Review

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

I was more than super excited for the release of Transformers War for Cybertron. Being a huge fan of the bots, having a game that took their story seriously was pretty much the pinnacle of gaming for me. Not because of how great the game could be (and oh was it ever), it was because I finally had a game that properly represented the toys and cartoons that I cherished for a large part of my childhood. You can only imagine how I felt when I learned that there was going to be a sequel. After playing through the game and all of its modes, I’m pleased to say that High Moon Studios has created my favorite game of this generation. And that is not “just” because it has to do with the Transformers!

Fall of Cybertron follows the story that was presented in War for Cybertron. The Transformers are at civil war; the noble Autobots vs the immoral Decepticons. Over the course of the war, the cybertronians have depleted nearly all of the planet’s energon; their source of energy. If you remember the events of the last game, most of the Autobots bordered ships in an attempt to flee from their adversaries. Despite the fact that their planet is dying, Megatron is still hell bent on dominating the Autobots. He believes that he should rule and that the Autbots are to be blamed for their planet’s destruction. Optimus Prime on the other hand, sees it differently. Now that the notion of peace has been obliterated, his main concern is getting the last remaining Autobots off the planet. With dwindling resources on both sides, the clock is ticking; regardless of the war’s outcome, Cybertron has seen its last days!

Even though there aren’t many twists or really deep dialogs, Fall of Cybertron has a great narrative that is virtually without plot holes or any other faults, for that matter. I was so impressed by its cohesiveness that for the first time in my life, I’ve chosen another story over the original Generation One (G1) storyline. Though the original series had its faults, it was still better than the dozens of remakes which only resulted in the further splintering of the cannon. High Moon did a great job taking all of the lore, removing parts that were silly or poorly written, and creating a solid foundation for these characters. Heck, even odd characters like the Dinobots and the Insectacons, have believable origins here. It’s cool to have a space T-Rex that transforms, but it’s even more awesome to have the existence of the space T-Rex make sense within a good story.

When it comes to gameplay, I really have to tip my hat to High Moon. Not only did they improve upon just about everything that was included in the last game, they also successfully added much needed variety. First let’s talk about the improvements. The War for Cybertron wasn’t a bad game, though it did have some issues. One knock was the fact that it was a third person shooter with no “real” cover mechanic. Fall of Cybertron doesn’t have a cover mechanic either, but because of the controls you can better utilize objects as cover this time around. With the tap of the B button, you can switch which hand is holding a weapon, which shifts the camera to the left or right of your character. You’re much more effective hiding behind a pillar when you can take shots from both sides as opposed to one. Adding to this is the fact that the Transformers are now better at maneuvering on foot. For instance, all of the bots can dash and/or roll now; it isn’t specific to small characters like Bumblebee anymore. This makes a big difference when you are trying to quickly get behind cover or dodge enemy fire. High Moon has also added a run that allows you to move quicker over the battlefield without having to transform first. With more maneuverability come more options when facing tough opponents.

These additions alone made the action oriented gameplay much more enjoyable, but then there were the improvements made to the weaponry. Not only do they pack more of a punch (the armaments seem more fitting to be used by living robots) they are also upgradable using energon. Engeron cubes can be found throughout levels or collected from destroyed bots. Once you have some, you can take it to one of the many Teletran 1 kiosks scattered around the world. Using these kiosks you can upgrade your weapons by adding larger clips or reducing recoil, as well as many other improvements. You can also purchase new weapons using recovered blueprints hidden in the levels. The weapon upgrades are universal, so you don’t have to worry about losing the upgrades when the game requires you to switch characters.

The Teletran 1 kiosks are also used to upgrade the Transformers themselves. You can purchase things like stronger shields, vehicle armor, faster foot speed, and much more. Again, these are universal so once you buy them, all the characters have them. Speaking of shields, this brings me to the new health system. Instead of just having a health bar, you’re now giving a rechargeable shield that needs to be depleted before you can start losing life. Now even if you have low life, you’ll still have a fighting chance due to the shield. Now, I could spend all day talking about the upgrade system and how it adds to the gameplay, but I’d rather talk about the assortment of gameplay experiences found in this title. When I mentioned its variety before, I had to put emphasis on the fact that High Moon was successful. This is the first time I’ve ever played a game with so many different gameplay styles that actually worked, without it turning into a bundle of mini-games!

While playing with Optimus Prime, it was all running and gunning over large battlefields. When the odds were stacked against me, I was able to use his special ability to call down airstrikes, laying waste to whatever was in my path. That changed drastically when I got to control Cliffjumper. His levels were all about stealth gameplay; sneaking around corridors, using a cloaking ability, and taking down unsuspecting Decepticons before reaching his goal. Then there was Jazz whose levels were more of the platforming kind. He uses an energy, whip like beam to pull himself around the level while blasting flying enemies. Grimlock’s levels completely changed everything as he has no long range weapons. Somehow, High Moon was able to implement great hack and slash gameplay into a third person shooter. His special ability is a rage meter that, once filled, transforms him into a T-Rex. With his high damage resistance and stronger melee attacks (including fire breath!), he seemed unstoppable, if only for short bursts at a time.

The campaign has you playing from both the Autobots and the Decepticon’s point of view. The gameplay styles continue to change as you blast your way through the story. One minute you are flying around as a helicopter, firing rockets at your enemies. The next you’re a hulking mass made up of multiple Transformers (Bruticus) who can literally crush other bots underfoot! No matter what you are doing or who you are playing as, you’ll always have a handle on the gameplay due to the well-mapped controls. For instance, all special abilities (Prime’s airstrike, Cliffjumper’s cloak) are tied to the same button. So even though the results are different when you press that button, you understand it’s the button that controls this function. The game doesn’t have to “reteach” you the controls for each character. This is one reason that so many gameplay mechanics can work really well within one game.

Another reason has to do with clever level design. Jazz’s levels feature acid filled pits, requiring you to use his whip beam to get around. Not only has that, the platforms (based on positioning) keep you within the environment without having to use invisible walls or artificial borders. Obviously the game can’t let you go anywhere you want, but you won’t be blocked by a convenient obstacle on the edges of the map. Basically, his levels don’t turn his special ability into a gimmick (you have a reason to use it) and it lets you know where you can and can’t go using realistic boundaries. It speaks to who he is as a character so that it makes sense to play the game “his” way at that time!

So far I’ve only talked about the single player aspect. This game features great multiplayer components as well. One mode that made it back from the first title is Escalation. This mode tasks four players with surviving waves of increasingly difficult-to-kill enemies. The first thing you’ll notice is that the waves aren’t endless anymore; there are only fifteen waves per map. Then there are the Transformers you can play as. Each map has a different set of four bots, each with a different skill to help out the team. One character will be able to heal while another will be able to resupply everyone’s ammo. Another character will be the tank of the group, sporting a personal, retractable arm shield to block incoming attacks. The last bot will have the ability to call out an attack drone to help in the fighting.

So far, looking at the changes, you may feel like this mode is limiting; originally you could choose to play as any Autobot or Decepticon (depending on the map) and selected your desired abilities. Also, there were more waves of enemies to fight against. Personally, I like the changes. Having an attainable goal makes me more motivated to play (who wants to fight with no end in sight?). Also, now it is a necessity for everyone to play a specific role in order to be successful. Then there is the fact that each map has a different layout and different enemies to contend with. Your winning strategy might completely fail on a different map. These things force you to work as a team, making the overall experience more rewarding when you do win!

There are also the competitive multiplayer modes. These should look familiar to most gamers; Team Deathmatch, Conquest (where you battle over controlled points on a map), and Capture the Flag. There is also a new mode called Headhunter that requires you to collect the sparks of defeated enemies and return them to nodes for points. All of the modes are a blast to play, adding to the game’s overall replay value. What stands out the most though is the fact that you can design your own bots using different parts from the original characters. You can change your head, legs, chest (which determines what vehicle you transform into), arms, colors, voices, and more. You can even incorporate some less logical body parts just for the look of it; like having six wheels present in robot form but only four when in vehicle mode.

All and all, Fall of Cybertron is an amazing game. And to be fair, I really tried to find something to complain about. The only thing I could think of was that there was a lot of lever pulling…that’s about it. Oh, and a certain dinobot should be named Slag and not Slug. The controls, graphics, audio, weapons, enemy AI; if you can name it, it has been improved. Speaking of graphics, High Moon did a great job of differentiating the environments from one another. The Transformers live on a metallic planet, so you could assume that it all looks the same. Even so, the developers were able to make distinctive locations using different metals, rust, lighting, and color pallets. When it comes to the audio, this team has always been great; Peter Cullen will forever be the voice of Optimus Prime! Really, I don’t think there is anything else I could talk about. Even if you aren’t a fan of the Transformers, the shear amount of work that went into making this game great catapults it to Game of the Year Status. If you are a huge fan, like myself, then you’ll agree that this title is one of the best this generation!