Transformers: War for Cybertron

TRANSFORMERS: WAR FOR CYBERTRON REVIEW
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Well, where to begin? At the beginning, is probably best.

The Story:
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Fans of the original G1 Transformers, rejoice. Transformers has finally come home; the story is set before the war on Earth, on Cybertron, shortly after Megatron, self-proclaimed leader of the Decepticons, has kicked off a planet wise civil war, that pits Cybertronian against Cybertroniann. Megatrons Decepticons aim to reforge Cybertron and its people into warriors and soldiers, to bring about their own 'New Order' to the planet, Galaxy and beyond. Standing against them are the Autobots, who are clinging desperately to their more peaceful way of life, and who are suffering for it in comparison to Megatrons more ruthlessly trained forces.

Single Player:
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The Single Player is divided into two campaigns, but both are positioned on the same timeline. Chronologically, the Decepticon campaign comes first, followed by the Autobots.
As the Decepticons, you follow Megatron and his minions as they search for the secrets of 'Dark Energon' aboard an Orbital Station, confront Zeta Prime and try to wrench the Omega Key from his grasp, with the goal of dominating the heart of Cybertron itself.
In the Autobots campaign you take on the role of a field commander by the name of Optimus, and the troops around him, who begin to organise an effective resistance to Megatron, resuce comrades from a Decepticon Prison Centre, and confront some of the most deadly soldiers and weapons Megatron can throw at them.

Multiplayer:
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Hit the frontlines in the War for Cybertron as either an Autobot or Decepticon, with an array of weaponary and abilities, along with four distinct classes;

SCOUT: The scout transforms into a fast moving race-style car, armed with built in machine guns. They are best used for stealthy sneak attacks and long range sniping, capable of packing a cloaking field and a target designator, amongst other things. Fast movers and patient hunters will get the most mileage out of these sneaky fighters.

SCIENTIST: At the same time the weakest and also the strongest of the four classes, The Scientists are also arguably the most mobile, with the ability to transform into a highly maneuverable jet, equipped with vehicle-seeking missiles as standard. Still capable in a fire fight, the Scientist real strength lies in being able to patch up their team-mates on the fly, summoning hovering gun-turrets and even camouflaging themselves as an Enemy, only to shoot them in the back a few moments later.

LEADER: Second toughest and the more durable of the support classes, the Leaders transform into ram-capable trucks, armed with direct-fire rockets. Boosting allies with their warcries, blocking shots (but not travel) with a summonable barrier and other tricks make Leaders live up to their names well. They also pack an ammount of firepower unhealthy for any foe to get caught in their crosshairs.

SOLDIER: Rolling in last but by no means least, the Tank is the Soldiers form of choice, equppied with a massive battle cannon and an ability to pull a 180 for quicker manuevering. Those who love dishing out an insane ammount of damage will favour the Soldier, as they pack assault-blasters, miniguns, high power shotguns and rocket launchers as standard. They are also capable of decimating tight knit groups with their Whirlwind melee attack, Hovering in mid-air to rain death from above, summon an ammo beacon to boost damage and replenish allies stocks and even jam enemy abilities with an Energon Sling. Whatever you do, don't tackle a Soldier head on without the struts to back it up.

Gameplay:
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I'll get the one bad point out of the way first; the melee attack. Clicking the right stick will cause your transformer to attack an enemy at close range. All fine and dandy, except that the actual animation takes a long time. The actual point of contact is never made very clear, so actually hitting an opponent, especially in multiplayer, is very much at times a case of trial, error and sometimes frustration (This may in part also be due to the inescapable foe of Online; Lag)

That out of the way, the gameplay is incredibly solid. In single player the objectives are labelled clearly, the map layout and design is excellent, the story is well delivered and there are some excellent moments where I deny your jaw not to drop. Needless to say, if you've watched the trailer; Yes, you fight some truly titanic foes.

The vehicle modes handle incredibly solidly; none of the utter frustation that was the movie tie in games, for example.

What else can I say? It looks right, it sounds right, it *feels* right. THIS is the Transformers that spawned a fandom that last to this day. This is the Transfomers that brought Robots in Disguise to the world.
This is Cybertron. This is YOUR war. What are you waiting for?

Till All Are One.

After the latest mediocre attemps of both the Transformers Michael Bay movie games, we were all wondering when we'd get a good Transformers video game experience. Thankfully, it's High Moon Studios to the rescue as they have created Transformers War For Cybertron. The best Transformers game in years and the best one ever made.

The story is set millions of years before the original G1 Transformers cartoon series, as Megatron is trying to use the power of Dark Energon to destroy the Autobots in their final attempt to rescue Cybertron. The story is fantastic. Many classic Transformers fans are going to fully enjoy this one. A lot of questions are answered like how Optimus became a Prime, how Megatron met Starscream and more. It's an absolutely explosive and action packed story that will keep you glued to your screen.

The game is a third person shooter much like Halo and Gears Of War. You carry and find many weapons to blast everything in sight, as well as the ability to transform into vehicle mode at any time. There's plenty of shooting to be had and the occasional platforming sections that feel just right. You'll be playing the Campaign mode with the Decepticons and Autobots sides each with an equal amount of chapters. You may play the campaign in single player or 3 player online co-op. It's a thrilling ride. Also there is online multiplayer where you and another team go head to head in a variety of multiplayer games, as well as being able to create your own Transformer out of 4 classes. Also there is a mode called Escalation where you take on wave after wave of enemies much like Gears Of War's Horde mode. There is plenty of modes here to keep you going for a long time.

The controls are spot on. You'll get into playing the game within a matter of seconds. There's also tutorials provided in the game if you wish to practice. It's simple to pick up and start having fun.

The graphics are incredible, as they capture the feel and look of Cybertron perfectly thanks to the Unreal Engine. The designs of the Transformers look fantastic as they resemble their G1 models as well as looking new and fresh. This is pure eye candy.

The Sound is amazing with great musical tracks and a brilliant theme song. Voice actors are also spot on as they bring the personalitys of the Transformers to life. Even legendary voice actor Peter Cullen provides his iconic Optimus Prime voice, who shows us once again why he is the true Optimus.

Transformers War For Cybertron delivers an unforgettable experience for Transformers fans everywhere. It stands where others fell. The action is explosive and many G1 fans will be pleased with it's great story and great gameplay. If you have never been a Transformers fan, this game may just make you one. Transform, and roll out to get yourself a copy. 10/10

Great game and was worth every penny. The only down side to the game is the lack of players playing online, not hard to join a game but turns out to be laggy mostr of the time.