First off, yes, I know the above image is for the 360. Oddly enough, it was the best picture I could find for the game’s cover art, so I had to make due. But enough of that…onto the review!
When I first heard about the game, I was nervous. There had been a few Transformers games previously, and they all sucked. I assumed that this one would also. Then I heard that it was an original story, independent of the films, and set before the Transformers ever set foot on Earth. That was interesting, and got my attention. Then I heard that there was going to be co-op and other multiplayer modes, and I made sure that my Gamefly queue was totally empty so that I could have it shipped out release date. In the end, Transformers: War for Cybertron totally lives up as a great, engaging game and also removes the stain left by previous movie-based games. I can only hope this is the start of a whole new series of games!
War for Cybertron is a third-person shooter which takes place exclusively on Cybertron, thus there are no humans to be seen…only awesome robots. The game’s campaign mode is short but very, very sweet. There are ten chapters, and each chapter has a several sub-chapters, and each chapter ends with a boss battle. The first five levels are Decepticon levels, where you control Megatron and his minions as they strive to develop the ultimate weapon, kicking Autobot butt along the way. The fifth chapter ends with Megatron acquiring his weapon, and it appearing that all is lost…until a new hero emerges. Chapters six through ten of the game are played from the Autobot point of view, as Optimus Prime and his allies fight to stop Megatron’s plans by staging a series of counter-attacks. It is done very well, in that there are two totally different campaigns (not just different versions of the same stage for each side.)
Each chapter has a choice of three characters to play as. If you are playing solo, the AI will take command of the other two, or you could get some online buddies to join in the fight with you and they will take command of the other characters. Each character is different also. There are four classes of character: soldier, leader, scout, and scientist. Each class has different skills and transform modes, so that you will pick your character based on your play style. You can have a fast-flying medic (the scientist) who can rush in and heal your friends, or you can go with the tank (soldier) who’s special melee move is one of the most devastating in the game. Each character also has their own start-out weapons, though new ones can be picked up as the game goes on. You can also pick up grenades, and if you get close enough to your opponent, you can use R3 to give them a melee attack, which is generally a one-hit kill (aside from the later level, advanced enemies.)
The controls for the game are solid for the most part. War for Cybertron uses the Unreal system, so it should feel familiar to many gamers. One of the key things of a Transformers game is the ability to, well, transform, and the game does it well. A simple press of the L3 button will allow you to quickly transform from vehicle to robot form and vice versa, and this enables you to fly into an area, take out enemies, and then leave before it gets too hot for you. Also, each vehicle has its own weapons, so if you’re robot’s guns run out of ammo, don’t forget that your tank or car have rockets or machine guns (something that I always tend to forget.)
Each character also has two different kinds of abilities. One ability recharges automatically after use, and range from force fields to dashes to “hover” mode, where the character floats in the air and gains stronger weapons for a short period of time. The second kind of abilities are a bit more powerful, and as such they are recharged by gaining energy from fallen enemies. The “drain” ability was my favorite, as it takes health from enemies to replenish yours, but there is also a turret you can summon to attack foes and a whirlwind attack, where you spin in a circle and damage nearby enemies with melee attacks. There are also pickups scattered throughout the game which allow you to receive ammo, health, or even new weapons and grenades.
I did have a few complaints about the campaign. First and foremost is the odd difficulty settings. I started the game on medium difficulty, and was breezing through. Then all of a sudden I would come across a part of the game where you will need to defend a point against waves of enemies, and it will be extremely difficult and I died a heck of a lot. Boss battles were the same, where some were ridiculously easy and some annoyingly difficult. I guess my complaint was that the difficulty did not really feel the same throughout the entire game, so I was either annoyed at how fast I progressed or how much I kept getting stuck at the same point. Another complaint is that I felt that the transform button was a little too easy to execute. When I was in a stressful tight spot and jammed on the left analog to move somewhere, I would constantly activate L3 and transform by mistake, meaning that I could not do what I intended to do. This happened often when trying to run up to an enemy and melee attack them, since I would suddenly turn into my vehicle and not be able to melee. Finally, the campaign was awesome and fun, but it just wasn’t long enough. I would have loved for it to have been longer than a few hours. It was the best part of the game, but it was over so fast.
However, one complaint I did not have was about the darkness of the game. I read several reviews and forum posts where people complained that the game and the characters were too dark and colorless, making it difficult to see who and where the enemy was. I had no such problems, and was able to find my prey easily. Also, the game will “light up” enemies with a red triangle on the screen, so you will know where they are even in the distance.
They must have realized how short the campaign mode was, because the came has a variety of other online multiplayer modes to keep you entertained. My favorite by far was Escalation, where you and up to three online buddies team up in a “horde mode”, in which you must survive wave after wave of enemies. As you kill enemies you get points, which can then be used at machines to purchase health, ammo, or new weapons. Thus, there are no power-ups just sitting around like in the campaign mode, so you have to keep getting kills if you want to survive. After wave seven it gets insane, and I have never even made it to wave fifteen, the final wave. However, it is a heck of a lot of fun!
The other multiplayer modes are your traditional deathmatches/ team deathmatches, etc. What’s cool is that you are able to technically create your own custom transformer, in that each class of character can be customized with the weapons and abilities you want, and you can also alter their coloring to make them different. I played through a few team deathmatches, and enjoyed it enough, but I’m not really much a fan of competitive multiplayer to begin with. Also, I got frustrated as I found myself getting kicked out half way through games as the host’s connection would be interrupted and what not.
War for Cybertron is a very solid game. While short, the campaign was a lot of fun, and the fact that it offered up online co-op only made it better. The escalation and competitive modes also help to breath some replay value into the game. In the end, I was not willing to pay $40 for the game (the keep it now price through Gamefly.) I’m not a big fan of competitive shooters, and I did not see myself playing it a lot. The game is a must-play for fans and non-fans alike, because even if you had never watched the Transformers cartoons growing up (like me), who can’t learn to love a bunch of giant robots who can transform into vehicles beating the crud out of each other?
