Transformers: War for Cybertron for the PS3 and 360 review




Hello, Internet, this is Cam’s Eye View speaking, or well, typing, to be more exact. Now, if any one of you knows me in real life you know that I just love and I mean LOVE Transformers. I mean, what boy growing up wouldn’t? Giant robots turning into cars and such were just so awesome. Here is a better question though, why do Transformer games suck? I mean, it doesn’t help that half of them are based off of Michael Bay’s version of Transformers. Granted, they are movie game tie-in products, but it shouldn’t be so hard to make a good Transformers game. However, they don’t put any effort whatsoever into the games and they end up bombing. If they did put any effort into making a good Transformers game, they would have come up with Transformers: War for Cybertron. Seen as the best of the games based off these giant robots, I decided to try this game out since I was a little skeptical at first when I saw this. Don’t get me wrong, the trailers for it were awesome and the graphics looked nice, but with Michael Bay screwing us over with both film-to-game tie-ins, you can see why I was a little hesitant to review this game. However, it turned out to be a success, and now I can get into the gears and cogs of why this game is good.


The story is rather dark and compelling, to say the least, as compelling as you can get with giant robots that turn into your mom’s minivan. The first story arc revolves around Megatron who is the leader of the Decepticons. He has found a way to turn dark energon into a living organic weapon, and basically has a plan to use it on Cybertron to take over and kill the current leader, Zeta Prime. Later however, we find Optimus before he became the new Autobot leader, when he is just a soldier just like the other Autobots, but is considered the stand-in for the new Prime. He and other Autobots are on a mission to stop Megatron and save their home world of Cybertron. It is basically a prequel to the original Transformer series. Not the freaking Teen Titan’s art style Transformers show that mostly sucks, but the old 80’s cartoon series that kicked major butt and is still awesome. Now, this is going to be a little different from here on out, since I played through the game a couple times and tried everything it had to offer, so there will be a top 4 list thrown into this review, also. Let’s get started then, shall we?
The game play featured in this game is of a third-person shooter game, mixed with some close-range combat, driving sections, flying sections, and a tiny bits of platforming. During each of the ten chapters, you have one of three characters to choose from, with each one having different abilities. There are also different weapons and you can use them depending on your taste in combat in other shooters. You can also transform into your vehicle mode and get a different set of controls, which will feel weird at first, but you will grow into it, I promise. You can either start off as the Decepticons or the Autobots, but if you want to know the full story, then you need to start off with the Decepticon story arc first, and then play with the Autobots story arc next. It will take about 12 or so hours to beat both campaigns, which is nice since some shooters last only 6 to 7 hours, which is stupid because then it leans on multiplayer that you have to shell out 60 bucks for. The multiplayer is standard since you get your basic modes and such, like Nazi Zombies and what-not, so don’t expect anything new or outrageous. However, it will give you a different style of strategy since you can transform and in a game like this, the biggest hint I can give is that you shouldn’t rush into fights since you will end up in the dumpster faster than all the copies of Superman 64.
The graphics are pretty well done. They won’t blow your brains out of your head, but they look nice overall, and it is one of the better-looking games on the current gen systems. The designs of the machines in the game look very cool and alienistic, like the Dreamwave’s comic, Transformers: The War Within. Another amazing part of the presentation is the voice work. It is some of the best I have ever seen. Of course, you have Peter Cullens doing the voice for Optimus Prime who did the original Optimus voice. (It’s funny since he is also the guy who did Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh series, which is funny to think about.) He has also done voice work for the American localization of Voltron. You also get other voice actors, like Steve Blum (Barricade and Shockwave), Fred Tatasciore (Megatron, Ratchet, Omega Supreme, and Trypticon), Troy Baker (Jetfire and Zeta Prime), Travis Willingham (Sideswipe), Keith Szarabajka (Ironhide), Jamieson Price (Warpath), Nolan North (Brawl), Crispin Freeman (Breakdown), Liam O’ Brien (Air Raid), Richard Epcar (Skywarp), Isaac C. Singleton Jr. (Soundwave), Sam Reigel (Starscream), Graham McTavish (Thundercracker), and Johnny Yong Bosch (Bumblebee). That’s the majority of the voice actors, and that last voice actor was actually an actor and major character of Power Rangers, and does the voice for Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. Just a great cast of talent for this game. The only thing I think didn’t work out so well is Fred Tatasciore doing Megatron’s voice. I don’t know why, but I think they could have had someone else like Corey Burton, who did Shockwave’s original voice or something. He did a good job in that awful Teen Titan’s-looking Transformers series. The music is also well done, and I think it fits the game perfectly. We even get a bit of fan service with Stan Bush doing an ending song for the game, since if you are a Transformer’s fan, then you know he did that one song, “ You got the touch, You got the power” from the 80’s film. Overall, this is meant to make up for Michael bay’s screw-up in the film series.
Sadly, even with all this fan service, there are some faults here and there. First off, the most universal criticism is that the areas look bland and repetitive. I have to agree, they couldn’t really change up the area a bit? I mean, yeah, it’s a robot home world, but it looks boring after a few hours. My final complaint has to be that the AI partners you have are idiots! I can’t count how many times I have died because of me having to haul around a lot of the killing, since the partner AI can’t shoot straight. It makes the big boss fights even more tedious since you need to be firing at areas specifically to kill the boss and all they can do is shoot straight. Overall, I am sick and tired of seeing stupid AI. Why can’t they take an upcoming game, Rage, as an example? That game shows that AI doesn’t have to be stupid and can actually be threatening.
Really, this is a good game and it is one of the better games to come out for 2010. While not in the top 10, it is definitely in the top 30 games of 2010. However, this has a lot more potential and can easily be a franchise, but if they are going to make a better sequel, here is a top 4 list of what you can do better.
4. More variety in the environments
            You can easily make more creative and colorful environments instead of drab grays and black. Not everything has to be dark.
3. Smarter AI
            It just seems like every enemy is the only one being smart and tactical, and your allies are just shooting in the dark. It’s annoying and I’m sick of seeing it. If you make a sequel please make smarter AI.
2. More enemy variety for both sides.
            It seems like for each campaign, you fought the same kind of enemies introduced in the first campaign, and then you fight them again in the next campaign. I think both campaigns should have had unique enemies exclusive to those campaigns.
1.      A different control and camera set up
A lot of times, I prefer third person shooters that don’t do the behind-the-shoulder default like Gears of War or Army of Two. I prefer third person shooter aspects like Uncharted or Darksiders where you don’t need to be doing the behind-the-shoulder look unless you want to. Since you can do melee attacks, it seems awkward to only do a quick slash and then that’s it, but that is just me.
Overall, if you are a fan of Transformers, then pick this game up. It’s worth every penny, but I would wait for it to drop in price. If you don’t like Transformers, then I say rent it if you’re a fan of third person shooters. Thank you for reading and make sure to drop comments of what you think. Be respectful though. See you all later and have fun gaming!
This game gets an 8 out of 10

Comments

Zaciroth said…
Wow.........usually they have to pay people to even play movie based games.