Second Look - Transformers: War for Cybertron (PS3)

For much of Transformers history, the video game offerings have often been considered one of the weaker aspects of the franchise, with the most tolerated one being the 2004 Transformers game based on the Transformers Armada cartoon. In 2010, the High Moon Studios-developed game Transformers: War for Cybertron displayed that it was, indeed, possible to make a good game based on the franchise and its core concepts, with the overall quality of Transformers games having largely improved since then. To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of this (for its time) ground-breaking game, I decided to revisit it to see how well it held up, as well as offer a bit of a retrospective on its place in canon and overall impact on the brand. Despite some issues with the game on a technical level, I found it to still be a solid experience after all this time.

Civil war has broken out on the planet Cybertron, separating the Transformers race between Autobots and Decepticons. In the midst of this, a new form of Energon known as Dark Energon has been discovered, which carries destructive properties. In order to further his conquest, the Decepticon leader Megatron seeks to use the power of Dark Energon for his own ends.

While this game features both an Autobot and Decepticon campaign available from the start, it notably bucks the trend of previous games with two campaigns (one for each side) by having the Autobot campaign take place chronologically after the Decepticon campaign, leading to one seamless narrative when played in that order. That aside, the story it tells is rather intriguing as it gives its own take on the Cybertronian civil war that the franchise is based around. When viewed in the intended order, it creates an interesting experience in which it you get to see both sides of the same story, though its clear by the second half that you are meant to root for the Autobots in the end.

One notable thing about the context of the story is that High Moon Studios claimed it was a prequel to the 1984 The Transformers cartoon when advertising the game, even taking heavy inspiration from it during the design process. However, shortly after the game was released, Hasbro decided (seemingly arbitrarily) that the game was instead part of the backstory for their then-upcoming Transformers reboot (one of many the franchise is infamous for) that they were expecting to last indefinitely. The main component of this reboot, dubbed the “Aligned” continuity by fans based on a comment from a Hasbro representative (for lack of an official term), would be the then-upcoming Transformers: Prime cartoon. The Transformers novels Exodus and Exiles make an attempt to tie this game together with the Prime cartoon, though they feature some discrepancies of their own.

For instance, Exodus brings into question whether or
not Starscream is a scientist like he is in the game.

It has been noted that certain events in the game clash with that of the 1984 cartoon anyway, thus rendering the two largely incompatible. One of the biggest discrepancies is the origin of the Matrix of Leadership, though the Prime cartoon was able to work the game’s version of the story into its own as a plot point during Season 2. While it doesn’t entirely work as a direct prequel to the 1984 cartoon, the story is better viewed either as its own work heavily inspired by said show or as a backstory to the Prime cartoon as declared by Hasbro.

Before each Chapter, you are given the choice of three characters to play as for the entirety of that Chapter, each one with their own set of skills that allow them to stand out from each other, which especially comes through on higher difficulties. These skills are in the form of two abilities the character can use in bot mode, such as the ability to turn momentarily invisible or to briefly hover in the air, as well as a more common ability to dash in any direction. Each ability also has a cooldown after use, with some longer cooldowns locking you out of using your second ability right away. This cooldown period can be reduced by collecting Energon shards from fallen enemies. Your choice of character also comes into play during one moment in the Autobot campaign in which the three characters are temporarily split up and have to go through different areas to regroup, encouraging the player to go through that section once with each character to get the full experience.

Much of the gameplay borrows heavily from games such as the Gears of War series, except with the ability to transform offering its own twist on the formula. Some sections are designed to encourage using vehicle mode to move through the level faster, though there are times where transforming can help out during combat, such as providing an easy escape to snatch more ammo to reload or Energon to heal, as well as provide an extra weapon if you are in desperate need of ammo. Characters with plane modes, which are only accessible between two Chapters, also have the advantage of being able to fly away from enemies, however it does not entirely eliminate any sense of danger, especially when enemies themselves also have the power to fly.

Much of the basic gameplay is similar to Gears of War and other such games.

The transformation gimmick also leads to an interesting interaction during driving sections that involve a land vehicle mode. Transforming to robot mode stops you on a dime with some small amount of momentum, which I was able to use to my advantage during one section of the Autobot campaign in which I had to maneuver around sections of the ground being destroyed; transforming to robot mode allowed me to stop at a hole that would otherwise be unavoidable if I continued driving, enabling me to reorient myself and continue on the right path. The iconic transformation sound as presented in this game is also rather pleasant to hear, even with a version that plays when the architecture would forbid the mechanic.

Aside from the character’s starting weapons, a number of different weapon types can be found on the battlefield that can be equipped in bot mode, including grenade launchers and sniper rifles among others. Each one behaves in their own way, such as rate of fire or how far they can zoom in, lending themselves to a lot of experimentation to find the one best suited for your playstyle. Bot mode combat can also be supplemented by a number of different grenade types that can be equipped, one of which has the ability to heal allies within range, which quickly becomes invaluable during one mission in the Autobot campaign where you must protect Ratchet as he himself is trying to heal Omega Supreme following the events of the Decepticon campaign. A melee option is also available to characters in bot mode, which is ideal for close quarters or for smashing open crates without wasting ammo. Vehicle mode has its own weapon that cannot be changed and must be reloaded when it runs out of ammo, though thankfully air-based vehicle forms have unlimited ammo in their arsenal for the sake of flying combat sections, which can be a useful alternative when the bot mode weapon runs out of ammo.

Naturally, a number of different enemy types are also present to keep the player on their toes. Among the non-standard grunts include snipers and flying enemies, as well as Brutes that must be defeated by attacking them from behind and destroying their backpack. The late game also features enemies that start out as giant tanks and transform when attacked from behind, requiring lots of ammo to blow through their armor in bot mode. Boss battles also have their own form of difficulty, especially the final battles against Omega Supreme and Trypticon, often requiring a great deal of swiftness or hiding behind cover to prevent an early death.

Enemies come in all shapes and sizes.

Additionally, there are a number of hidden Autobot and Decepticon insignias scattered across each level, the collection of which requires firing at them from a distance. So hidden are these that, while out in the open, they are rather easy to overlook, and I even found more that I hadn't caught before on what was my third playthrough. Collecting each one also unlocks some bonus content, making them worthwhile to hunt them down.

The character designs present an interesting take on the Cybertronian forms of many familiar characters, taking inspiration from the original character models while also going off in their own direction. One thing I liked about the models is how, when viewed from the back, some parts on a character’s back will move on their own when idle, since it works with the idea of the characters being able to change their shape without being too distracting. These designs, combined with the depiction of Cybertron with its varied environments, give the game its own identity separate from other takes on Transformers.

That said, however, I did notice some issues with the visual design that only became more pronounced after being away from it for so long. Outside of pre-rendered cutscenes and character select screens, the game presents a generally muted color palette in most levels, which can make it hard to tell the color schemes of many characters and cause a number of enemies to blend in somewhat with their surroundings. The environments could also be a little confusing to navigate sometimes, which is only exacerbated by how purple Cybertron appears. This has led to at least a couple situations where I accidentally attacked my own teammates, with the only way I could immediately tell being their name appearing constantly above their heads. There are also a number of instances of noticeable texture loading, especially during in-game custcenes, which distracts a little from their otherwise good cinematography.

On the subject of color schemes, one rather notable item is the color scheme of Soundwave’s Deployer minions Rumble and Frenzy. To put it succinctly, as it relates to the Generation 1 series, Hasbro tried to establish that the intended color schemes were Rumble being red and Frenzy blue (the colors I was imprinted with), however a long-standing coloring error in the 1984 cartoon, as evidenced by model sheets, led a significant number of fans to believe that Rumble is blue and Frenzy red (and that’s all I will say about that). As War for Cybertron takes heavy influence from the 1984 cartoon, it goes with the color schemes of a red Frenzy and a blue Rumble to match it. Since this game was later designated as part of the “Aligned” continuity, this would lead to Rumble being rendered blue when he got his own toy in the Hasbro version of the Transformers: Prime toyline. On another, smaller note, the game makes a couple references to the 1986 animated movie in dialogue, one of which was a line Rumble said ("First we crack the shell, then we crack the nuts inside."); while it was intended to be mildly amusing, it's a bit out of context here since it's said during a boss fight with Soundwave.

In this game, Rumble (Keith Silverstein) is blue...

...and Frenzy (Keith Silverstein) is red.

The music by Tyler Bates is good and varied, though the tracks that stand out the most are the main menu theme and the music that plays during chapter/character select, the latter of which also plays at certain moments in the game. Nevertheless, the music is striking and fits well with the tone of the game as well as its themes of civil war. There’s also a surprise appearance by the Stan Bush song “Till All Are One (Transformers Theme)” during the credits, which itself has its own history as a theme song for the officially-sanctioned Transformers fan convention BotCon before an unsuccessful attempt to include it in the 2007 live-action movie.

The voice cast features a number of notable voice talent, many of whom I ended up reverse-recognizing from various anime dubs, who all deliver a solid performance in their own right. One of the most notable roles in the game is Peter Cullen returning to voice Optimus Prime, which would lead to him voicing the character in most other media set in the “Aligned” continuity. Interestingly, though Cullen also voiced Ironhide in the original cartoon, the role is given to Keith Szarabajka, though to his credit he does an amazing job emulating Cullen while still putting his own spin on it. Similarly, Sam Riegel does a good job emulating Chris Latta, while Steve Blum does great in emulating Victor Caroli’s signature narration style. Fred Tatasciore’s take on Megatron is also interesting, putting a somewhat more sinister-sounding spin on Frank Welker’s original performance. On a rather interesting note, Troy Baker opts to give Jetfire what sounds like an Australian accent, which was part of the character’s depiction in the unrelated Cybertron cartoon.

I should mention here that, while it wasn’t much, the character designs from this game did get representation in the 2010 Generations toyline, with Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper (a redeco of Bumblebee with a new head) receiving toys. Aside from the toys produced for the sequel game Fall of Cybertron, the War for Cybertron name would later be used for the current (as of this writing) trilogy of Generations toylines, with the first one (Siege) revisiting the concept of Cybertronian designs for a number of key characters. The second and current toyline, Earthrise, opts instead for toys heavily inspired by the original 1984 cartoon’s character models.

After 10 years, Transformers: War for Cybertron stands the test of time as a worthwhile experience. Some things on the technical end show their age now, however it’s still designed well in both visuals and sound. The combat is also well-done for the most part, using the Cybertron setting and the transformation gimmick to its full advantage. In spite of its flaws, this is still an easy recommendation for Transformers fans, as well as fans of Gears-like shooters searching for a different take on the concept.