War For Cybertron Game Review

[1AZRAEL1]

Liking the DS Decepticon Game, it's fairly forgiving (takes some time to die due to being shot) and the fact that there is actual voice acting in a DS game is great.

Starting off the Decepticon game as an Autobot was cool too, actually threw me off, thought I must have gotten the wrong version by mistake.

Much better than the movie games, and so far, much more enjoyable than the animated game, which had a neat idea, but was poorly executed.

Yea I was duped a little when you start of as an Autobot. It is great, much better than the movie versions. And you can die easily when taking on bosses if you are not careful (which I learned the hard way )

[GoktimusPrime]

One of my students played this game during the holidays and said that it was really dull and boring and ended up returning it. So... from an objective gamer's POV (i.e. without Transfan bias) -- what's the game like?

Also, any idea when it's coming out on PC? I can't be bothered buying a console just to play this game. I'm not much of a gamer so I wouldn't buy other games after getting a console - I have a Wii which I intend to sell... again, cos I just don't play it. Much rather play with my toys.

[kup]

One of my students played this game during the holidays and said that it was really dull and boring and ended up returning it. So... from an objective gamer's POV (i.e. without Transfan bias) -- what's the game like?

Also, any idea when it's coming out on PC? I can't be bothered buying a console just to play this game. I'm not much of a gamer so I wouldn't buy other games after getting a console - I have a Wii which I intend to sell... again, cos I just don't play it. Much rather play with my toys.

You should ask him what kind of gamer he is to get a gaming style frame of reference. The main attraction of the game is the single player campaign, the multiplayer is nothing special and if your student only cares about that then he would be dissapointed as there isn't much in it that's new and maps are limited as well as straight forward.

The game doesn't really offer much when it comes to gameplay innovation but what it does, it does very well and the story is good enough to enjoy but nothing revolutionary or jaw dropping.

It's a good game using technology and gameplay mechanics we have already seen. The most innovating thing about it is the transformation but then again one could compare that with vehicle driving in 1st & 3rd person shooters with the exception that you can 'hop on' whenever you like.

Knowing the type of gamer is very important when it comes to getting gaming opinions. I know a couple of people who are heavily into multiplayer and 1st person shooter games like Call of Duty and Battlefront who think that Dragon Age Origins is dull and borring because it's a slower story and character driven Role Playing Game. Yet Dragon Age Origins is widely seen as one of the greatest RPGs made in the last few years and won several gaming awards.

[AussieJason]

Agreed.

I actually found it fun, frustrating and boring. It's a bit odd really. Some parts were really enjoyable, and I found myself really getting in to it. Other parts were so easy it was actually boring and repetitive (and this is from a guy who is NOT a hardcore gamer!!), but then all of a sudden I'd come across this really difficult part that would just stop me completely.

I just finished the Autobot campaign last night... wasn't much of an "ending". The battle with Trypticon was a bit annoying because of the damn timer, and every time you die it went all the way back to the start of the friggin cut scene

The Decepticon campaign is a hell of a lot easier so far. I'm almost done.

All in all, it's still fun - just not something I'll play more than once!

I finally hired the Wii version yesterday and quite liked it.

Yes, it's short and on rails but it is still enjoyable.

It's nowhere near as bad as most reviews I had read, however I think you need to be a G1 fan to appreciate it. I wouldn't recommend it to non-TF fans, and would barely recommend to non-G1 fans.

As Robzy said, the timer can be a pain and seeing the same cutscene for the 20th time is annoying... but overall I had a good time.

If it was just longer I would buy the game for sure...

[kup]

I finally hired the Wii version yesterday and quite liked it.

Yes, it's short and on rails but it is still enjoyable.

It's nowhere near as bad as most reviews I had read, however I think you need to be a G1 fan to appreciate it. I wouldn't recommend it to non-TF fans, and would barely recommend to non-G1 fans.

As Robzy said, the timer can be a pain and seeing the same cutscene for the 20th time is annoying... but overall I had a good time.

If it was just longer I would buy the game for sure...

How different is the Wii and handheld versions compared to the main releases? Does it still follow the same story?

[griffin]

I found it slow to get into, and am probably only wanting to finish it because I don't like leaving things unfinished...
To me, the colours are very boring which then impacts on the feel of the game, as it feels so visually monotonous. I don't see why they can't have sectors of Cybertron with different coloured highlights or neon lighting (like the red and purple neon lighting on the actual robots - have that sort of styling in different colours for the different cities and sectors to make it look more interesting).
I like seeing background action, like through much of the Decepticon campaign, as other parts of the game make you feel like you are in a ghost town with no 'war' actually happening around you.
Some parts that are designed to be long-term driving in vehicle mode are wasted because you don't know before hand that you won't be attacked at all, so are more cautious (slower speeds) or just walk most of it to be battle-ready. If they had some message to assure you that it was a racing segment of the game (perhaps a time limit before a road collapses or something) without fear of being shot at, it would make it more of an incentive to utilise the alt mode - which I found is underused/wasted because they don't make these driving segments obvious.
For me, I use the vehicle mode more when I run out of Robot ammunition, than for actual driving.

I also find that I rarely use the 2 special abilities, the hand-weapon and grenades - mostly because it is easier to just use the main controls of firing, targetting, moving, angle-of-vision and jumping. In the heat of battle, another four buttons/elements of the game can be hard to remember, and can get you killed trying to pause the instinct of moving and shooting, to remembering what each of those extra four things will do, and how to do them to make them work properly (where to stand, where to aim).

I do like the small variety of characters you get to use, but I get the feeling the unlockable/future DL characters won't be added to the 1-player game, which if true, could limit the repeat playability of the game once you've tried out each of the 3.

Megatron sounds too much like Arnie Swc.. Shwc... Svars... the Terminator guy who runs Californial...

I also find you can cheat with much of the game, by hanging back while your two fellow warriors take care of most of the opponents. It even makes it easier destroying the brutes, if they or you distract them on the opposite side, exposing the backpack to the others (sometimes without even getting near it).

I like Warpath and Sideswipe, Skywarp and Breakdown. Actually, it gets boring playing the two leaders after a while, so using a backup warrior makes it more interesting (and no more difficult).

Defeating Zeta Prime was my most challanging level, so far.

The plot they are offering is also interesting enough to be another reason to play out this game as a Transfan, but probably of no interest to a non-fan gamer.
I even had to redo the Starscream battle to see the end scene, because I was throwing grenades at him at the end (the last ammo I had), which was the same button as the one to skip the animations... So when he died, the console thought I had also pressed the skip button, and I had to go back and defeat him again to see the 'story' element.

Currently on the 'repair of Omega Supreme' stage, so still have some way to go yet, but felt like making a few comments while seeing this topic being active today.

(still haven't gone online yet...)

[AussieJason]

How different is the Wii and handheld versions compared to the main releases? Does it still follow the same story?

Not sure as I have only played the Wii version... I will be hiring the DS version(s) at some point to see if it is worth buying.

I have heard that the storyline makes more sense on the Wii, can anyone confirm this ?

[Sleeve]

Grenades and especially melee will come in very handy during multiplayer.

I like Warpath and Sideswipe, Skywarp and Breakdown. Actually, it gets boring playing the two leaders after a while, so using a backup warrior makes it more interesting (and no more difficult).

I only played as Megs and Op maybe once each during Campaign, and stuck with the other characters as I preferred their abilities.

[Deonasis]

Finished playing the campaign in full today on the 360.

I'll give it an 8. Mostly a good story with a truckload of references for us fans!

Great, big, long, multi-room boss battles at the end of each campaign and a few epic bits in between too. I will replay it to get the achievements I missed and to try different characters and different room strategies. I agree that Cybertron looks washed out and has repetitive textures which is a shame because it has a lot if impressive architecture if you looking around. I did get my character 'stuck' on two occasions (doing nothing adventurous just a room corner and a doorway) and had to restart from the last checkpoint. It is a pity both factions had the mirrored units and I was hoping to more details of war (scorch marks, billowing smoke) and better water (energon) effects but hey, the good news it that this is now the benchmark for non-movie Transformers games. If this gets equalled, I will be happy!

[BigPenney]

Currently on my third play-through (once on easy, once on medium and now on hard) on the PC version.

I have to give it an 8/10.

I loved the campaign mode, I found it really fun and I quite liked the story (even if it contradicts Exodus or the other way around, however you want to look at it).
I also really liked the little fan nods throughout (my favorites being the Autobot in the Decepticon camp, being found guilty and saying "Spare me this mockery of justice!" before being dumped in the pit and the P.O.K.E: Punch Of Kill Everything ).

As for negatives, I have to agree with others in that Cybertron itself does look a little bland and repetitive. I also found that the campaigns were to short for me, I would just start to really get into the game and then it's over. My final complaint was that there weren't enough flying/scientist levels, when I finished the game and found that there was only one per faction I felt a little disappointed.

I have also played a little bit of multiplayer team death match and except for a few connection problems, I found it to be quite fun if a little hard .