoint that gives you a more or less top-down view of whatever corridor you are currently traversing. City streets, parks, construction yards, and enemy fortresses are just some of the varied environments you’ll visit. They are adequately detailed and filled with destructible items that you can usually explode and walk over without issue. Sometimes, however, these explosions will knock you down or the leftover debris will trip you up. This inconsistency is annoying and can also be dangerous when you are beset by hordes of enemies.

To deal with your foes you have a primary gun that you can (and will) fire almost constantly. You can pick up upgrades that increase your firepower, and these come in very handy. While shooting, you enter strafe mode, meaning you have to press the L and R buttons if you want to change the direction you are facing. Initially this is a bit cumbersome, but you’ll soon get the hang of it and be able to circle-strafe around enemies with ease. Other power-ups include ammo for your beefy secondary gun, a protective shield, an electrically charged shield that damages enemies, a temporary holographic double, and invisibility (yes, Transformers can apparently become invisible). Every enemy you destroy drops energy cubes that power your special attack (damages all enemies in the area) and signature attack (varies from character to character). You’ll have to use all the abilities at your disposal to get through the game because though the first levels are quite easy, later levels are a good deal more difficult.

Revenge of the Fallen makes things harder for you by throwing more enemies at you and making them tougher. Blasting some of them can take quite a while if your gun isn’t upgraded, so you’ll need to make good use of your melee attack. While some enemies are clever enough to back away when you approach them, others just stand and wait for your one or two blows to destroy them. You pack a powerful punch, but the melee button is kind of slow to respond, so you’ll often end up delivering a three-hit combo when you only wanted to hit once. This sluggishness also allows enemies to step out of range, but the same sluggishness does not apply to enemies because their punches often land even if you’ve dodged out of the way.