I spent some time in the multiplayer beta for the upcoming Transformers game, Transformers: War for Cybertron. High Moon Studios looks to have done an excellent job recreating the Transformers experience. The map I played looked really good and was extremely unique. Your character feels like a real bad ass with tons of offensive fire power, but you don’t feel like you can be steamrolled on the defensive side. So far, that balance seems good but certainly there’s more to be found there as the progression of multiplayer happens.
Perhaps most important in creating a Transformers experience is how your character actually performs transformations. Let me tell you, they nailed it. Jumping with A and pressing the left stick to transform is just amazing and really works. The sound is authentic and will bring back some memories from your early childhood if you’re about my age.
I was really surprised by the depth of the multiplayer experience we’ll get at retail. For the beta, there are only two modes available; Team Deathmatch and a mode where you gain points by capturing and holding points on the map (it’s name escapes me at the moment). At retail, there are a handful of other game modes that will be available. Because the game feels and plays a lot like Gears of War 2, at least in terms of controls, it’s really the multiplayer experience that I wanted with Gears of War 2. I’m glad to see that Transformers: War for Cybertron is seemingly stepping up to the plate in delivering a solid multiplayer experience.
We’ll have a lot more on this title in the coming weeks. Skeptical Gamer is getting a review copy and will have an official review. We’ll also be talking about it on Slam The Controller. Stay tuned!
The hype of the Halo: Reach beta completely blinded me. I was so excited to give it a try I quite nearly bought the disgrace that is Halo 3: ODST. Yeah, completely blinded. Instead of making that purchase, again, I received a copy from GameFly. I jumped in on the first day and played a number of rounds of the beta.
At first, I was really starstruck. I was so excited during the weeks leading up to the beta that the initial reaction was going to be positive, regardless of what the lasting impression would turn out to be. I had fun with the “class” selections and found myself picking specific classes depending on the type of game and role I was playing in that game. The different special abilities really felt unique. I found very specific benefits to each class and thought the variety they provide to be plentiful.
After I played a few matches, the hype effect really wore off and what was left was just more of the same. Sure, the graphics are slightly better, the classes offer something unique, and the added game modes are interesting, but the overall feeling I had was a moderate upgrade from Halo 3. I’m just not excited to play the next revision of the same world, the same physics, and practically the same game I played nearly 3 years ago.
If you want more of the Halo universe, Reach will likely deliver that experience. The multiplayer will, certainly. For me, I never finished Halo 3 because I simply lost interest half way through. I bought ODST hoping it would hook me into the Halo world, but it didn’t and I stopped half way through a pathetically short single-player campaign. I had the hype goggles on for the Reach beta and bought into it, in a major way, but really lost interest after the hype was gone. I’m just done with Halo, period.
