Hunt for the Decepticons

Hunt for the Decepticons is a promotion associated with the 2010 Transformers toyline.

Fiction

Optimus Prime needs you and Bumblebee to locate and battle Decepticons that are hidden on Earth in the Hunt for the Decepticons campaign. If you prove qualified by accomplishing three missions, you will be invited to train at a secret Autobot facility.

Mission 1

Axor is speeding in a tunnel next to a river in downtown Shanghai. Bumblebee goes to stop him before he destroys the tunnel and floods the city. Bumblebee repeatedly crashes into the Decepticon until he rolls over and stops. If Bumblebee is defeated, you are told that Axor is tough, and to take up pursuit once more.

Mission 2

Terradive is flying over the skies of Paris, waiting to attack the city's landmarks. You take an Autobot fighter jet to stop him. Though before you face off against Terradive, you must contend with three Jet drones. Though Terradive is quite agile and often evades your sights while firing missiles back at you, you manage to shoot him down and drive him off before running out of fuel.

Mission 3

Starscream is attacking a mine in South America in a bid to gather unbeatable amounts of energy. Bumblebee sends you in to fight him. A fierce battle ensues, as Starscream is much more powerful, but fighting cautiously brings you victory. With this mission's completion, you gain Optimus Prime's trust and are allowed to join the ranks of the Autobots.

Training

Before human allies are permitted to join in the hunt for Decepticon leader Megatron, they must train in four abilities (speed, strength, skill and fireblast) to prove their readiness. Additional training in each of these areas (unlocked through the use of still more Coordinate Codes) qualifies the trainee as a member of the Elite Guard.

From the training hub, not only can prospective Autobot allies take part in these training exercises, they can also print out an identification card and progress report, or read information about The Most Wanted Decepticons.

Mission 4

The final mission requires the defeat of Megatron. The Decepticon leader plans to attack New York City in retaliation for his troops being defeated by you and the Autobots. You must battle him within the city, using your blaster and your shield to defend yourself against the Decepticon leader. His defeat and subsequent retreat concludes the battle - for now. You are then recalled to the training facility so that your warrior friends can thank you for your efforts. Interested trainees may continue their training at the secret facility.

Gameplay

The first mission is a top-down view style driving game. You must use the arrow keys to steer Bumblebee through the streets of Shanghai, avoiding obstacles, while timing your turns to smash into Axor before he smashes into you. If you manage to flip over Axor, he is defeated and your first mission is complete.

The second mission is a first-person shooter style game. Your view is from within the cockpit of your "Autobot training facility issued fighter." You use your mouse to steer your jet up and down and from side to side. The cursor appears as cross-hairs on your screen, and is also used to target and fire on the drones that attack you, and ultimately Terradive when he appears. Pressing the "space" bar activates "Hyper Target Mode," which slows down the action and allows you to target multiple objects before things return to normal speed. Bringing Terradive's health bar down to zero completes the mission.

The third mission is another first-person shooter style game. Starscream leaps into view on different plateaus in view. The difficulty in hitting him with your blaster, aimed and fired using your mouse, varies as he moves closer or farther away, becoming a smaller or larger target. Starscream fights back as well, and in order to deflect his plasma bursts, you must press the "space" bar to activate your shield. Firing on objects near Starscream can also cause him to take damage. Once his life bar is emptied, Starscream is defeated and flees, completing the mission.

There are four different kinds of training sessions you need to complete in order to access the final mission; "speed," "fireblast," "strength," and "skill."

For Sideswipe's "speed" training, you must use your arrow keys to navigate an Autobot shield across a grid, making it cover a Decepticon shield on another section of the grid as quickly as possible. This must be done on multiple grids, which grow in size and complexity with each completed level. In the later levels, the Decepticon shield also changes spots on the grid, forcing the player to backtrack if they are not fast enough, and get to the shield's new location. Later still, the grid changes as the player navigates it, adding yet another level of difficulty. Making the Autobot shield go "off" the grid causes it to re-spawn at its point of origin.

For Bumblebee's "fireblast" training, you must use your mouse to keep you blaster aimed at a moving target. The longer your cross-hairs hover over the target, the more your power meter fills up, but this also causes the cross-hairs to shrink over time. You are only supposed to fire at the target when the color of its light and the color of your cross-hairs match. If you click to fire your blaster when the colors do not match, the blast does nothing. The training ends once you've destroyed enough targets.

For Ironhide's "strength" training, you must throw heavy spheres to break the barriers before you. You must avoid hitting Decepticon blocks, Autobot blocks give you double force on impact, purple magnetic blocks connect the surrounding blocks, green block are immovable and yellow blocks repel the sphere. Your mouse is used to "pick up" and "throw" the sphere by clicking and dragging it across the screen. In later levels, the blocks travel down the screen, making it more difficult to hit the correct blocks. The training ends once enough barriers have been brought down.

For Ratchet's "skill" training, you must move your mouse quickly to click on Decepticon shields as they appear across a grid. Moving too slowly means that the Decepticon shields might disappear before you get a chance to click them, but moving too quickly might yield screw-ups, by clicking on Autobot shields by accident. The grid increases as more levels are cleared. This training is also timed, with a certain number of Decepticon shields needing to be clicked on before the timer runs out, in order for the level to be cleared.

The final mission is identical in gameplay to the third mission against Starscream. Once more, your opponent hops about, and you must both blast him, while avoiding being blasted yourself by using your shield. Lowering Megatron's health bar to zero completes the mission.

Featured characters

The Most Wanted Decepticons

Available through the training facility are profiles and wallpapers of the Autobots' primary targets in the Hunt for the Decepticons. The intel passwords required to access this information can be found in several "Hunt for the Decepticons"-branded exclusives.

These Decepticons include:

• Bonecrusher - bonecrusher29 (The Fury of Bonecrusher)
• Devastator - devastator95 (Toys"R"Us Constructicon Devastator)
• The Fallen - thefallen24 (The Victory of the Fallen)
• Megatron - megatron09 (Megatron Rising, unreleased)
• Rampage - rampage05 (Rampage Among the Ruins)
• Ravage - ravage15 (The Ravage Infiltration)
• Sideways - sideways20 (Sideways Sneak Attack, unreleased)
• Starscream - starscream73 (Starscream's Assault)

Notes

• Before you enter the secret Autobot training facility, you are able to view footage of the Transformers' war on Cybertron. This footage is taken from the War for Cybertron video game.

External links

• Hunt for the Decepticons (offline)