Transformers Movie Chess Set Review

MSRP: $30 U.S.
Released: June 2007

    Every property needs a chess set, it seems, and Transformers is certainly no exception-- in fact, a Transformers chess set is definitely long overdue, if you ask me. This chess set, based off of the movie designs, is fairly straightforward, with different Transformers characters from the movie taking the places of the chess pieces.
    On the Decepticon side, Megatron is the king (of course), Starscream the queen, Barricade the bishop, Blackout the knight, Bonecrusher the rook, and Decepticon emblems the pawns. Conversely, on the Autobot side, Optimus Prime of course is the king, while Ironhide is the queen, Jazz the bishop, Bumblebee the knight, Ratchet the rook, and Autobot emblems the pawns. Using just faction emblems for the pawns is my only real problem with the pieces-- that idea just seems rather lazy to me instead of putting another Transformer in its place. I understand the conundrum on the Autobot side, since there are only five Autobots in the movie and six different chess pieces, but surely something less symbolic could have been used, like maybe generic drone robots or military tanks. And for the Decepticons, of course, Frenzy or Scorponok could have been used for the pawns.  As a smaller aside, I also would have preferred Brawl to be used as the rook instead of Bonecrusher, simply because of how little screentime Bonecrusher actually got in the movie.

    All of the chess pieces are extremely well-sculpted, with very intricate, movie-accurate detailing on all of the figures-- even on their bases are full of metallic detailing like wires and cylinders. And all of the pieces are coated with a black paint wash to bring out all the details, which is actually better than painting them like toys, in my opinion-- at this small scale, at this price point, the painted details would have no doubt looked rather sloppy. Using gold for the Autobots and silver for the Decpeticons was another good choice, as silver has a more sinister feel to it while gold has a more heroic feel. Another nice detail is that all of the pieces have the traditional symbol for its respective chess piece on its base, so that no one gets confused about which Transformer is which chess piece. The only exception I have to make to the excellent detailing is Bonecrusher-- he's still very intricately detailed, but his sculpt is off when compared to how he looks in the movie. He's a bit too tall in proportion to his width (so some of that was no doubt to get him to fit in the normal dimensions of a chess square), and his head design is also all wrong, for some odd reason.
    The chess board design is also extremely well-done and had a lot of creativity put into it. It still has the same standard differently-colored chess board squares, but the squares are light blue and "computerized" in their look. Plus, the chess board as a whole is over a map of Earth, which was a great idea-- have the sides battle for control of the planet, instead of just a nondescript battlefield. Another nice touch on the board is that the Autobot side of the board has Optimus Prime-like details on it, with flames and all, while the Decepticon side of the board has Megatron-like sharp silver details on it.

    The only real downer when it comes to this chess set is that there are no modified "Transformers rules" for chess whatsoever. I mean, I hardly expected them to reinvent or drastically change the game, but a few extra rules might be nice, just to spice things up a little and make it a bit less like "chess, but with Transformers".
    As a whole, the Transformers chess set is a pretty good product for any Transfan who is even moderately interested in chess. It's still just as strategic as ever, and with an excellent game board design and game pieces sculpt. It is rather disappointing that there are no extra "Transformers rules" to add to the game, and a few things like using allegiance emblems for pawns could have been done better, but overall it's a worthy addition to the Transformers Movie product lineup.

Fun: 19/20
Creativity: 8/10
Board/Game Pieces Design: 20/25
Extra/Modified Rules: 0/15
Game Balancing: 15/15
Depth: 15/15

Overall Rating: 77/100 Good
 

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