Transformers: War For Cybertron Review: Characters Part 2

Last post I made revolved around the Autobots. This post really needs no introduction, just time to talk about the Decepticons.

Megatron

Like Prime, you can't have a Transformers story without Megatron being involved. Most of the time, he's the main villan. From time to time, he'll take a seat to the likes of bigger threats like Unicron, Bludgeon or some human that apparently figures out a way to destroy them easily. Unlike Prime though, Megatron has been butchered into many different forms and voices. Starting out as a Walther P38 (G1), then a tank, then a T-Rex, then some sort of a 10-mode hand/dragon thingy, back to a tank, then a spaceship, then the batmobile,then a spider, then a helicoptor, then back to a spaceship and finally back to a tank. From the fandom's standpoint, I don't think most really care WTF he is as long as he A) has a huge fkn cannon on his arm, B) a bucket head and C) insatiable lust for power. In TF:WFC, he meets all requirements, something that hasn't happened very frequently for him in general.

Starscream

You can't have a story with Megatron without including Starscream in the picture. Habitually trying to overthrow Megatron's leadership and often times finding himself shot, beaten up or even killed as a result, Starscream pretty much just adds a facet to Megatron's personality that you can't really compare with. Starscream is always some sort of a jet or "Seeker". Much like the word "Prime", "Seeker" has really taken on a form of rank in some storylines. One aspect of TF:WFC that is being dealt with is how Megatron and Starscream meet. A number of storylines have referenced Starscream's history as a non-factioned scientist that was teamed with Jetfire, but have never really gone into detail how he was convinced to join the Decepticons. Like Megatron, the fandom really only cares about a few things as it relates to him. If you're going to use his character he A) Has to fly, B) Has to be a coward that gets his ass kicked and C) be an egomaniac. Also like Megatron, this game succeeds on all counts and it takes Starscream all of about 10 seconds to start trying to overthrow Megatron after he joins.

Soundwave

I consider Soundwave to be the last of the "Big 3" in the Decepticon ranks from a continuity standpoint. His primary function is to disrupt communications and spy. Most of his incarnations have been that of something associated with emitting loud, obnoxious noises or jets. His most famous incarnation is his G1 form though. A tape deck that spit out the likes of Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble and Frenzy. Ravage and Laserbeak were typically used for spying while Rumble and Frenzy were typically used for fighting alongside Soundwave. In later seasons of G1, and in seeming defiance of CD technology, he picked up another 5 cassettes (Ratbat, Squawktalk, Overkill, Slugfest, and Beastbox). While the latter weren't overly important, he was typically identified in conjunction with Laserbeak and Ravage given his recon responsibilities to the team. His other primary characteristic was his boring and uncreative personality emphasized by his overly exaggerated computerish speech. Memorable phrases include "Soundwave: superior. Constructicons: Inferior." and silly names he spouts for his cassette operations like "Laserbeak. Eject. Operation: Infiltration." There's really only one appropriate person for this guy's voice and even though Issac Singleton Jr. did a great job in the game, he's not Frank Welker. One other huge point of contention: How in the blue hell do you have Laserbeak, Rumble and Frenzy, but not Ravage...

Thundercracker

This guy has never had that much of a spotlight, but typically, when someone thinks of Starscream, they think of the 2 jets who are under his command in Thundercracker and Skywarp. They did a little bit of character development with this guy by classifying him as a scientist and having him act rather analytical in relation to his surroundings and missions. I found this to be a little refreshing given he's usually just a drone that makes a wisecrack at Starscream's expense from time to time and is always a repaint of Starscream's toy.

Skywarp

Typically portrayed as a mischievous teleporter, Skywarp has had a lot more character development over the years than the aforementioned Thundercracker. His presence, aside from completing the standard Seeker trio, actually kind of bothered me. Not completely sure why as his dialogue wasn't horribly bad and they didn't do anything so outlandish with his character it made me resent him. He just seemed a little out of place for the one mission you have the option of playing him in.

Barricade

This guy's presence in the game actually irritated me a lot. Aside from his role in Bayformers 1, he's really had no significant history at all in the lore. He actually started out as a mini-bot in the G1 series. Thankfully, he only shows up for one mission and I suspect that was more to fill out the Decepticon ranks and he was available thanks to current trademarks Hasbro has.

Breakdown

Unlike Barricade, this guy does have a little bit of history. He was originally part of the Stunticons gestalt team. I'm not saying "Gestalt or GTFO", but this guy really seemed like Barricade in the sense they were just reaching for filler and Hasbro happened to have a trademark on the name. He's been depicted as a bit of a vain soldier throughout his career and has always been some form of a fast car.

Brawl

This is another guy along the same lines as Barricade and Breakdown. He was originally a tank that was part of the Combaticons gestalt team. Usually portrayed as a very angry/pissed off character, they definitely did not go lightly on this trait in TF:WFC. Again, this isn't "Gestalt or GTFO", I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around guys like this as individual characters. It's not as bad as having Breakdown, who virtually has no recent history, though. Brawl and Barricade at least had semi-prominent parts in Bayformers and the toys to go with them. Unfortunately, none of the last 3 had enough history outside of being a footnote or part of a gestalt team that make me think they were relevant enough to justfy as having playable characters people could identify with.

Trypticon

Like Omega Supreme, this guy is last and certainly not least. They followed the whole marketing 101 path by including this guy's appearance in the original game trailer. During his G1 days, he seemed to mostly be a bit of a babbling, blundering idiot that served as the Decepticon's main base. This was always a bit of a turn off considering his counter-part, Metroplex, wasn't. In TF:WFC, he's a huge force to be reckoned with. As far as city-sized bases go, the Autobots had Omega Supreme, Metroplex and Fortress Maximus. The Decepticons had Trypticon.

Well, they had Scorponok too, but he doesn't really count as he really didn't utilize his city mode much and kind of went his own direction.

Anyway, Trypticon is generally depicted as some sort of a beast along the lines of a T-Rex or dragon. His original toy was a little innovative in the sense it was one of the few Transformers that actually walked (Omega Supreme being the first years earlier). They beefed Trypticon up quite a bit for TF:WFC, but pretty much all of the visual cues that make him instantly recognizable are there. Without giving too much away (slight spoiler), the boss fight with him is pretty much a great representation of what small bot vs. big bot should be.

Next post, I'll go over the other facets of the game. I'm hoping to have them all done by the end of the week as next week, I'll be out of town for our summer get together.

And we all know that's going to produce at least a couple weeks worth of blog entries.