GAME review - Devastation

[griffin]

Game - Devastation
Release date - October 8th (Australia) (October 6th America)
Platforms - PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox1, Xbox360
Theme/series - Generation One



7 Chapters plus individual challenges... 5 (main) playable characters.



Bonus content - 3 character skins & 3 weapons (limited availability with game purchase - should be available for purchase online later)



This is a review topic, so don't be worried about posting spoilers.
If you have a problem with spoilers, don't read further until you finish the game.
If you need help with the game, start a question topic for the game in the Questions section.

[DELTAprime]

There's only 4 professional reviews on metacritic so that's a good indication Activision thought the game would not be well received because if a game is thought by the publisher to be bad you don't send out review copies. But surprisingly all the professional reviews so far seem to like the game with 3 scores of 80 and one of 70.

So far no reviewers I trust have given their thoughts, but I'm optimistic and the complaint that the game is short at around 6 hours doesn't bother me. I might grab the game next time I get free store credit from Microsoft.

[Facepunches]

So just finished the story mode in this little gem. As I am sure most of you are aware, it's quite short – but if you liked previous Plat games I am sure you will like it (especially if you are a TF fan – and given where you are reading this, I would think this is the case).

If you can pick it up for $44 from Big W or price match it, it may take a little bit of the sting out of the shortness, however as a package it's got everything a G1er could want.

There's not a whole lot of in game info about loadouts and weapon crafting (even though it's quite basic).

Overall had some fun with it, totally different style of game compared to WFC and FOC – would I buy it again? You know it!

[GoktimusPrime]

As someone who's really not much of a gamer, I find this rather long! I spent nearly 2 hours on it tonight, and I'm still on "Chapter 1" (just finished deactivating those three generators as Sideswipe). I'm playing it on Scout level of difficulty, and it's so far pretty good for me (cos I just suck at games ). I personally like being able to bash 'bots about without getting killed all the time, although WFC and FOC did have a more epic story feel to it. Those games felt more like world builders, trying to expand on the G1 universe (despite Hasbro officially shoehorning it into the Aligned Continuity Family ), whereas Devastation's more like, Ah ha! The Decepticons have unleashed a Deus ex machina upon the Earth! Autobots, roll to the rescue! It's nice and simple and pretty straightforward. And I don't mean this as a criticism, I don't think one style is better or worse than the other, they're just different.

Okay, so having easier game play for noobs like me makes it more fun because I don't have to keep re-attempting the same crap over and over and over and over and over and over again cos I keep failing/dying. However, Devastation does have noticeably more down time than WFC/FOC, which was better at keeping you at your toes. The deliberately cartoony graphics is visually fantastic, but not as jaw-droppingly incredible as the graphics on WFC/FOC. But again, this is a deliberate aesthetic style which makes you feel like you're in the G1 cartoon, and it does succeed in doing this. Devastation really does draw on the lighter, brighter and simpler world of the G1 cartoon series -- so if you're a fan of the G1 show, you're going to love the visual style of this game.

I like how the game quickly allows you to switch between characters too, so that you don't stagnate for too long as the same character and grow sick of them (again, cos it takes someone like me so long to get through stuff ). The attacks are very much like a typical Japanese arcade game like Street Fighter, only that it incorporates the vehicle mode as a special attack. Sideswipe's vehicle attack is actually a 'jackknife' similar to Guile's somersault kick! This and other features in the game really do encourage the player to mix in robot and vehicle mode constantly throughout play, which I think is excellent. In other TF games, I feel that I sometimes spend too long without transforming, or rather, I only transform between modes when I want to use specific features from them. Here, you can quickly "jump" to robot mode while driving in order t dodge obstacles, or quickly convert to vehicle mode to assist in your robot attack or to perform a ground slam. I really do appreciate how this element of the game play helps to reinforce to players that these are Transformers. We're not just playing with a bunch of robots or cars who may transform once in a while -- they are regularly switching between car and robot! And I suspect that there may be more to this story than meets the eye. I've already been underground where they've noticed a different smaller caste of Insecticons. Intriguing!

I'm glad that Megatron is a tank, similar to his Combiner Wars toy. Cos he'd be a really lame game boss if he were just a small gun, unless there were another Decepticon to hold him and... nah, the tank is much more menacing/challenging as a boss character in his own right.

The only other gripe I have so far is that some of the environments can get repetitive at times, making it easier to get lost in the city. Although this is reminiscent of the 'repeating backgrounds' that we so often see in the G1 cartoon.

A few 'Easter Eggs' that I've noticed so far:
* Some of the cars look like they're from the 80s. Could it be that this game is actually set in 1985?
* KREMZEEK!

But the one thing that I truly love about this game is how the screen characters look like the toys! This game makes really want to play with my toys! And indeed, after my first try, I just had to shut down my game so that I could do exactly that! I'm really loving how this game complements the toys so well. Even the Battlechargers are kinda Bumblebee-esque and the Seekers resemble the CHUGUR Seekers, most noticeably on the missile launchers. It's as if the game developers are dropping a less than subtle hint for Hasbro to retool these existing moulds in order to release them as toys.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I'm going to hold off voting in the poll until I complete the game. I am up to chasing Megatron who has taken off in the back of Long Haul. Currently I am enjoying it though it's a tad hectic for my tastes, not that much of a gamer these days.

I will give a MASSIVE positive to this game though - my young lad LOVES watching me play it! I thought I would only get to play it after he goes to bed. I thought he would yell because I switched off his cartoons, or would be trying to drag me outside or would keep trying to grab the controller. Nope - he plunked himself in my lap in the beanbag - yelled "Yay - Transformers!" and proceeded to watch away, with the odd exclaimation of "Car! Dinosaur! Robot! Hi Bumblebee!".

This gives the game a big tick from me!

[kup]

Although the visuals are awesome and chances are that I will buy this game, my concerns about it appear to have been warranted. This is just a button mashing japanese bet'emup game where you run around pressing buttons that do flashy moves then it's 'rinse and repeat' for the next level.

I am dissapointed as I would have wanting something more epic but to each their own.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Well I just finished the game on easy mode

You know what? I really like it! Sure, its no 'Fall of Cybertron' but that set the benchmark pretty damn high and if we had had no WFC or WFC I reckon the TF community would be appreciating this game a lot better.

This really feels to me like it could be some lost episodes out of Season 2. We have:

On the Autobot Side:
Optimus Prime, Sideswipe , Wheeljack, Bumblebee, Grimlock

On the Decepticon Side:
Megatron, Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Blitzwing, Shockwave, Soundwave, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Rumble, Frenzy, Bombshell, Kickback, Shrapnel
Long Haul, Scavenger, Scrapper, Mixmaster, Bonecrusher, Hook, Motormaster, Breakdown, Drag Strip, Wildrider, Dead End, Devastator, Menasor

Sure the Sunticon limb characters you dont see in their robot modes and you don't see Soundwave in his alt-mode and some characters like Megs and MMaster are in their CW forms but that's still a bloody good impressive line-up from Season 2!

Voices
Megs, Optimus, Bbee, Grimlock & Soundwave all have their original voice actors 30 years later - freakin awesome!

Graphics
Not stelar and not the greatest amount of variety but with the exception of subtle changes to take into account CW it's very G1 cartoon accurate and it's not like the cartoon had the best animation either

Gameplay
Yeah - it's a lot of hack & slash and combos. Not nearly as in-depth as FOC I'll grant you. But I didn't really want another FOC, I wanted something different and this fits the bill nicely as I haven't really played this sort of game before. I thought they did a very good job of putting transformation into the game both in use of travel and combat - I found myself transforming constantly throughout all of the levels for strategic purposes. THe only thing I found was that the ranged weapons packed a bit of punch and had very limited ammo - I only really used them when there were fliers I couldn't reach or to take out enemies like the exploding Bombshell drones.

Overall
Good on'em for making this game I say! I love it and my son loves to watch me play it and even picks which character I will play each chapter for me. Yes a lot of hardcore gamers will find this game wanting and when you compare it to a lot of other games out there in terms of both visuals and breadth of scope they are right. But you know what - lighten the hell up! We just got a game thats a lot of fun (which games are SUPPOSED to be) and is closer to playing like you are in the old G1 cartoon more than anything we have ever experienced before. Just appreciate it for a bit of fun and nostalgia - it aint expensive and is a nice little diversion to play for an hour here and there.

A big thumbs up from Big Happy Trev!

[GoktimusPrime]

Devastation characters played by their original G1 voice actors:
* Bumblebee (Dan Gilvezan)
* Grimlock (Gregg Berger)
* Long Haul (Gregg Berger)
* Megatron (Frank Welker)
* Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen)
* Scrapper (Michael Bell)
* Sideswipe (Michael Bell)
* Soundwave (Frank Welker)

[CBratron]

Just finished this and this is most definitely a Platinum Games game. Hair trigger reflexes are needed in order to dodge at the last moment, not only dodging the enemy but also turning the tables by entering some kind of bullet time.

The G1 aesthetics are welcome and the tight gameplay is a challenge. I don't know how anyone can finish this game with a button mashing mindset though.

edit: if you do play this prepare to hear "I F*#%ING DODGED THAT!" A lot.

[DaptoDog]

Finally got around to finishing the game. I played on the medium difficulty and couldn't believe how tough it was to beat the Devastator & Menasor combo. I can't imagine beating that boss fight on hard. The Devastation theme song in the closing credits was so full of 80's G1 goodness.

I certainly hope they make another. Though I think I would have preferred a G1 version of the High Moon style better, I preferred FOC/WFC from a gameplay perspective, particularly the inclusion of online multiplayer.