Transformers: War For Cybertron Demo

It was announced a few days ago that a demo for the forthcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron was going to be released exclusively for XBox Live. Needless to say, I was kind of waiting with rather diminished hopes for this release.

You see, there hasn't been a good Transformers game really ever. There have been movie spin-offs (which brings into question how much you liked the Bayformers). There was a spin-off of the Transformers: Armada series that was decent, but average at best. There was a Transformers: Animated game for the DS that was really nothing more than a Lost Vikings ripoff.

(You couldn't even transform on most levels...)

Beyond that, nothing.

So there's been this franchise more or less sitting there just waiting for someone to take the reigns and make something great out of it for a console. Transformers have been around for 25 years. A lot of different takes on the lore. A lot of different toy lines. A lot of different TV shows.

Also a lot of screaming about what Michael Bay has done to various childhoods that happened in the 80s-early 90s...

Yet nothing for a console worth more than a footnote. Movie-based games have really never been good and always feel like more of a cash grab than something completely original and fresh.

Earlier this year, what most fanboys have been waiting for was announced. A completely original game, original story, original everything pretty much steeped in the history of a 25 year product. Recognizable major characters. Recognizable minor characters. Recognizable premise.

Naturally, I read that announcement with a lot of trepidation and took an "I'll wait and see" approach.

Promised in the game were Co-Op gameplay, multiplayer battles, and one massive story.

When you introduce your game with Omega Supreme blasting the shit out of pretty much everything in front of him, you're gonna get people's attention.

As time wore on and more and more details about this game have emerged, I've gotten more excited. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind revisionist history. Throughout the various cartoon series, you could pretty much tell which character was which through some sort of iconic piece of armor or weapon or physical feature. Almost every series will mix in a couple of new characters. Most people are offended by the way Michael Bay has portrayed the various Transformers and his whole take on the franchise in general.

(Don't blame Bay btw...Hasbro has pretty much just as much say in the designs.)

And now the demo has arrived. Naturally, with it being a demo, there's not much to it, but you can already tell just how many features will be available for it. Right now, the only thing available to play are a couple multiplayer options. You can play as 2 of the 4 available classes of 'bot. Scout and Soldier.

As their class names would indicate, the Scout class are the smaller and stealthier bots available to play. They aren't packing as much firepower, but off the bat, you can choose between a number of different weapons including ones similar to a sniper rifle and a shotgun.

The Soldier class are bigger, beefier, and slower with a lot more firepower. If you want to clear a congested area out, this is who you drop into the middle of the fray. Both classes can currently level to 3 and there are a few customization options available via the character creation process. Options like what weapons to start the battles with. Passive traits (i.e. a trait that does more damage if you tag someone from behind) and active special abilities. "Whirlwind", for example, is simply your Soldier-class bot whipping out a humongous hammer and proceeding to go apeshit in a congested area.

Among the various weapons are melee attacks as well. A Scout will whip out a dagger-esque weapon while a Solder will whip out a hammer or an axe. There are grenades you can throw that don't seem to do any damage, but if you're in the vicinity when it blows, your circuits are scrambled and you can't really tell WTF is going on.

And naturally, it wouldn't be a Transformers game if you couldn't transform. Transformation is seamless and the abilities you have while in vehicle mode are obviously determined by what vehicle you are. Currently there's a Tank and a Car (Soldier and Scout respectively). Right now, the biggest benefit I can see to a vehicular mode is simply to GTFO of a sticky situation.

With the game being built on the Unreal Tournament engine, it's naturally got a UT feel to it. My best description of what multiplayer feels like at the moment is a cross between your typical Over the Shoulder shooter and a Demolition Derby game like Twisted Metal. There is definitely a really good feel to the multiplayer aspect and it gives me a lot of hope for the single player portion of the game.

At any rate, go download this demo and give it a try. High Moon Studios and Activision are doing a kick ass job with this game. Anyone who grew up watching Transformers will notice a lot of nods to the original lore, and that makes this TF fan very happy.