Transformers Fall of Cybertron: Do You Love Freedom?

Transformers! Robots in disguise! MOAR LIKE ROBOTS SHOOTIN’ GUNZZZZ!  God, that was awful.  I am sorry.  On a more serious note, in Transformers: Fall of Cybertron those Autobots and Decepticons do not hide.  They are doing the complete opposite; blowing everything to hell and back.  This is the sequel to Transformers War for Cybertron that was released a couple years back. AND OPTIMUS LOVES FREEDOM!

So, if you completely oblivious to any Transformers lore, you should know that Autobots and Decepticons are robots and they hate each other.  Autobots are pro-freedom and ‘Cons are all about ruling over everyone – Well Megatron is.  The backdrop on this game is that Megatron and his motley crew (Decepticons) have used all the resources (energon, it’s kinda like oil for robots) on their robo-planet, and they want to move to a new planet to harvest it for more.  The last bad ass, I mean Prime, Optimus says “Screw you guys, I’m going home” (SPOILERZZZZZZ***************IT’S EARTH!!!!!!!!!).   Without spoiling too much of the campaign, its balls-to-the-wall action, and it literally never let up.  Its jaw-dropping awesome.  I think the best thing about this game and it absolutely blows its predecessor out of the water is how it seamlessly transitions from character to character.  One of my major beefs with War for Cybertron was how you had to play one campaign and then the other to ‘complete’ the game. The story plays out as one faction and a big name character, and after finishing their mission we are treated to some narrative (or action) that flips it over to a different character.  The campaign does this numerous times, and each time it’s a different character.  There is a lot of variety when it comes to the character too; some are about stealth, some are flying around, some are HUMONGOUS, and some are hack ‘n slashers.  It works really well, and feels organic.    You don’t have any problems like that; you get a feel for how each side of the robo-civil war plays out. The great thing about this game is that it delivers a lot of fan service, and some of it is rather surprising.

   

Gameplay wise this game is an improvement.  They really didn’t change it up much at all.  Don’t fix if it ain’t broke, riiiiiiiiiiiite?! Transfomers plays like the standard third person shooter except you can’t get into cover, and you transform into a vehicle to speed away from danger or rush into danger.  One big change is that if you press the B button it allows you to switch weapon hands; it’s so handy! Harharhar aside, this is quite innovative for a third-person shooter.  It’s like changing camera angles while behind cover and it gives you a brand new edge to the battlefield.  Another, somewhat minor addition is that all characters have gained the ability to dash in robot form – if I recall correctly only cars were capable of this in War for Cybertron.  This is a welcome addition because it gives the robot form more mobility and they feel less squishy – pro players will use this to their advantage to get behind cover quicker or flee from a heated battle easier. They added in quite a few new abilities (see grappling beam thing) and weapons, but they keep a lot of the old ones too – thank god.  I loved the ability to turn invisible, to spin around rapidly with a robo-axe, and to hover around in robot form.  The same could be said about the weapons, some new ones but mostly familiar faces are used.  They did change in this game, especially in the single player, that you can only carry a regular weapon and a heavy weapon (usually some sort of explosive weapon).  I’m pretty sure this is different, and it was kind of a hassle especially when you wanted big bang guns to face off against bosses. 

Some of my favorite gameplay sections (MINISPOILERZ): You get to play as Grimlock the dinobot that’s a T-REX! Oh my cheesy rice, it’s so much fun!  When you play as Optimus you gain the ability to fire artillery on big baddies – he literally says “I could use this weapon for freedom”.  Talk about broner! Then there’s Jazz (if you watched the first Transformers movie he’s the car that talked like a black dude – hilarious stereotyping!) who is the grapple master.  He has a grapple beam thing that allows Jazz to jump around all over the place, and bring down heavy things.  It’s fun.  OH! Then there’s Bruticus.  He’s made of, like, five ‘Cons, and he’s too bad ass and massive!  His level plays out as if you are Godzilla and you are destroying everything in sight – glorious!  I think it’s also worth mentioning that the other characters you play as in the game are equally as fun as these aforementioned powerhouses – in fact, one of my favorite levels was playing as Vortex the helicopter (!!!!) Decepticon.  I nearly forgot the RPG element to the campaign, so you get money for vaporizing enemies ‘n shit.  You can use your cyber dough to purchase upgrades for weapons (you can get an upgrade for the pistol where one shot is basically a HUGE explosion!), purchase new weapons, and buy upgrades that boost your health, speed, damage ect.  The great thing about this is that each upgrade you purchase follows you through the campaign and new game +.  This is essential when playing on harder difficulties because baddies hit you for a ton more damage, and there are generally a lot more of ‘em.  

Graphically speaking, this game is easy on the eyes.  I’d say it’s on par or a smidgen better than War for Cybertron.  I’d give it an edge considering it steps out of robo-metropolises and we get to visit ancient ruins and sewers.  Despite how yucky that sounds, it’s refreshing to not see Tron-esque cities and landscapes.  You’ll discover while playing this game that Cybertron is a mess, and isn’t as pretty as it was in the past game – everything’s all busted!  I will say, I thought the characters, especially in cut-scenes, looked a little rough.  Their faces looked blurry when they had up-close dialog and what-have-you.  That’s no good! Just about everything else looked pretty good – especially the animations.  You can tell they worked their tooshies off creating a different feel for all the different character archetypes and how they transform and what have you.

Ok, so I have to admit, the multiplayer was a hidden treasure for War for Cybertron.  I really loved it, and it had a lot of depth to it – especially in loadouts for your character and customization.  Now, I like Fall of Cybertron’s multiplayer, but I felt like it was lacking that spark that its predecessor had.  This is purely my opinion, and I could see why people like Fall of Cybertron’s better.  First off, let me describe how multiplayer is laid out.  So there are four different character archetypes you can play as; Titan (big ole tank), Infiltrator (sneaky lil car), Destroyer (This dude is like Optimus, big rig vehicle; kind of the all-around character stats-wise.), and Scientist (The jet!). I must admit they really upped the amount of customization to your characters; this game allows you to tweak every appendage, torso, color, wheels, decals, and even the voice of your unique character.  This is rather enticing; you gain money during online matches that can be used to tweak out your robot in all new, exciting ways!  When you play the competitive multiplayer each class levels up as you use them, and they unlock new weapons, mods for weapons, and abilities.  What disappoints me about the multiplayer is how the abilities are handled.  I remember in War for Cybertron you could get four different abilities and earn upgrades for ‘em.  This game you are only offered two!  It’s so bogus.  It’s really limiting.  Anyways, the modes of competitive multiplayer are good and standard.  Team Deathmatch (we all know how this one plays out - boom boom!), Conquest (my personal favorite; control the nodes, and whichever team with the most points wins!), Headhunter (kill dudes, and take back their heads to a location for points), and Capture the flag (you know this one too!).  It’s a pretty standard affair.  It is addicting in the way CoD is; you want to build the best dude possible.  Fall of Cybertron also includes the Escalation mode; where you play as iconic characters as you fend off 15 waves of baddies.  Very, very fun.  I don’t think they changed much to this, and that’s a good thing.  This mode is a ton of fun when you play it with your buddies. 

This game is tons of fun, and I think it’s a contender to be top 10 of the year just for the campaign.  It’s a bro-titan that should not be taken lightly.