Transformers: War for Cybertron
Publisher: Activison
Developer: High Moon
Systems it’s available on: Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, Nintendo DS
ESRB rating: T for Teen
System reviewed on: Xbox 360
Let’s get this out of the way now: Transformers: War for Cybertron does justice to the memories of your youth. For nerds of a certain age, the Transformers cartoon holds a special significance. Sure, it was corny at times but there was a certain over-the-top appeal to all the intrigue and battles between the good-guy Autobots and villainous Decepticons. Transformers injected big doses of drama into the action cartoon formula, which is why hardcore fans turn their noses up at the baleful slapstick of the Michael Bay movies.
The recent video games attached to those films have been crap, fitting in the low expectations of tie-in games made with too little time or creative freedom. War for Cybertron doesn’t have that problem. As I wrote about a while back, its story serves as a prequel to the Generation 1 (G1) cartoon series, detailing the events that caused the destruction of the home planet of the Robots in Disguise. The game’s original story delivers excellent fan service, trotting out favorite characters like Soundwave and nailing the character dynamics that made Megatron, Bumblebee and Optimus himself so memorable.
The story mode lets you play as both Autobot and Deception. For the most part, WFC’s a run-and-gun third-person shooter. There’s no cover mechanic here but that winds up making the action feel faster and more frantic. There’s vehicular combat, too, and the driving feel sharp. When you’re on foot, the shooting feels equally tight and you never feel like you’re fighting the controls.
Transforming isn’t just a cool gimmick in WFC; it’s a key part of combat strategy. Waves of enemies will swarm all over you and often the best way to deal with them is transform into vehicle mode and create some distance between you and them. The levels in WFC are big and chaotic and definitely give the sense that you’re fighting on a planet going through its death throes. The online co-op lets you experience the story through another character’s eye while helping out a friend and is a welcome addition here. The game’s multi-part boss battles often pit you against huge mechanisms that dwarf you, again giving weighty import to the stuff going down on the dying planet.
WFC isn’t a great game but it’s the best Transformers game in a good long while, maybe ever. More importantly, it’s a key example of how to build canon from a video source and validates the nostalgia of longtime fans. It’s fun to play, uses the signature power of these characters in a smart way and reminds you why you dug Transformers in the first place. Someone should send this game to a certain explosion-happy director…
Official Techland Score: 7.5 out of 10