Product Features

Genre: Adventure
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: August 24, 2012
Available Platforms: PlayStation 3, XBox 360

Transformers Fall of Cybertron

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Transformers Fall Of Cybertron transports you to the final days of the planet Cybertron where you will experience the darkest hours of the apocalyptic war between the Autobots and Decepticons Embark on an adrenaline-fueled journey through a wide range of missions and massive environments designed around each character&39;s unique abilities With the stakes higher than ever before you play as a variety of Transformers characters including Grimlock&39;s nearly indestructible T-Rex form and the legendary Combaticons forming into the colossal Bruticus Fight through both sides of the Transformers&39; most epic battles leading to their legendary exodus from their homeworld With the stakes higher than ever before you play a variety of Transformers including Grimlock’s nearly indestructible T-Rex...

Paul Martin September 05, 2012 360

****

Autobots.. Roll out! High Moon Studios became to Transformers franchise what Rocksteady was to the Batman franchise when released highly acclaimed Transformers War of Cybertron. Like Rocksteady, High Moon Studios could not say no to a high sought after sequel and began creating Transformers: Fall of Cyberton for current generation consoles and PC.

STORY

The story is a direct continuation of the prequel, Transformers: War of Cybertron. The Transformers are still at civil war, split in two factions the Autobots and Decepticons are fighting over control of their homeworld Cybertron. When all is lost, due to the events from the prequel Cybertron has become unstable and the Autobots decide to finally leave Cybertron in search of a new beginning amongst the galaxy. Autobots leader 'Optimus Prime' orders the construction of an interstellar vehicle known as 'The Ark', to safely transport all remaining Autobots to a new planet. However, the Decepticons spear headed by the ruthless, merciless leader Megatron wish to dominate the Autobots, refusing to let them leave the planet. The story unfolds, showing what could be the final events to occur on Cybertron.

GAMEPLAY

SINGLE PLAYER
Similar to its predecessor Transformers: Fall of Cyberton runs smoothly, and has not changed much in terms of gameplay. The camera is 3rd person and can be shown over both the left and right shoulder of the controlled character by a simple press of a button. Taking mantle of both factions the main story campaign will unfold over the course of 8 - 11 hours, depending on the difficulty settings the player was to choose. The missions are varied, relating to not only action, but stealth. The Transformers, well known for transforming between vehicle and human form all look unique, and all have their own unique abilities i.e. Optimus calls in airstrikes, or Starscream can use cloak allowing him to turn invisible. Each mission is considerably long, and suits the character being controlled at the time. It feels very balanced amongst the majority of the 13 available chapters, with the exception when playing as either Grimlock or Bruticius. Both transformers, fight for different factions but come across as very over powered allowing you to walk through the level beating enemies to a pulp without much difficulty, even on the higher difficulty settings. Those who know the characters will know this is an accurate representation of both Grimlock and Bruticius as they are both powerful Transformers. Yet it does feel like a missed opportunity to add new, bigger opposition to oppose them allowing for more epic boss battles perhaps. Still it does feel satisfying to unleash destruction amongst your foes, and can only be classed as a very small negative towards the overall product. During the campaign you can also find collectables throughout the levels, blue prints of weapons and audio tapes. I appreciate the extra lengths High Moon Studios have went to include added extras within the game allowing for extra content in terms of story, especially the audio tapes. The blue prints can be collected allowing new weapons to be available in the Teelatron store. As you go through the campaign you will earn credits, which can be used to purchases new weapons, upgrades or tech items to help you in your journey. This is a new addition to the series, and comes across similar to the Dead Space franchise, where you will find stores across the campaign. The small feature also included within the store allows you to rate the item you are looking to buy or a possible upgrade. If you are connected to the online servers, you can see what others have thought of this particular item/upgrade allowing you to whether it would be worthwhile spending those hard earned credits. The single player campaigns main negative is probably the ending; although brilliant it feels like you are being hyped up for what ends up being a mediocre finale. It's not bad, it just doesn't fit right with the pacing and ultimately feels... well rushed. That said it is still an improvement on the previous instalment and is an excellent and memorable story to play though.

MULTIPLAYER
For me the biggest negative to come out of the Fall of Cybertron series is the lack of co-operative campaign, that prequel did include. They state the main reason was to improve the story and character development, and yes they did achieve this as the story/gameplay is improved. Yet there were moments within the campaign i.e. Cliff Jumper and Jazz working together were a second player would have been preferred over a computer AI. The computer AI is not bad, but it simply does not replace a human partner. This in no way would have dissolved the plot of the story and I feel even if they had reduced the previous 4 player co-op to a respectable 2 player co-op it could have still achieved the goals they intended. In doing so in my opinion would have improved the overall game. It was for me a missed opportunity to improve on what is already a strong finished article, as stated whilst not risking their intentions to improve on certain elements they may have felt lacked in the previous game. What does seem odd is Escalation mode (a horde like mode, where 4 online players can work together against computer AI to survive waves of opposition) has returned, yet I can't recall it being as popular as the co-op campaign in the previous game. My argument would be had they had to lose an element of the previous game, perhaps escalation would have been the better option. I would think it can be regarded as weakest mode within Fall of Cyberton, especially with a measly 15 waves before completion. I have not found it particularly difficult to complete, nor have I ever been able to fully upgrade certain things during a whole game. During each wave, each kill will earn you credits that you can spend on new weapons, upgrades or open new areas within the map. Within the map is a weapon upgrade station, and despite playing this mode I have never been to afford to fully upgrade the groups weapons, even if all 4 players use all credits earned during the 15 waves. It seems pointless to include things that you cannot fully utilise, and perhaps the biggest quarrel I would have being the 15 waves is not long, or hard enough to support this. As a very big fan of the first game the Co-op campaign for me would have been much preferred over the Escalation mode, which seems unfinished and unimproved. The biggest attraction of the game however returns, that being online multiplayer. With new match types to choose from Team Deathmatch, Conquest, Head Hunter and Capture the Flag can keep you very busy for many hours. With a very similar format of four classes - Infiltrator (formerly known as the 'Scout' class) - Destroyer (formerly known as the 'Leader' class) - Titan (formerly known as the 'Destroyer' class) and Scientist, which oddly has the same name as the previous game. All with their very own abilities, and unlockable weapons/upgrades making each class different to play with. The new character customisation has been massively improved upon, now allowing you to change the way you character will look. In the previous game you could only choose between set characters from the single player story. Now you can customise each different area (Head, Shoulder, Torso, Leg, Arm etc.) of your Transformer making the look unique in game. It is one of the biggest improvements from the previous instalment, and a very welcomed addition to the game. Each class has 25 levels, gaining unique unlockables for each class as you level up. This will take many hours adding longevity to the game. The multiplayer has 10 maps, all varied for long and short distance combat and different locations across the beautiful landscape of Cybertron. The gameplay has been levelled out as each Transformer gains kill streak awards in the previous game. This was unbalanced as only the better players can gain the better kill streaks making it an unfair advantage. This has now been changed with multiple kill streak awards seen in previous game scattered across the levels as item pickups allowing all players to pick them up not just the better players. This balances the game out considerably, although for those that know the maps, can take advantage of certain pickups which should be addressed with a limit on how many times you can pick an item up, which hopefully we will see in a future update. One missing element that didn't see a return was barrel rolls, especially as Scientist class when flying it can be sometimes, too easy to be shot down with no ability to dodge. Probably one of the very few quarrels I had with the online game, amongst no dedicated servers, although lag from the previous game is now almost non-existent, showing up only in worldwide servers a handful of times whilst I have played. All said and done this is arguably one of the most impressive and unique online versus games I have ever player, and has been significantly improved and polished from the previous game. High Moon Studios should be commended for listening to fan feedback (i.e. no double jumping) as it shows the developer listens to what the gamer wants.

GRAPHICS

The artwork in Transformers Fall of Cybetron is breath-taking. The creative team that produced the visuals really deserve a lot of credit allowing the gamer to connect to the characters and the world of Cybertron. Its nice to see some new faces in the game, and interesting to see how the art team have shown them. The visuals are a marked improvement on the previous instalment allowing you to connect to the games storyline with ease. Kudos to the guys who designed the look of the game, as the setting is simply perfect. The cinematics between levels are very impressive and arguably good enough to be made into an animated movie. I had no framework issues when playing through the 360 version of the game, however I have heard complaints about the PS3. Still I have no complaints as I cannot expect anymore, and due to the dedication of High Moon Studios will have no quarrel in stating they will most likely fix the PS3 issue, if they have no already done so.

AUDIO

The audio in the game, like the previous game is amazing. As always Peter Cullen a.k.a Optimus Prime voices the Autobot leader perfectly when setting the Transformer mood. In addition with the excellent script he has been given any Transformer fan will be in dream land, as any common gamer will be sure to love it also. Many other voice talents from the TV series have returned, but again Megatron although voice brilliantly does not have the original voice actor from the series. This is a minor fault in what is a very impressive cast and doesn't detract from the quality of the game. The musical score sounds great and adds to the emotion especially in what is a very dramatic final level. High Moon Studios again deserve the plaudits for scoring what is arguably perfection when creating a Transformers game.

OVERALL

The game is major improvement on the War of Cyberton chapter of the series. The story is improved, with a slightly disappointing finale, but still it manages to make you sit back and think 'wow'. Games that can make you do that are always worth playing through until the end. The biggest negative was the missing co-op campaign, yet the inclusion of what feels like an unfinished mode Escalation doesn't compensate for the loss of one of the stronger aspects in the previous instalment. The multiplayer has been massively improved, and balanced with only minor issues that are hardly worth mentioning, yet should and can be addressed in time. Graphically, this is the best Transformer title to date, and I have no complaints about this beautiful looking game. The audio is just as fantastic, which allows the gamer to engage in the storyline and give them the desire to finish the game. Overall it's a great game, and an improvement on what was already a great game in War of Cyberton. Transformer fans will welcome what has to be said a successful addition to the series, and like Rocksteady is to Batman surely High Moon Stuidos is to Transformers in the gaming world. It's exactly what we wanted, and exactly what we deserved. Too many major franchises cannot make the leap into the gaming world, and I thank High Moon Studios for the commitment allowing this to happen. Any causal gamer will love it, and with the mass amount of content it will take up hours of your time. I have no doubt the game will be a massive success and I hope to see more chapters of the series in the future!! 8.5/10 Highly Recommended! If you don't get it, you are missing out!!