XI Wiki
Serra
Transfomers: Fall of Cybertron Review
by
on 2012-09-28 at 15:58 (5129 Views)
I’m sure some of you have noticed that I talk about my childhood a lot in these reviews. Well that’s because, like many of you, as a kid I grew up during an awesome era. One of the cornerstones of my childhood was the Transformers. Growing up, the original Transformers was one of my two favorite cartoons. For anyone who is a fan of the Transformers franchise, 2010’s amazing War for Cybertron came as a blessing amid three movies that started with such promise, but failed to deliver and relegated the Transformers to the role of minor background characters. Heralded as one of the best (one of two) Transformers games, War for Cybertron told the story of the developing war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Fall of Cybertron picks up as the war on Cybertron draws to a close and the Autobots and Decepticons continue to clash while the world around them slowly crumbles.
Cybertron is dying. If they have any hope of surviving, Optimus Prime must lead the last remaining Autobots on an exodus from their home for an unknown destination. However, Optimus’ mission is far from simple. Not only does he have to manage the remaining Autobots in their battle against the Decepticon army, obsessed with their complete destruction, but he must also manage the doubts within his own ranks and the fact the Autobot forces barely have enough resources to evacuate, much less defend themselves adequately. On the other side, Megatron’s goals to conquer and establish Cybertron as the center of an expansive galactic empire were quashed in War for Cybertron when Optimus and the Autobots helped the Core of Cybertron enter hibernation. The Decepticons are driven by the desire to crush the Autobots and find a new form of energy to revitalize their dying home. Unfortunately, Fall of Cybertron suffers from the efforts to choke the story started in War into the now established Aligned continuity. For instance, the Dark Energon that was so crucial to Megatron’s conquest and the corruption of Cybertron has been seemingly removed. There’s no real explanation for why, and so it’s especially perplexing giving the essential role it had in War. Another major, and fairly unexplained change, is the fact that Bumblebee is a mute. Now, I get that this was a reasonable decision with the live-action movies to prevent Bumblebee from simply explaining everything to Sam after their initial meeting (although why he couldn’t keep talking afterwards made no sense..), but I don’t see why every Bumblebee character must now be shoe-horned into being a mute who only can communicate through clicks and beeps. Fall suffers from a number of these minor flaws, but that fact does not drastically take away from the immensely enjoyable Transformers story it tells.
Those who grew up with the Transformers can remember the distinctive personalities of their favorite characters. Whether it was the heroic and noble Optimus Prime, the powerful Grimlock, the villainous and scheming Megatron, the calculating Shockwave, or one of a myriad of other characters, everyone had their favorite. Personally, one of the reasons that I disliked the recent movies was due to how badly many of those characters seemed to diverge from their long established personalities. High Moon Studios clearly knew where to draw inspiration from with these characters and worked hard to develop their own entry into the Transformers universe without deviating too much from the established foundations of the characters and mythos. In addition to the obligatory Generation 1 quotes (which sometime feel a bit too much), there are a number of random instances that just shout out to people who were won over by the Transformers years ago. These can be obvious things, like Slag (screw renames) saying “Excuse me!” when he tramples an enemy, or random Easter Eggs like randomly seeing Soundwave transform from a streetlight in the background of a level. The striking character designs also return. The majority of the characters reuse their models from War for Cybertron, but a few (specifically Optimus – whose redesign I personally disagree with, but that’s another matter..) receive redesigns. The cast of characters is also expanded to include a number of new characters (Dinobots, Combaticons, Metroplex, etc) who were not included in the original game. These new characters are also given the same treatment as familiar characters appear more futuristic and mechanical than their Generation 1 iterations.
Those who played War for Cyberton will notice how similar, but at the same time different, Fall of Cybertron appears. War, built upon the Unreal Engine, felt like an Unreal game. While there were objectives, it felt like they were clearly there to usher players from one fight to the next or to fill in while the game took time to prepare the next sequence of massive explosions. Fall feels far more scripted and story driven. As a result, it feels more similar to a Halo-esque or CoD game rather than an Unreal game. That’s not to say the action has been toned down or the deluge of bullets has decreased. Rather, the game feels like it had a more coherent and detailed story in mind to tell, rather than the simple one presented in War. Of course, like most shooters, the environments never really open up to allow for complete freedom and players are essentially ushered from one objective to the next, but there are enough diverse environments that players can make copious use of vehicle forms without feeling overly restricted. Those who followed the initial information regarding Fall were disappointed to hear that the co-op feature had been abandoned and replaced with more unique gameplay. In War, players could select one of three characters (the other two were either controlled by the AI or could be selected by other players) and for the most part, the gameplay didn’t differ significantly based on that choice. In Fall, each character is given a single level to showcase their unique skills and character. While another character occasionally joins in, much of the game is spent completing solo objectives while other familiar characters are engaged in their own objectives elsewhere.
One of the best features from War for Cybertron that remains is how seamlessly transformations between robot and vehicle can occur. With the press of a button, players can switch between the two forms, using whichever is most suitable. The weapon selection in Fall of Cybertron has received an overhaul from the previous game. Weapons are broken into two categories, normal and heavy, and players are able to equip one of each. In War, weapons were fairly interchangeable – you either had a long-range weapon with zoom, an explosive weapon, or an automatic weapon (yes this is an oversimplification, but is it really that much of one?). In Fall, the weapons feel far more differentiated and are made more distinctive by the fact they can be upgraded. While the majority of the upgrades are the same, the final upgrade for each weapon is unique and allows the different weapons to truly stand out from each other. For instance, one of the best upgrades (in my opinion) makes a random shot in the Path Blaster explosive and more powerful. In addition, players have an ability that can be used in combat or for the unique gameplay experiences mentioned above. Some characters have simple abilities like cloaking or hovering, others have gameplay specific abilities (like Jazz’s grapple hook), and others have completely awesome abilities (like Optimus’ ability to call in bombardments from Metroplex).
Another major change from War for Cybertron is how detailed and gorgeous Cybertron looks. I’m not saying that War didn’t have impressive graphics; it was just limited by the environments it took place in. War essentially had two major environments, metallic and cybernetic locales, and metallic and cybernetic locales that were in rubble. While players never lose the feeling that the story is occurring on a mechanical world torn apart by war, Fall of Cybertron takes players to the far reaches of Cybertron, to a number of different areas and environments. Not only do players battle amidst the remains of Iacon, but missions also send them to the ancient ruins of the old civilization in the Sea of Rust and the more primitive underground of Cybertron that has been recently exposed by Shockwave. Not only that, but the voice acting and music are phenomenal. A number of the tracks (like the opening title screen) sound fantastic and fit the grandiose nature of the conflict between the two forces. Honestly, if it didn’t switch to another, far less dramatic track, I’d probably sit around with just the title screen up whenever I felt like my life was shifting towards the monotonous. Unfortunately, one major graphical flaw from War also returns in Fall -- what I have often called “Halo 2 Syndrome”. There are a number of instances where textures don’t load properly and character models and the environment do not look as impressive as they should. I can’t say if this problem is exclusive to the PS3 or occurs on all platforms, but it certainly was disappointing to see it wasn’t remedied in this game.
The multiplayer aspect from War for Cybertron also returns. Players can engage in four different game modes (Deathmatch, Conquest, Headhunter, and Capture the Flag). The game offers greater customization options, allowing players to select various pieces from the numerous characters to build their own characters. Performance in multiplayer matches rewards Energon Shards which can be used to purchase different parts which allow for thousands of different customization options. Personally, I really wish the customization had allowed greater color customization (like letting players choose the color of each individual component), but what can you do. Like so many other games, various actions in multiplayer (kills, capturing territories, etc) reward players with experience which is used to unlock new weapons and abilities. Escalation also returns. Similar to the previous game, teams of up to four players are set against increasingly difficult waves of enemies. Unlike the previous game however, players are restricted to one of four possible roles with varying special abilities which adds an extra element of teamwork. Unfortunately, with random pickup groups, having a player who does not want to be a healer can translate into early failures, but I suppose you can’t win them all. One thing to note, I have been really enjoying the multiplayer offerings of Fall of Cybertron so far, but I do have some reservations about the future. In War, the multiplayer was fun, but essentially forced players to buy DLC (which I never do..). I vaguely remember painfully trying to find matches with others who did not buy the DLCs once extra map packs were released, so I worry that a similar problem will also plague Fall. Given that High Moon Studios has established their “love” of DLC with the myriad of character packs already available, I do have concerns that the arrival of DLC will similarly put an end to my enjoyment of this game.
For long-time fans of the Transformers franchise, the story of Fall of Cybertron comes as no surprise. However, it is in the way that the story is told that High Moon Studios succeeds in creating something that draws players and fans in. Not only does the story provide a number of jaw-droppingly amazing moments, seeming straight out of Transformers fan-fiction (controlling Bruticus as he powers through an army of Autobots comes to mind), but it focuses enough on the struggles of the Transformers as they struggle to survive a war that we all know will inevitably continue into the future. Honestly, one of my biggest complaints is that the game felt so short. Since almost every level is devoted to a different character, players only get around a maximum of an hour to hour and a half with each character (and less with many). As the game reaches its climax, one of the most amazing and enjoyable Transformers experiences I’ve witnessed, I was left with an intense feeling of satisfaction, but also a desire to have experienced more. The tough but brotherly way Grimlock interacted with the other Dinobots, the comrade-in-arms mentality of Jazz and Cliffjumper, and the butting of heads between Megatron and Optimus Prime – playing Fall of Cybertron made me want more. Whether there will be a sequel to this game, based on the ending, I imagine is unlikely, but one can still hope. Personally, if you grew up with the Transformers or have ever been a fan of them, I cannot stress how satisfying Fall of Cybertron will be.
http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/g...c01eca4544.jpg
This is what you chose, Prime -- When you defied me! ~ Megatron
All images owned by High Moon Studios.
Mark as Read
