Megatron makes another ill-aimed grasp at the gaming throne
Format: PS3, Xbox 360 (version played), Wii, PC, DS Dev: High Moon Studios
Pub: Activision Out: 25/06/10 Players: 1, 2-10 online
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good transformers game. It’s fair to say that after the gaming excretions that were the Michael Bay movie adaptations many a gamer will be filled with doubt. But what we have here is, for a start, not based on the films. That’s always a good thing! But also a new developer and a new goal of creating a well playing game for the fans. It harkens back to the mission set by Atari to develop the 2004 Transformers game for PS2, and the masterpiece that ensued because of it. Can Transformers: War for Cybertron follow this path?
Short answer: it does, yet it doesn’t at the same time. But everyone can breathe a sigh of relief because this game is actually quite good. War for Cybertron is a Gears of War-alike set in the Transformers universe. A simple over-the-shoulder shooter affair, which uses the same Unreal engine that Epic use so religiously. Not to say the game is made boring because we’ve seen it all before. As many GOW imitators have shown, there’s much fun to be had in this specialised shooter form. The formula has been dumbed down somewhat in Transformers. A lack of a cover system being replaced with the ability to transform.
The controls feel sort of clunky, but merely because of the size and awkward dimensions of the characters you’re controlling. Aiming is slow, but shooting and reloading feels nice and snappy. In all, gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag: simplified mechanics for the benefit of the entire target audience of Hasbro toys that can feel dumbed down at times, and optimal at others.
When you hear that the Unreal engine is being used in a game, which really isn’t uncommon nowadays, you start to see the downsides that come with a graphics platform that’s been around since the inception of the 360. But, somehow it’s still around, and it’s made a good-looking game out of Transformers. Granted, it’s not going to win any awards for its style or prowess, but textures are crisp, bullet tracers fly by and the transformers themselves are accurately recreated.
The same can’t be said for the soundtrack, though. Robotic, stuttered voice acting (the fact that the characters are robots doesn’t count) and a repetitive, forgettable soundtrack, mixed with some washed out weapon and combat sounds, make this an uninspiring game to listen to.
For all its tendencies, it looks like we’re going to have to wait a little longer for that standout Transformers game. All the pieces of the puzzle come together to create a forgettable experience. Even for the most hardcore of fans, it’s a simple case of here today, gone tomorrow.
Jason England
Tags: action, activision, transformers
