Sequels are often bigger and better than their predecessor, but sometimes the developers manage to take the same idea, do something similar but still manage to make it worse. Welcome to the world of Transformers: Rise of the Dark.
The review for Dark Spark has been some time coming, but as will be explained later in this review, that is probably no bad thing as this is essentially a solo experience with a Horde Mode added. The main campaign of the game follows the same style as the previous two Transformer games; War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron. You play as both the Autobots and the Decepticons and switch between the two to advance the story. Edge of Reality have replaced High Moon Studios as the developers on this game and rather than bring back the 3 player campaign co-op that made the first game a surprise hit, they have decided to stick with the Horde Mode that made the second game passable.
However, whilst it was a disappointment that Fall had no campaign co-op, the solo experience still held up. As we advance to Dark Spark, even this is no longer the case; we lose both co-op and decent gameplay. I understand that sequels are fraught with pitfalls; rehashing the same gameplay leads to the series growing stale, but in the case of Dark Spark, the gameplay is not only rehashed, but also slightly worse. Whatever balance to the running and gunning that High Moon brought to the franchise has somehow been lost in the handover to Edge of Reality.