Transformers: War for Cybertron fell short on some of the expectations I had. While I really enjoyed the multiplayer beta and even the final multiplayer experience, the single player campaign wasn’t enough to keep me hooked to see it to the end.
Right at the beginning of the game I was slightly confused when presented with a screen to select the chapter I wanted to start with. You have the option to start at chapter 1 or a few chapters in, I think 5 or 6. I was more interested to play as an Autobot but that was a later chapter and I wasn’t sure if I could come back, if I’d miss any of the story, or what would really happen if I made that choice. So, I started off on the path of the Decepticons at chapter 1.
I really enjoyed the flow of the combat system in Transformers. It’s not something that’s going to blow you away but it’s enough to be enjoyable. The choice of weapons, the ability to transform to use those weapons, and the overall flow of enemies was good. One aspect that I think could have been a big help was some sense of danger, without feeling like you have to play on the hardest difficulty. I tend to play all of my games on the default difficulty setting. In Transformers, I never felt a sense of danger unless I was deliberately reckless. You can easily sit back in the safety of cover and space, and take out the enemies. The AI didn’t appear to be too involved in making the combat sequences a challenge.
I feel like the color and graphical impact of the game could use some attention. I understand that Transformers has three decades of story to respect and frankly aspire to. But the lack of defining color throughout the chapters I played was a big issue for me. The backgrounds and environments seemed to practically melt together and didn’t feel like they were used to create a fun environment. Perhaps I’m asking for too much deviation and maybe it wouldn’t have fit in the world of Cybertron, and I understand that point of view, but it hurt the game experience for me and I think that speaks more than some level of deviation.
There was some serious work put into the multiplayer experience and it shows. The game provides a number of multiplayer modes that you’ve seen in other titles and serves them well. For me, I’ll find many more hours in the multiplayer where I’ll have a hard time going back to the single player at this point. If you want some good, classic mode, multiplayer shooting with an homage to your favorite childhood cartoon, then you’ll get that with Transformers.
I can’t say that I loved Transformers, although it’s a good game. I think with everything that’s out right now it’s hard to compete for play time. Transformers falls a little short in it’s single player experience for me. If you’re a die-hard fan of the series and the lore, you’ll really enjoy this game I think. If you’re like me, and the idea of Transformers is something you hold in high regard but haven’t gone back to see if it holds up today, it might be a letdown. If that second statement sums you up, I think it’s certainly worth a rent to see if there’s enough there for you.
This review is based on an Xbox 360 retail version of the game which Skeptical Gamer received as a review copy.
