====================================================================== __ ___ / /________ ____ ___ / _/__ ______ _ ___ _______ / __/ __/ _ `/ _ \(_-
problems. However, take note that if a jet come towards you head-on, 
it'll usually send some shots towards you as well. Be prepared to lose 
some health as you pursue them. 

If you really need health, there should be helicopters and non-target 
planes flying around. Blast them, wait for the health icons to appear 
(not all give health boosts this time round), and then fly towards the 
icons to pick them up. If this is really too hard to perform, make 
sure that there are no red dots on the map, transform into robot mode, 
land, and then shoot the helicopters above for health boosts. This 
obviously takes more time than simply shooting in the air, but the 
health icons are guaranteed when you shoot the choppers from ground 
level.

Thereafter, it's just flying around looking for red dots on the map. 
If you happen to be behind one jet, speed forward and then lock-on 
for an easy kill. When you're at about 10-12, you'll find that it's 
more difficult to find the red dots. There's nothing else you can do 
except to continue flying around, searching for them. 

The game is quite forgiving in a sense that, if you've hit about 16 
with about 30 seconds to go, the jets will appear in pairs for you to 
hit. Whether you can hit them all before the time expires is entirely 
up to you though. I could never do it when time is running out, scoring 
19 on a few occasions, and then eventually getting all 20 with more 
than a minute to go. I guess it's just hit and miss.

Once you down all 20, the mission will end.

NOTE: On a sidenote, "Fire in the Sky" is the title for the G1 
episode that introduces Skyfire (Jetfire). 


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            SOCCENT MILITARY BASE: END
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
B. THE HUNT FOR SAM WITWICKY                                [ TFTG29 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 1: ROUGH JUSTICE                               [ TFTG30 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This chapter is so straightforward that I initially intended to skip 
explaining it altogether. Basically, just hit the green marker to 
start the mission, and then start whacking Autobots when they appear.
Kill all of them (I think they come in groups of four or something), 
and then race to another action zone when you have to. These Autobots 
are all easy meat. Some may use the swinging trick, but you shouldn't 
have problem with a swinging robot at this stage.

Basically, just kill all the Autobots and the chapter will end.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 2: RACE FOR FRENZY                             [ TFTG31 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You're still Barricade. Your task here is to find Frenzy. It seems 
that he has been held captive by some goons, but his exact location is 
unknown. Instead, a yellow icon on the screen gives a vague location 
of him. 

When you reach the area, you'll find some buildings with health bar 
above them. Simply destroy a few buildings, and you'll hit a cut-scene 
showing the Frenzy's captor speeding off to the next location. 

Chase after them, but there's really no need to win the race because 
they'll eventually stop. This location will be shown as another yellow 
icon on the map. Same concept here. Just drive there and bash the 
buildings until they escape with Frenzy again. 

From here on, you'll need to repeat the chasing-and-destroying sequence 
until the mission ends. Take note that at the initial few locations, 
destroying a couple of buildings will do. But at the later locations, 
you'll have to tear down more buildings.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 3: PURSUIT                                     [ TFTG32 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Barricade finally gets to take on Bumblebee here. The Autobot is going 
to the police station, and you'll need to stop him from doing so. 
Race after him, and make sure to fire a few rounds at him when doing 
so. As you continue to wear down his health, he'll transform, and a 
boss fight will ensue.

Bumblebee's most powerful attack is some sort of a radial attack. This 
sends a shockwave towards you that knocks you away, as well as take 
out a significant amount of health. In the early stages of the fight, 
the game will tell you to "press LT to block" whenever Bumblebee uses 
this attack. As you block, you'll find yourself standing firm in the 
midst of the radial blast. 

Bumblebee needs some time to charge up another attack, so use this 
opportunity to get closer to him. Get ready to block again when he's 
about to unleash the attack. Repeat this a few times until you're 
close enough to melee him. 

Some time after you reduce his health, he'll repeat the blast attack. 
Simply recycle the block-and-get-close sequence, and you should be ok. 
It's easy to tell when he's about to do that attack - there'll be a 
blue barrier around him. 

Once you've defeated Bumblebee, he'll escape. There's a time limit 
to the next location, so quickly hit the gas and reach there. Here, 
you'll have to fight tons of Autobots. Although they're easy meat, 
the sheer numbers may just wear you down a little. Just make sure you 
pick up the health icons that a dead robot leaves behind when you've 
the chance. Once you take down all of them, the chapter ends.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 4: PLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE                     [ TFTG33 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This battle is similar to the Bumblebee vs Barricade ones from the 
Autobots campaign. Bumblebee still uses that radial attack of his, 
so you know what to do here. He also has more health here, so the 
battle may take some time to complete.

Once you reduce his health to a certain point, he'll escape. Transform 
into car mode and give chase, bearing in mind that you don't really 
need to chase him. Instead, just ensure that you reach the next green 
marker first.

Another fight against Bumblebee occurs after you hit the marker. Fight 
him, and then race to yet another green marker. Repeat this until the 
last checkpoint, which happens to be the power plant again. 

Note that there'll be some Autobot minions here to distract you. You 
can conveniently ignore them unless they piss you off too much. Also,
try your best not to get hit by the gas cylinders here. Other than that, 
it's just another simple fight against Bumblebee until his demise.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        THE HUNT FOR SAM WITWICKY: END
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
C. A GATHERING FORCE                                        [ TFTG34 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 1: CLEARING THE AIR                            [ TFTG35 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You're Starscream here. You need to destroy several radio towers at 
five different locations. Each location has, like, 5-6 towers for you 
to shoot at. It should be a rather straightforward mission, but it 
isn't. This is because the radio towers are transmitting signals that 
are interfering with yours. As a result, your map is now disabled. It 
now looks like a broken down TV screen.

To do this, you'll need to fly around the military area to search for 
the towers. As you approach an area that has the towers, your map will 
show an action zone and some red icons. Land within the zone and 
destroy all the towers with whatever means you see fit. The towers all 
have health bars over them, so they're hard to miss.

Repeat this for four more times, and you're good to go. The main issue 
here is finding the areas with towers. Note that you'll have a time 
limit (me thinks 45+ seconds) to find them as well, but once you land 
within an action zone, you can take your time with destroying the 
structures.

Good luck!


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 2: SINISTER SAVIOUR                            [ TFTG36 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a typical escort mission, in which you (still Starscream) have 
to help Bonecrusher escape the base. From where you begin, you should 
see Bonecrusher (in robot mode) being attacked by electrical, er, 
stuff. Take aim on each of them, and use your light weapon (it's 
faster) to destroy them. As usual, all these electrical weapons have 
health bars over them.

Once you destroy every weapon in this area (all the red icons on the 
map will disappear), Bonecrusher will transform and drive off. Follow 
close to him until the next action zone, and repeat the attacks on 
those weapons. As with before, once they're gone, Bonecrusher drives 
off. Follow close to him until the next zone again to shoot the next 
set of weapons.

You'll have to repeat this a few times. In some areas, some tougher 
Autobots may greet you. If they get too close to you, kill them by 
using the throwing-and-melee technique. But I'd suggest to simply 
ignore them. Bonecrusher's health deterioriates very quickly, and any 
time you have should be used to destroy those damn weapons. 

When you finish the last set, Bonecrusher escapes, and you're done 
here.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 3: FIREWORKS                                   [ TFTG37 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This chapter is like the previous "Fire in the Sky" mission. There are 
10 jets to destroy here, and each has a data for your retrieval. After 
you shoot down a jet, it'll crash and its remains will land somewhere 
on the map, depicted by a green dot. You need to get to this green dot 
and pick up the remains to download the data. 

Sounds like tough.

My advice here is to avoid flying around aimlessly while trying to 
find a jet to shoot at. Instead, once you begin, transform and land. 
Then, toggle your camera to look around the skies. Once you see traces 
of a jet, quickly transform, fly towards it, lock-on, and unleash one 
heavy weapon shot at it. The jets here only take one heavy shot to go 
down.

Once a jet is down, transform and land, then download the data. Repeat 
the process of looking around for jets, and then fly towards them for 
the kill. If you get the chance to shoot more than one jet, do so, 
and then download the respective data as well. If you're lucky, you 
can even try to shoot a jet down from ground level if it's flying low.

That's about it here. The reason I choose to land and look around for 
jets is that, when flying, it's difficult to see where the jets are, 
even though you may see a red dot near you. This is because sometimes, 
the jets could fly above you, and sometimes they could fly below you. 
Just steering around in midair is nausea-inducing enough, and this 
makes aiming difficult. 

As usual, if you're hurt, shoot some choppers for health icons. I also 
notice that the jets here give out a fair amount of health boosts as 
well, so by shooting down a jet, you may just replenish some health 
as well.

Also, if you manage to do this chapter with more than 2:30 remaining, 
you'll unlock the "Sharp Shooter" achievement for 40G. I think it's 
tough to do so, but using my method, I finished the chapter with 
slightly more than two minutes remaining, so with some perseverance 
and luck, you may just get it.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 4: WARPATH                                     [ TFTG38 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

This chapter is similar to "Sinister Saviour". It seems that Bone-
crusher is in trouble again, and this time round, Brawl also joins in 
the distress party. Your objective is the same - destroy the weapons 
that are attacking both of them. Instead of weird electrical weapons, 
the object to shoot at is more conventional - tanks.

The only difference here is that both Bonecrusher and Brawl are 
escaping the base at different areas. Once you begin, take out all 
the tanks, and Brawl will transform and drive off. You'll then be told 
to reach the next action area within a time limit (can't remember how 
long), which is where Bonecrusher is. Fly towards there and destroy 
the tanks there. 

As expected, once you down all the tanks, Bonecrusher will drive off. 
You'll then need to race to where Brawl is, and so and so forth. Just 
alternate between Bonecrusher's and Brawl's location while destroying 
tanks, until you reach the final checkpoint 


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                A GATHERING FORCE: END
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
D. CITY OF MACHINES                                         [ TFTG39 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 1: NOWHERE TO RUN                              [ TFTG40 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You're Barricade, and you've a boss fight against Jazz here. He's easy 
to beat. No fancy radial attacks here. Simply get close and rain melee 
attacks on him. When's he down, you may even want to pick him up and 
throw him against the building or something for some serious damage.

When you deplete his health bar, he'll transform and drive off. You'll 
need to chase after him now from checkpoint to checkpoint. There's a 
time limit here as well, so just do your best to stick close to him.

While chasing him, you must also keep shooting at him. Relentless 
light weapon shots should wear down his health quickly. Once you've 
hurt him enough, he'll transform into robot mode again.

You can then kick his ass once more until he's dead.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 2: ENERGON OVERLOAD                            [ TFTG41 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Scorponok appears now for a final flourish. YOu need to go around 
destroying insect drones (similar to those found in the Hoover Dam). 
There's no fixed amount to kill here, but if you take note of the top 
left side of the screen, you may notice a counter. 

Unlike typical counters, this counter actually depletes as you kill 
the drones. However, once you get idle, the counter will rise again. 
So, the trick here is to quickly kill off as many drones as possible. 
It's only when you constantly keep the pressure up, that the counter 
will decrease to zero eventually.

And when the counter reaches zero, the chapter is completed. 

If you're having problems keeping up with the pressure, remember that 
Scorponok can dive underground to move quicker. Use the maps to find 
the locations of the drones (red dots), and then head towards those 
areas for quick kills. 


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 3: THE MIGHTY WILL FALL                        [ TFTG42 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You're Blackout, and you need to kill the mighty Ironhide. Many people 
tell me that this is the hardest boss fight in the entire game. I tend 
to agree, but as with all the boss fights in this game, there's also 
a pattern that Ironhide uses. Once you get used to it, you should 
have no problems defeating him... even though it may still take some 
time.

Once the battle begins, avoid Ironhide at all costs. If you check the 
map, he should be that one blue Autobot icon that stays still all the 
time. During this moment, if you get close to him, he'll unleash a 
powerful radial blast that will take out a large portion of your 
health.

On the map, you'll also see plenty of moving blue Autobot icons. These 
are drones that you'll need to take out. The first wave is easy, just 
do the usual melee attack and they should be gone. It's when these 
drones are destroyed that Ironhide will start bulldozing towards you. 

Avoid his movement, and then quickly pick up an object. When he stops 
and look around (just like Megatron in the Autobot Campaign), throw 
the item at him. This will stop his bulldozing action.

Now, you can get close to melee him. A few punches and he'll fall to 
the ground. Quickly pick him up, and throw him away. This throwing 
action will damage him more than mere melee attacks. 

When he gets up, he'll charge up a blue barrier. If you're quick, 
you'll also notice that the moving blue Autobot icons have reappear 
again. Run, I repeat, run away from Ironhide as if your life depends 
on it. If you're too slow, he'll do that powerful radial blast again. 

From here, it's just the matter of killing all the drones, avoiding 
Ironhide's bulldoze action, melee-attacking him, and picking-and-
throwing him for damages. 

You'll have to do this for about five times (I think). Take note that 
the later waves of drones are tougher to beat. They include the 
typical spinners, bulldozers and fire-streamers. You've beaten them 
before, so just repeat the tricks to get them out off the radar. 

The challenge here is obviously keeping alive when under severe 
pressure from the drones. At times, you may also find that some drones 
will be sort of "stuck" near Ironhide. When this happens, do not ever 
try to approach them head-on. Ironhide will see you, and will do that 
attack on you.

Instead, take the risk and leave the action zone by the sides, and 
then fly (nitros) quickly to the side/ back of that drone. Re-enter 
the action zone to "lure" the drone away from Ironhide, and then do 
your attack on it.

Also, take note that if you're punching a drone near the edge of the 
action zone, and if you happen to punch it out of the zone, it may 
simply respawn at the other side of the "circle". It's a really stupid 
glitch, and this kind of things are exactly what make this game 
frustrating to play.

Anyway, once you survive the ordeal and take down Ironhide, you'll 
finally get to control Megatron... in the next chapter.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
   - CHAPTER 4: DEVASTATION                                 [ TFTG43 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Meatron (that is, you!) has decided to go on a rampage in the city so 
as to lure Optimus Prime out from his shell. You've 1:30 to raise the 
destruction meter to 100%. This is similar to the very first mission 
of the campaign. Just use heavy weapons to shoot all the buildings 
here, and you'll achieve this target in no time.

Now, you'll need to get to an action zone before a time limit (40+ 
seconds, I think). Get into jet plane and fly towards there quickly. 
Here, you'll find a truckload of Autobot drones to kill. I lost count 
of how many, really, but it's really a cheap way to lengthen the game 
in my opinion. You'll get the run-of-the-mill drones, as well as the 
usual spinners and bulldozers. Just kill them all, and make sure that 
you stay alive.

Once done, you'll have 1:15 to destroy more buildings. You need to 
reach 100% destruction here, but there's a problem. Since you've been 
killing drones here, chances are the buildings here would have already 
been destroyed. Shooting them will not net you a high percentage, if 
any at all. 

Therefore, you should quickly transform and fly to another area with 
undamaged buildings, and then start the rampage again until you reach 
100%.

Another action zone awaits you, so quickly fly there before the time 
limit. Here, you'll find more drones to kill. Gosh, how many drones 
did the Autobots bring to Earth? Anyway, you'll need to kill them all 
before you can go on your destruction again. The same enemies greet 
you, so just ensure that you can stay alive amidst the mayhem.

When they're gone, you'll have 1:00 to achieve another 100% damage 
rating. As with before, fly off to an area with undamaged buildings, 
and do your thing. You should have enough time to make it.

Once you get this last 100%, you'll notice a stationary logo on the 
map. Fly towards there (at the middle of Central Park), and you'll 
find an extremely tall tower. You'll need to "do a King Kong" and 
climb to the top of this tower. 

Once you reach the top (pretty cool), the chapter will finally end. 

NOTE: The game froze on me, twice, when I was playing this chapter. 
It was extremely frustrating, to say the least.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 CITY OF MACHINES: END
----------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------
E. DAY OF THE MACHINES                                      [ TFTG44 ]
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, the final battle against Optimus Prime. Compared to Ironhide, 
Optimus is a much easier fight. Once the battle begins, close in and 
spam melee attacks on him. Once his health bar is depleted, he'll run 
away. Take note of the direction that he runs to, since your map is 
once again down, and you'll need to chase him later.

Before you can do so, however, you'll need to take down a few Autobot 
drones. They're the easier ones, so just dispose them, transform, and 
fly towards Optimus' direction. If you're unsure, just head towards 
the north a little (based on the map - you've got to have some faith 
in your directional sense for this one), and then east, and you should 
arrive at the Central Park. Once you're near, you should see a green 
dot on the map. Head towards the green dot to start another cut-scene.
Take note that there's a time limit here, so you if you fail to reach 
the green dot in time, it's game over.

Fight Optimus again as per usual. Once his health is gone, he runs 
again. This time round, you've an armored bot to deal with. This bot 
can be defeated like the one in the "A Friend in Need". Basically, 
you'll throw something at him to get him down, and then pick him up 
and throw him again. Do this three times and he's gone.

Take out the other drones, and then quickly beat the timer to reach 
the southeast portion of the city. You'll find Optimus here again, so 
fight him as usual, and take out the drones when he runs. This time 
round, you'll face one armored bot and one spinner. Kill them, and 
Take note of Optimus' escape route as usual.

From where Optimus escaped to, fly left, and then right to reach an 
area with tables and umbrellas. Take out Optimus again to make him 
run. You'll have to fight a spinner and a fire-streamer/ flamthrower/ 
whatever you call him. Note that the umbrellas here are good, light 
weapons to pick up for throwing at the two of them.

Once done, fly back to somewhere near the Central Park to find Optimus 
again. It's the end of flying around now. Just defeat him one more 
time, and you'll emerge victorious.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             DAY OF THE MACHINES: END
----------------------------------------------------------------------


======================================================================

======================================================================
7. CONCLUSION
======================================================================
I apologize for taking so long to complete this guide. I suffered an
accident while playing Street Soccer last Thursday, and have been 
hospitalized for concussion afterwards. I've been discharged now, but 
I still suffer from post-concussion symptoms. I'll continue the rest 
of this guide when I feel better. Meanwhile, at least the walkthrough 
section of it is completed.

As a result, any feedback/ pointers/ tips that you sent to me from now 
till the day I return, they may not be updated. Please be patient with 
me as I embark thihs journey to recovery. 

Last but not least, thanks for using my guide. I hope it's of use to 
you. 


======================================================================

======================================================================
APPENDIX 1. VERSION HISTORY
======================================================================
Version 0.70: Autobots Campaign completed. 50% of Decepticons Campaign 
complete (7/11).
Version 0.90: Decepticons Campaign almost done (7/12).
Version 1.00: Some minor updates on my concussion situation. Guide 
completed (7/15).


======================================================================

======================================================================
APPENDIX 2. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
======================================================================
TBC.


======================================================================

======================================================================
APPENDIX 3. CREDITS
======================================================================
Activision/ Traveller's Tales
Hasbro/ Takara
Jason Murray
Hadrian
ASCII Generator (@ http://www.network-science.de/ascii/): For the 
banner above.


======================================================================
Copyright Lestor Wong 2007.