Like most Transformers games, there's an Autobot and Decepticon campaign to choose from. The game follows the Broad Strokes of the movies, detailing the globe-trotting war between the Autobot-NEST Alliance and the Decepticons as they battle in Shanghai, Burbank, Princeton, New York City, the Laurentian Abyss, and Cairo. It's a Third-Person Shooter and is considered an improvement upon its predecessor in every facet. Aside from its singleplayer campaigns, the game was renowned for its multiplayer mode.
It had three different versions, all with completely different plots: the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 console version, the Wii version, and the Nintendo DS version.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen contains examples of:
- Adaptation Distillation: The Autobot campaign sums up the important parts of the film without most of the human side-plots.
- Adaptational Deviation: The Wii/PS2 versions are wildly different from the film and the other versions such as the Decepticons capturing Jetfire early on and Optimus battling Devastator in Shanghai.
- Adaptational Villainy: The Fallen is even more despicable than his film counterpart, betraying his most loyal minion.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the movie, Jetfire was a foul-mouthed old Cockney grouch. In the game, he's a wise, soft-spoken, posh sage.
- Adapted Out: Skids, Mudflap, Wheelie, the Arcee triplets, Jolt and Ravage are absent. Ratchet is also absent from the Decepticon campaign.
- Ascended Extra: A Long Haul drone is one of the playable characters for the Decepticons.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: In the Decepticon campaign, all the Autobots have to do is sit back and let Megatron slay the Fallen.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Surprisingly averted. Unlike the previous game, where the Decepticons won a decisive victory in their campaign, in this, the Fallen is still killed and the Star Harvester is still destroyed, thoroughly foiling the Decepticons' schemes. The only silver lining for them is that Megatron and Starscream have a new army to command as well as the fact that most of the Autobots are dead. This ending is taken from the original script of the movie.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the Decepticon Campaign, Megatron's killed the Fallen and the Star Harvester is destroyed but for the Autobots, Ironhide, Breakaway, Bumblebee and Jetfire are dead.
- Canon Foreigner: Breakaway was made specifically for the game, to give the Autobots their token flight-based character. He would later show up in the third game and in the comics.
- Combat Medic: Ratchet and Long Haul have powerful weapons such as a long-range grenade launcher and flamethrower respectively and can activate a Combat Repair Sequence which surrounds them with a large blue sphere rapidly regenerating their health and any Autobot or Decepticon who steps into it.
- Death by Adaptation: The Autobot campaign, which adapts most of the plot of the movie, sees Jetfire be mortally wounded some time before the final battle at the Star Harvester. Grindor also falls in battle before the same fight in Cairo which is roughly analogous to the forest battle in the film where he met his end.
- Dual Boss: Megatron and Starscream and Bumblebee and Jetfire are fought in the Autobot and Decepticon Campaign respectively in Egypt.
- Escort Mission: In Shanghai, Ratchet escorts a wounded Ironhide and Sideways escorts a wounded Grindor in their respective campaigns.
- Failure Is the Only Option: In the Autobots campaign, there's no way to stop Megatron from resurrecting in the Deep Six level.
- Final Boss: The Fallen, just like in the movie. He's this for both campaigns.
- Fragile Speedster: Bumblebee and Sideways are fast but their weapons are fairly weak and they have low health.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: The Decepticons seem to get along well enough but hate Starscream with a passion, and only tolerate him because he's the most powerful Decepticon and can't really be challenged, and because they know The Fallen is the one really in charge.
- Godhood Seeker: Megatron's goal in this is to become a Prime, as it's what the Fallen promised him.
- Guide Dang It!: Unlocking the other Autobots and Decepticons in each chapter save for the ones assigned for each mission is this such as in Egypt, having to glide a certain amount of meters as Powered-Up Optimus Prime.
- Jack of All Stats: Optimus Prime and Megatron are the most balanced of the playable characters.
- Mighty Glacier: Ironhide and Grindor are big and strong with moves centered around dealing as much damage as possible but are very slow.
- Mission Control: Optimus is this for the Autobots, while Soundwave and the Fallen are this for the Decepticons.
- Nigh-Invulnerability: Optimus Prime can activate "Valiant Leader" to keep his health from dropping to zero.
- Non-Standard Character Design: All of the Transformers are humanoids in roughly the same size range except for Demolisher and Devastator, who are giant, monstrous metal Kaiju that only appear as bosses in the Autobot campaign.
- Suddenly Voiced: Grindor, Sideways and Long Haul are given voices courtesy of Fred Tatasciore, John DiMaggio and Neil Kaplan when they were silent in the film.
- The Unfought: Soundwave in the Autobots campaign and Ratchet in the Decepticon campaign.
- Retraux: Optimus, Megatron, and Starscream all get G1 skins in the DLC.
- Spared By Adaptation: Surprisingly, Optimus doesn't die in either campaign, not even the Decepticon one, even when he's defeated.
- The Svengali: The Fallen's mentorship of Megatron is built on the lie that he can bestow Primehood onto him.
- Treacherous Advisor: The Fallen is this to Megatron, serving as his Mission Control all game before betraying him.
- Vocal Dissonance: The cowardly and sniveling Starscream, who usually has the screechy voice to match, is here gravelly like in the first film. As a matter of fact, he has the deepest voice of all the Decepticons, even deeper than Megatron or the Fallen. The change to Starscream's voice evidently was a late decision in production as while Starscream still sounds this way in the game, he has Charlie Adler's unprocessed voice in the movie. Adler's unprocessed voice is also used for his G1 skin.
- The Voiceless: Subverted. Unlike in the movie, Bumblebee's voice box is fixed, so he talks normally.
- Villain Protagonist: The Decepticons in their respective campaign.
