There is something to be said for when something is achieved correctly.

Namely when something is achieved correctly in the face of naysayers.

If you were to read about the flaws of Transformers: War for Cybertron the one that would grace your ears the most:

Repetition.

Too much shooting of robots and not enough of anything else.

To that I simply ask:

Exactly what seasons of the original Transformers possessed political intrigue? Acutely emotional and resonating familial relationships?

Unfortunately if you put away the rose-tinted CD (child-dimensional) glasses you’d realize that the Transformers did little besides shoot at one another and transform.

It was spectacular.

But that was it.

And to that I applaude High Moon Studios for sticking to their guns and making a game about robots shooting each other … and robots getting shot.

Graphics:

Serviceable due the subject matter. I will gladly admit that if this were Brown Haired American’s 3rd Person Trip Through Communist Country (BHvCC for short) I would be much less lenient with the occasional wayward texture map.

But since this is Optimus Prime’s Origin Story (SPECTACULAR for short) it is the best looking Transformers’ game ever made and an effective looking title technically.

Appropriate texturing on the battlegrounds themselves make for a convincing Cybertron.

Complaints about the lack of variation in the visuals should be referred to the name of the planet … Cybertron.

Frame rate remains consistent throughout.

The only hitch comes in the texturing of the character models themselves. This is what I call the “Dead Space” issue where sometimes in a 3rd person game the worst looking thing on the screen is the character you are controlling. Giving that you are controlling said avatar 100 percent of the time and they comfortably take up 30 percent of the screen, this may be a slight issue. This could be attributed to the artistic design to not have the robots themselves appear pristine and off-the-lot reflective. Every single recognizable Transformer is scuffed and scratched. The War for Cybertron is all-encompassing and it seems as though the artists went to great lengths to communicate this fact. Whether it effectively gets to the player is a matter of taste.

Rhythm:

Its not the style of game that matters. Its the polish.

We’ve just seen from Backbreaker football that deviating from the norm when familiar is best is the worst possible decision.

High Moon is aware of this and is content with polishing. And to that extent it is superb.

In polishing the feel of moving, transforming, and shooting High Moon has created the game’s greatest selling point.

It feels perfect. Your weapons feels heavy and meaty, like they were designed to destroyed robots. Your steps feel weighted but graceful, not like a man controlling a robot but a member of a million year old sentient robot species (something the Transformers movie games have failed to do time and time again). You can transform almost anytime. The brilliance of it all comes from the fact there is no seperation between vehicle and robot form. You could conceivably beat the entire game on foot or on vehicle mode. This gives the game a tactical freedom sorely missing from the genre, transforming robots aside. Much like the superlative Force Unleashed, you are given the tools and ability to make a highlight reel of sorts.

While I would never argue that the game is a series of connected gunfights, I would say that the genre’s strengths always rest on the gunfights themselves.

And this regard High Moon perfectly blends the familiar with the desired to created an extremely enjoyable gameplay experience.

Arbitrary Numerical Grade: 9.1/10. I don’t understand how a well-crafted 3rd person shooter about Transformers can get anything less. I’m inclined to say that this is similar to last year’s Ghostbuster where your enjoyment of the game was directly related to your enjoyment of the IP. But that would be selling the game short. If you enjoy the occassional 3rd person shooter at all, you would be quite satisfied with your purchase of War For Cybertron. IF you grew up watching Transformers, then this title sits falls just short of Arkham Asylum in terms of relevance and execution.

Passing Notes:

Many of the complaints of this title stem from not the design of the game, but the design the Transformers as an 80’s cartoon. The dialogue in the game IS sparse, as the dialogue from the show. The entire show’s dialogue tree extends from the interactions between the Autobots and Optimus Prime and the Decepticons and Megatron respectively. The game perfectly captures how Optimus Prime is everyone’s loving father and how Megatron is everyone’s angry stepfather.

This game also paints Megatron in the most masculine light the series has ever seen. When controlling him through the Decepticon campaign, you set about the destruction of Cybertron not through diabolical plans and manipulation, but by single-handedly killing every single thing that is in your way. In his half of the show, he may get about 1000 kills. I know Megatron-as-extremely-dangerous is woven into the script of every Transformers program before and in the future, but only War For Cybertron properly conveys it. Its like watching the youth and development of Battle Hitler. Borderline terrifying.

I mean really.

Isn’t War for Cybertron the only game you could make out of that ?

-A.