Transformers: War for Cybertron is not another game based off the Michael Bay films in fact it’s as far away from those films as possible. Transformers: War for Cybertron is based off of the original first generation Transformers and has a completely original storyline.
The game's story is based around Megatron’s search for Dark Energon in order to turn the tides of battle in the civil war that is ensuing between the Decepticons and the Autobots. The game has two separate campaigns one for the Autobots and one for the Decepticons. You can pick which one you want from the start but the Decepticons’ campaign comes first in terms of story so you should start there. Both campaigns consist of five levels each and have some similarities like a flying level and a big boss fight at the end. While the campaigns are similar the Autobot one has more variety in the battles and is the better of the two.
Every level has three characters like say Optimus, Bumblebee and Ratchet and you get to select which one you want to play as while the others offer support. In all of the levels except for the flying ones I picked Optimus and Megatron because they’re the ones that the story revolves around. The others matter more for replaying the game and for co-op which for some reason is only available through online, no split screen. This is kind of a bummer because Transformers is such a huge franchise that everyone knows and you have probably played with friends using the toys before. I bring this up because when playing the game I had a lot of fun not just because the game is good but because I love Transformers and seeing this cool world and kicking all kinds off robotic ass would have been a great way to relive those childhood experiences with friends. While spilt screen is kind of annoying because of the smaller screens you usually have more fun with your friends when they’re right there on the couch and reliving that nostalgia together would have been a cool feature. While the single player is good it’s also short and clocks in at around 8 hours.
The gameplay is quite good it’s a third person shooter without a cover system which is interesting since every third person shooter in recent years has put a cover system in trying to replicate Gears of War. However it’s a good fit because you play as a giant robot you shouldn’t have to hide like a weakling you should charge in and tear them apart. You can switch to vehicle mode at any time with the push of a button even in mid-air in order to do some awesome moves where you charge off a jump as a vehicle, change in the air and start blasting everyone as you soar by. They also did a good job balancing the different classes in the VS. and Escalation modes. There are four different classes Leader (ex: Optimus), Solider (ex: Megatron), Scout (ex: Bumblebee) and Scientist (ex: Starscream). This along with the perks/upgrades you get in VS. help to change up the pace and keep things from getting repetitive. That being said I’m not a big fan of upgrades in multiplayer that are anything more than cosmetic because I believe it gives players an unfair advantage. Why should the experienced player who has played the game more and gotten used to all the abilities and maps get better weapons as well? I understand that it keeps players invested but you can do the same thing with titles, different looking armour and ranks if you make them easy enough to reach so that the player constantly feels rewarded. Escalation mode is a cool addition, similar to Firefight from Halo 3: ODST you fight through a never ending number of waves in order to see how long you and your friends can last. I say you and your friends because you won’t get anywhere on your own unlike ODST and Gears you need to get points by defeating enemies to buy weapons, health and ammo so you can’t last long by yourself. With friends however it’s a lot of fun the different classes work well together in order to provide the support needed to last through the battles.
The game also looks and sounds great it uses the Unreal 3 Engine which we all know looks amazing. The environments are all not only very detailed but super cool as well, I mean it’s the Transformers’ home world so the developers clearly had a field day designing all the unique mechanical structures and levels. The sound design in the game is also awesome everything sounds like it should from the blasters to the transformations which still have that awesome just like it used to. The voice acting is great as well especially Optimus since they got his original voice actor.
Transformers: War for Cybertron is a solid game. The combat is fun but not outstanding, the sound is great along with the visuals and if you’re a Transformers fan you should definitely check this one out. That being said it’s a short game so for all you Transformers fans it’s really up to you whether you should rent or buy it.
Score: 3/5
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