Robots in disguise
From fear of being outed as a fraud, I think I should admit this from the outset: I have never had any interest in Transformer toys, though in my defence I have watched and enjoyed (kind of) the last two Transformer movies. After that minor revelation I can understand why - boys, men and old - may deem the following review invalid. I can, however, guarantee you one thing – I will be judging Transformers War For Cybertron not from the bias that may seep through the nostalgia-filled eyes of a Transformer fanboy, but purely from a gaming perspective.There’s no doubt that watching humanoid-type figures transform from robots into everyday vehicles, electronic items or weapons is an appealing concept to most teenage boys, before they discover girls and the much more enjoyable past-time of snogging behind the bike-sheds. And the good news is that High Moon Studios clearly are fans of the Transformer models, books, cartoons and films too as they’ve created a very good game that features many of those the fan favourite, shape-shifting robots.
Transformers: War for Cybertron is a third person shooter that takes place prior to the Transformers: Prime animated series, when the Transformers still lived on the fictional machine planet Cybertron. What you’ve got here is two campaigns, where you can side with one of two factions, the Decepticons or the Autobots. Logically, it makes sense to start with the Decepticons campaign which acts as a prelude to the Autobots story, but you can begin with either if you wish. Split into 10 chapters (five on for each campaign) they are relatively short campaigns, but replay value is added by a three player co-op mode, a multiplayer campaign, and the fact that you can switch playable characters for a different experience.
Continued overleaf...