The Transformers video game for XBox 360 that was released with the first film was designed by Travelers Tails (company best known for Lego Starwars, Lego Batman, etc...). That game had many flaws in terms of control, overall simplicity, etc... It was a typical run-of-the-mil movie tie in game given little effort to work out the kinks or provide players with any depth of play.
This title is the first fruit from Activison's exclusive deal with Hasbro to bring TF console and PC games to market (there will be more time come and not all movie tie-ins either). While this game isn't perfect, it's a big leap forward in many areas. I'm written this review for those who've played the previous game, here's a short-list of what they've improved/fixed.
1. Melee combat is now challenging and viable. You can charge attacks, pull of combos, etc...
2. The targeting system is hugely improved. With primary and secondary weapons.
3. Once a Transformer has been unlocked (after using that Transformer in a mission) then that Transformer can be selected for any following mission (in other words, players aren't locked into playing a specific transformer for certain missions).
3. Each character has a unique ability (e.g. Rachet can heal, Bumblebee can stun).
4. Players earn points and can spend them on upgrades!
5. Vastly improved enemy AI (e.g. they transform and run evade when damaged then come back in).
6. On-line head to head multiplayer with different forms of combat (when you combine this with the improved melee and specialty abilities, it's quite nice)
I've only gotten about 1/4 of the way done with it, but it's almost as if Activision went down the list of players complaints and tried to make exactly the type of game we wanted. It's still a movie tie-in game in that you're playing out the movie, but it's done right.
Not sure what else I would add here. I suppose allowing two or more players to team up in the missions would be something to consider adding in the the next game, but overall this is quite nice. Kudos to the dev team!