Videogame Review – Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

            Goose loves Transformers.  I mean, borderline obsession.  When asked what he wanted to be for Halloween, he only had one response, “Optimus Prime”.  So guess who gets to dress up as Transformers this year?  That’s right, all three of us.  I’ll show you pictures later.  What we are really here for is to review what might be his favorite game of all time: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

            First things first, this is a sequel.  The first game, War for Cybertron came out awhile back and was a pretty good game, even though it mostly felt like Gears of War with robots.  I know that you could play as different Transformers in the various campaigns that they provided you with, but everything was a little too similar for my taste in that game to really make it stand out.  In Fall of Cybertron you do not have the choice of which character you get to be in each mission.  However each mission allows you to be someone else, oftentimes making the transition without going to a load screen, basically prompting you to push a button to complete the transition.  The best part is that each character has their own skill set that makes them not only unique from the other playable characters, but keeps the game itself fresh.

            You need that, trust me, because the game is basically go through and shoot stuff, blow stuff up and keep walking/flying/driving until you reach your goal.  There are little diversions along the way, and exploring rewards you with audio recordings that flesh out the story or blueprints so that you can purchase weapon upgrades in the game.  Those are pretty cool add-ons, but nowhere near necessary to enjoy the game. 

            The graphics themselves are beautiful, and the storyline is actually really good.  The action is fairly well paced, especially in the sections that put you in one of the brawler-esqe characters, and the difficulty is pretty high.  I started on the “normal” setting but knocked it down to “easy” about halfway through to finish quicker, besides, Goose wasn’t watching the game to see me die, he actually wanted to see the robots.

            And there are robots aplenty my friend.  Autobot or Decepticon, it doesn't matter who you favor because they are all there.  Some as playable characters like Optimus, Jazz and Cliffjumper, or in support roles like Ratchet and Warpath, they are all there.  Actually, in the end there is a great montage where you get to play as little cameos of multiple characters, both good and bad.  In the end you get to choose whether you want to be Optimus or his nemesis Megatron for the final battle.  I am not sure what the Megatron ending was as Goose wouldn't dare to let me play as anyone but Optimus if given the chance, but the Optimus ending was pretty generic so I have a feeling there was not much difference. 

            Oh, you want to know the best part about the game though?  Fucking Dinobots.  Seriously.  How cool is that!?  You only get to play as Grimlock, and it comes quite a ways into the game, so the anticipation is ramped up, but that’s all you need.  The rest of the Dinobots are there in supportive roles, except for Sludge, who was apparently killed by the Decepticons.  Grimlock does not actually carry a gun, and is slow and lumbering in nature, but he is fun to play as, as you get to slice things up with your sword and stomp on the much smaller Decepticons.  Oh, wait, did I also forget to mention that he turns into a fucking Tyrannosaurus!?  The best part is getting Grimlock all raged up and transforming into a T-Rex.  There is an actual cut-scene for this transformation, unlike the other transformations.  The cut-scene is incredible and shows exactly how Grimlock transforms.  The love and care for the property itself shows through in moments like this, so kudos to High Moon studios for not only creating a great game, but one that does a hell of a job making the Transformers themselves accurate representations of the robots we knew and loved in our youth. 

            While the game is good, the two-player mode is only available on Xbox live (with no actual co-op mode available like we saw in the first game), which I do not have, so that is a bummer, and the game itself seemed a bit on the short side.  I definitely would have played it for longer, and will probably go back and play it again for the Goose in the future, but it could have been a tad longer, with more of the quick-change robot sequences like in the last part.  If you like the Transformers franchise or you have a kid that does, get this game. 

Seriously.

Fucking Dinobots.