I can't speak for everyone, but for me, Transformers started to lose its luster the moment Megatron fatally wounded Optimus Prime. It disconnected me from the series, but now that I'm an adult, I not only respect the gutsy decision to kill one of the most beloved characters, but I'm also thrilled that many of the older toys have been re-released. The franchise is reborn, and since just about every show/toy line has a videogame associated with it, Atari has answered the prayers of millions of fans with its upcoming, Transformers Armada for the PlayStation 2, an action adventure that tosses that Beast Wars nonsense out the window in favor of the traditional old school series, and it's one of this year's most anticipated titles.

In case you're a noob, the Transformers series has always been about the never-ending battle between the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons. The Autobots are guardians and champions of peace, while the Decepticons, led by their power-hungry leader, Megatron, look to dominate all life-giving planets in the universe. To accomplish this, Megatron's created a Decepticlone army, a horde of robots that have only one purpose: to destroy all of the Autobots. Led into battle by their leader, Optimus Prime, the Autobots are being crushed. All looks grim until they receive a distress signal from Earth. The third Transformers race, the Mini-Cons call for aid, and believing that they hold the key to winning the war, both Autobots and Decepticons race to Earth to find them.

Prelude to Energon is a single-player action adventure where you play as one of the following three Autobots: Optimus Prime, Hot Shot or Red Alert. Each has well over 20 different weapons to obliterate Decepticons, and they include rocket launchers, mines, sniper rifles, and missiles. You'll also have the ability to transform into each character's respective alter egos. I hope Atari includes the traditional "transform" noise from the cartoon!

The Mini Cons also come into play during battle. Placed into three categories, Enhancement, Weapon and Ability types, over 40 Mini Cons can be used to enhance your Autobot's abilities. Each character can hold four Mini Cons, making for well over 25,000 different combinations that'll grant you various offensive and defensive power-ups including EMP Blast, Stealth, and Sniper Rifle. You can even fight alongside an Autobot sidekick, though how well it'll fight for you remains to be seen. Most partners in videogames seem to be horrible shots and lag behind, but the concept is cool, and the Mini Con feature gives the game that "Gotta catch-em all" feeling that makes me all warm inside. It adds a much-needed layer of depth, which makes Transformers more than just a mindless shooter.

The Decepticlone army sounds all well and good but what I really want is to fight some of the show's most popular villains, and thankfully, Transformers fulfills that wish by throwing Megatron, Cyclonus, Tidal Wave, Unicron and Starscream into the mix, though I'm curious as to how you'll actually fight Unicron. Being that he's as big as a planet, I'm hoping it'll be a huge battle and not some corny he's-as-tall-as-I-am wimp-fest.

What I'm really iffy about is how Transformers Armada will play. I let the despicable Enter the Matrix (Also published by Atari.) slide because the films eventually choked on themselves, but this is Transformers! This is one of the most beloved franchises of all time! Will it be a ho-hum shooter plagued by the usual glitches and cookie cutter gameplay or will it be able to truly stand out? Something in between will be unacceptable, meaning that the pressure is truly on Melbourne House. I also hope the transformation process will be as seamless as possible. Having the game slow down as I transform will be quite disappointing.

While the quality of the gameplay is in question, I can't argue with the way Transformers looks. When I first saw screen shots, I thought I was looking at an Xbox game. It's absolutely gorgeous, and may very well be one of the best-looking PS2 games ever made. The environments are absolutely huge and detailed, though I've only seen some of the levels that take place on Earth (You'll also battle on the Transformer home world of Cybertron.). However, the character models are the real stars of the game. Each of the Transformers have been faithfully recreated and given slight upgrades to make them look even more bad ass. Trust me when I say that the whiny Starscream has never looked cooler. If the gameplay's as tight as the visuals, we'll be in for quite a surprise.

Transformers Armada looks incredible but it's going to be hit or miss. If Atari and Melbourne House pull this off, it'll only bolster my respect for the franchise and forever carve its legacy into the annals of pop culture, but if it fails, we're looking at a botched effort to appease the fans, and the game will quickly fall into the bargain bin (And Atari will be the recipient of a very angry Level 8-1 blog entry.). I'm crossing my fingers. Atari, don't disappoint us.