Transformers: War for Cybertron

Transformers robots on Cybertron say what? That's right boys and girls Brandon's back and I finally got around to playing Transformers War for Cybertron. For those of you who know me you know that last year I put Fall of Cybertron on my top 5 games of the year. Well this game sadly is no where near that caliber of a game. The story in this one wasn't nearly as good it felt like the cartoon with how the plot was, but I'll get into that later.

The plot is simple and easy if you play it in chronological order that is. See you can start out playing as the Decepticons; which why wouldn't you or you can start out on level six and play as the Autobots. If say you are a huge Autobot fan and can't wait to play them then you will end up missing what is basically the beginning of the game. It isn't crucial that you play it but it does help. If you start out right playing as the villains you can play as Megatron or two other a**holes that I honestly never heard of. The basic plot for the Decepticons is to harvest dark energon and use it to corrupt the planet of Cybertron and rule it. Or evil villainous plot number 845 seriously is it just me or are you sick and tired of seeing the same generic take over the world thing happening over and over. My biggest problem with the Decepticon's campaign is the fact I can only play as two know Decepticons Megatron and Soundwave. They don't have Shockwave or Starscream as playable characters. That got a bit annoying if I do say sir, the lack of characters was sad to me but I guess they couldn't blow their load on the first game. The Autobot campaign was much better but still lacking in anything truly interesting. I was happy to see I recognized the characters but lets be honest we all would just play Optimus Prime the whole time because he is a bad mother f*****. They're campaign consist of stopping the corruption of Cybertron and saving their allies. The thing I noticed was both campaigns play out exactly the same. They have fights with Starscream in the beginning, they both have to fight a boss that has weaker enemies do their fighting, and at the end they have to fight a giant robot for whatever reason. Essentially you replay the game just with a different background. Overall the story doesn't compare to what Fall of Cybertron has.

The voice acting is good but I just believe that they were given s***** lines. Some of the crap they say is just so d*** cheesy it amazes me that they were told to even say it. The characters are very one dimensional just like they are in the cartoons and movies each has their one quark that they stay with the entire game. Examples, Starscream is constantly trying to take over the Decepticons, Megatron is always saying I will destroy you, and Optimus is a real goodie goodie. The sound effects are amazing I was truly impressed by all the woo wah sounds. Those were robot sounds people just cut me some slack.

The game looks average it did come out three years ago but I wasn't anything I was impressed with. I also have to say I enjoyed the character models a lot and I mean a lot but Cybertron got old quick. I understand their home world is one giant robot but Jesus I got tired at look at brown metal s***.

The game plays fairly well and I enjoyed the game for what it is worth. This is where the game loses me though because once you play the first three levels that is the entire frigging game. Eight hours was the perfect amount of time for this game if it was any longer it would've p****** me off. They have about seven enemy types and no cinematic experiences worth a s***, this was truly lack luster. The game could be challenging and they do that Halo thing where you never have enough ammo to finish a level so you are constantly switching guns which would be OK if some of the guns weren't total garbage d***. Vehicle mode is only useful in one level of the game that is in space otherwise it is only there when they make you do it. Even better is the fact I had some glitches that hurt the game for me.

Overall even with the complaints this game isn't bad. I played a little online and that seemed sort of shoehorned in. If you do find this game for eight dollars like I did then you won't be disappointed. If you are a huge Transformers fan boy you will nitpick more then I did, if you happen to just like robots kicking the s*** out of each other this is worth checking out. I say this is a bargain bin purchase it. I give this a plain ole C.

While it is a by the books in terms of gameplay, and as a game and doesn't change anything in gaming, as a TF game, It manages to stay faithful to the Source Material with it's investing story, gameplay that allows you to take weapons, but also Transform into a vehicle. While may be disappointing that the side you choose after another has more abilities than the way you play, this nonetheless is the best TF game along with, FoC and Devastation.

"War for Cybertron", ideal for getting your Autobot and action game fix in the same place. This was a happy surprise for me, to say the least. For one thing, it's a lot of fun, and a great excuse to run around the machine world blasting stuff. Two, and here's the nice thing, it harks back to the '80s.

It makes me wish Michael Bay had gone for something like this for the live-action movies. It's got screaming guitar rock that seems appropriate for his stuff, but it's also got characters with personalities, bot designs that aren't eyesores, and the general feel that Transformers is supposed to have.

And I'm thankful for all of it.

8/10

Dull story and average run of the mill gameplay. Probably shouldn't expect much from a kiddie game like this. But make me.

To date Transformers: War for Cybertron is the best Transformers game. Followed closely by its sequel, Fall of Cybertron.

The gameplay feels flawless and frenetic. Every time I died I thought, "yeah, I deserved that." Perfectly-paced, refusing to slow down at all the right moments, the level design is varied and engaging. Transforming is quick and flows perfectly during combat. There are enough power-ups scattered throughout to complete the game on Easy and Normal difficulties without too much frustration. I almost felt like I was playing a movie at times, like when playing as Megatron and fighting Omega Supreme, transforming into tank form, firing off a couple rounds and viewing that from an exciting angle... it's visually cinematic greatness. What an EPIC boss fight!

Getting to play as both Autobots AND Decepticons is so satisfying. Not enough games allow us to play as the antagonists /villains during the main story, as that option is mostly reserved for multiplayer jiggama-jag. The single-player campaign is so damn solid in War for Cybertron, so playing as the baddies is icing on this tasty cake. I absolutely loved playing as Megatron, tearing through unworthy foes and traitors.

The cinematics' visuals are fine and are the only thing that inevitably date this game's graphics in a less-than-great way. (The voice-acting, however, is SUPERB.) The graphics during gameplay are very good, and I was never too confused by a lack of visual clarity.

Perhaps the only thing I wanted more from War for Cybertron was just... MORE OF IT! I wanted to play as more characters and when the game ended, I wanted the story to continue to keep playing. Thankfully there's an excellent sequel!

I'll add this: I like Transformers. Love some of it... the Bumblebee movie, the 1984 movie, these Cybertron games. But I don't blindly like all Transformers projects. I'm not a 'biased' Transformers fanboy. In fact, I sometimes prefer Macross ; ) Most of the Transformers television projects and movies are crap. Many of the games don't deliver. Transformers: War for Cybertron, however, is perfection. I say this as a 30+ year gamer and NOT the biggest Transformers fan. The devs knocked this game out of the park. They nailed it. One of the handful of games I've rated a '10'. And well-deserved.

Well done High Moon Studios! I hope every one of you who worked on this game are proud of this accomplishment. You made one of the best video games of all time.