The Shrine

Shockingly, the game isn't shit. In fact, it's actually pretty damned fun. I played through the first two Decepticon scenarios (there are 10 total, 5 for each side) and it was quite good. It's a pretty solid storyline, set during the civil war on Cybertron (the beginning of the original cartoon showed both sides desperately seeking refuge after a long war that has left them both ravaged and on the brink) and some pretty decent cutscenes to tell the story. And no, it's not all pure G1 even if it is heavily influenced by it. There are a number of changes with some of the characters to update them (ie. Megatron looks different and is a tank; he's closer to the movies than the old show) but it's done in a way as not to crap all over the core cannon of the show but rather to update some of the very dated stuff (really, Megatron can't turn into a small handgun anymore). You can tell it was done by people who are fans so those of us who are old-school fans won't (shouldn't) be up in arms over any of the changes.

The real strength is actually the gameplay. Not only can you constantly transform back and forth between humanoid and vehicle modes, you actually have to do it and there's a bit of strategy involved with it at the higher difficulty levels. You do get weapon upgrades (you can carry two different weapons) and have to constantly worry about ammo (a little irritating considering they're energy weapons; shouldn't you have ammo until your energy runs out?) but that's a relatively minor complaint considering they're replenishing you often enough that you're never short for any real length of time. You can explore the relatively large areas (there are widgets to collect/destroy) and the game does a good job of making the vehicle modes feel natural. It could very easily have been irritating as shit to transform into a vehicle and fight in the middle of a hallway but it's actually pretty well done and an option you have. In a Transformers game, you should really never be punished for transforming and these guys realized that.

Overall, if you had any interest in the game, you should be pretty satisfied as it's a pretty good title. But for people who aren't fans of Transformers in any way, it'll probably feel like a pretty derivative, but solid, 3rd person action game.

One question I had.. Isn't the timeframe for the game before they went to Earth? If I'm right on that..why are they transforming into cars, etc?

Shellie wrote:One question I had.. Isn't the timeframe for the game before they went to Earth? If I'm right on that..why are they transforming into cars, etc?

Suspension of disbelief.

Yeah, they did that in the cartoon too. In Beast Wars, they changed into "animal" form to save energy or something...because who would care if dinosaurs saw them as robots.

Kupek wrote:

Shellie wrote:One question I had.. Isn't the timeframe for the game before they went to Earth? If I'm right on that..why are they transforming into cars, etc?

Suspension of disbelief.

Not really. Not sure if you remember the beginning of the very first episode of G1 or when they did flashbacks later on, but they actually transformed into vehicles that hovered or flew, they just weren't shaped like what we know the robots to transform into (semi-truck, VW bug, F14 Tomcat, boom box, etc). That's what they got when the computer scanned the Earth around them but they were still transforming into vehicles. And that's what they are in this game as well, it's true to the original (with some updates). The Decepticons transform into hover tanks or flying ship-like things, including Megatron and Soundwave, and the Autobots into hovercars or flying hover vehicles. I haven't played the Autobot campaign yet so I'm not sure exactly but if I recall correctly from the trailer, Optimus had wheels on his legs but was a weird truck-like thing. They've been updated from the flying triangles of the original show but it's still the same basic idea.

Bovine likes this game and will play it with whomever owns it on the 360.

Ok, good. I watched Transformers as a kid, but not religiously, so I was never really versed in the "lore".

Transformers were toys first, and a cartoon second. They decided that they wanted robots that would transform into things like cars and planes. Then they had to solve the problem: why would robots ostensibly from another planet transform into objects that even remotely resemble vehicles that humans drive? So they came up with an after-the-fact rationalization to make it easier to suspend your disbelief.

Kupek wrote:Transformers were toys first, and a cartoon second. They decided that they wanted robots that would transform into things like cars and planes. Then they had to solve the problem: why would robots ostensibly from another planet transform into objects that even remotely resemble vehicles that humans drive? So they came up with an after-the-fact rationalization to make it easier to suspend your disbelief.

Has anyone told you that you are a bummer?

Shellie wrote:One question I had.. Isn't the timeframe for the game before they went to Earth? If I'm right on that..why are they transforming into cars, etc?

Nate was just talking to me about it. They transform into alien cars, or basically what aliens would drive. So, it's not like they are transforming into Earth cars.

He also said that it was pretty damn cool.

Kupek wrote:Transformers were toys first, and a cartoon second. They decided that they wanted robots that would transform into things like cars and planes. Then they had to solve the problem: why would robots ostensibly from another planet transform into objects that even remotely resemble vehicles that humans drive? So they came up with an after-the-fact rationalization to make it easier to suspend your disbelief.

That pretty much explains all of the cartoons from the early 80s on. Regulators actually lifted the promotional restrictions in children's programming and all those cartoons, including G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, and He-Man were all a result of that. Just a way to promote a toy line. Sometimes brilliant, often putrid.

I'd go with high 7s, low 8s on the game. It's easily the best Transformers game ever and a very solid overall game. But a 9 it's not

Mully wrote:Yeah, they did that in the cartoon too. In Beast Wars, they changed into "animal" form to save energy or something...because who would care if dinosaurs saw them as robots.

I was a huge fan of Beast Wars, especially after the first season where they said "fuck this kid stuff, we're going to have an actual serious storyline that is relevant to the overall Transformers universe". The reason they gave in the show for needing to transform was to protect themselves from all the unshielded energon radation-- stay in robot mode too long and you'd start locking up.

Oh and Zeus-- the IGN review I read mentioned that the story in this game has been approved as official canon for the Transformers storyline, so that's pretty cool.

I watched the GT review, it looks pretty good but I was looking at it for PC instead of Xbox ($40 on Steam instead of $60) but I don't know what deficiencies that'll bring if any.

The multiplayer modes in the game are (for me) the cool part. So if you buy it for the PC, make sure you have pals to play it with.

Tessian wrote:

Mully wrote:Yeah, they did that in the cartoon too. In Beast Wars, they changed into "animal" form to save energy or something...because who would care if dinosaurs saw them as robots.

I was a huge fan of Beast Wars, especially after the first season where they said "fuck this kid stuff, we're going to have an actual serious storyline that is relevant to the overall Transformers universe". The reason they gave in the show for needing to transform was to protect themselves from all the unshielded energon radation-- stay in robot mode too long and you'd start locking up.

Oh and Zeus-- the IGN review I read mentioned that the story in this game has been approved as official canon for the Transformers storyline, so that's pretty cool.

I watched the GT review, it looks pretty good but I was looking at it for PC instead of Xbox ($40 on Steam instead of $60) but I don't know what deficiencies that'll bring if any.

Tess, I had heard that Hasbro approved it as official canon. It's decent enough to be a good prequel to the original show but there are some changes that I didn't like too much. But overall, I was OK with the majority of them, even if they were based a little off the movies. I never read the War Within comics, but I think there's some influence from those as well. If I'm not mistaken, that was a prequel series as well.

I actually ended up beating the game last night. Overall, I'd have to say it's a pretty solid game. I'm stickin' with my high 7s, low 8s from before. Mind you, I ignore multiplayer when basing my opinion of the vast majority of games and for this one, I don't really see a need to ever play it multi in this game....or really, replay for any reason (other than co-op). From the way the single-player game plays, multi is just going to be a Halo / CoD derivative shitshow with some Horde (ie. Escalation) thrown in for good measure. To me, that's not appealing in any manner whatsoever. The 3-player campaign drop-in, drop-out co-op is a great addition, though. I never got to test it myself but I hear it plays great. That would make the game a ton more fun. If I knew anyone else who had the PS3 version I'd love to play it (before Tuesday night, that is :-).