"We wanted to create a story that everyone could enjoy, so Bumblebee was the perfect starting point."

Given how many fan-favorite characters the massive cast of Transformers has featured over the years, what was behind the decision to shine the spotlight on Bumblebee in particular for this game?

Bumblebee is an iconic character that has been prominent in so much Transformers media over the recent years. He is instantly recognisable to both the new, younger generation of fans and by those who’ve been fans of the franchise for decades, and acts almost like a link between the generations. We wanted to create a story that everyone could enjoy, so Bumblebee was the perfect starting point. We also felt there was a lot to explore within Bumblebee’s character and backstory, so we’re looking forward to seeing seasoned fans discover new things about this heroic Autobot.

For fans of the Transformers IP, will EARTHSPARK – Expedition feature plenty of references and easter eggs?

Absolutely! We have plenty of recognisable characters that will appear alongside Bumblebee throughout the game, including Optimus Prime of course, as well as Grimlock, Skullcruncher, Nova Storm, and Skywarp. The in-game card collection features a number of illustrations and descriptions of fan-favorite characters from across the Transformers universe, and astute players will also notice a few subtle easter eggs throughout the game…

How heavily will the game emphasize exploration, especially given the game’s inclusion of Metroidvania design elements?

The game has a very big focus on open exploration, with plenty of secrets, detours, and side missions dotted about the biomes for players to discover. The side missions link closely to the main story, so there’s a lot of incentive there to find and complete them. Players are also able to backtrack to previous biomes in order to access new areas that may have originally been inaccessible the first time around.

 What can you tell us about the three biomes that will be available, and how much they will differ from each other?

The three biomes work as separate maps that must be completed in order to access the next one. The first is Road Canyon, the second is Jungle Temple, and the third and final is the Glacial Mountain. As can be inferred from the names, each biome boasts a new type of environment with unique threats, challenges, and twists that keep the game exciting.

"Bumblebee’s racing car form can be used to travel around the world more quickly, but it can also be incorporated into powerful combo attacks in battle too. There are lots of possibilities here for players to explore."

What kind of depth and variety can players expect from the game’s combat systems, and the abilities that will be available in Bumblebee’s arsenal?

We’ve developed a dynamic hack and slash combat system that utilises combos to create exciting action sequences. New abilities and combos can be unlocked as the game progresses, with abilities like the Charged Shot and Grapple allowing access to new areas, and others like the Ultra Attack allowing huge amounts of damage to be done to enemies.

How expansive can players expect the game’s progression mechanics to be?

Players can expect to gradually unlock new game mechanics throughout their playtime. While the list of new combos and upgraded abilities is expansive, many players will likely gravitate to a few that they enjoy using such as the Charged Shot or Nitro Boost

What sort of an impact will Bumblebee’s vehicle form have on different aspects of gameplay, from movement to combat to exploration?

Bumblebee’s racing car form can be used to travel around the world more quickly, but it can also be incorporated into powerful combo attacks in battle too. There are lots of possibilities here for players to explore.

With TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition being a game that’s designed for all ages, what are the biggest challenges of crafting an experience like that? How do you look to strike the right balance between complexity and accessibility?

The most important thing for a game like this is to keep the core mechanics simple enough for young players to grasp, while providing optional additional features that appeal to older, and more experienced players (for example, our fully-fledged combo system). By identifying challenges young players typically have with open world games, and implementing solutions that helped solve those problems, we were able to create a solid foundation. We then added a lot of side missions, collectibles, and other optional content that provides rewards for those who are up to the challenge.

"We’ve developed a dynamic hack and slash combat system that utilises combos to create exciting action sequences."

Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?

TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition will take many hours to complete the main story campaign and then even more to find every collectible and hidden easter egg within the game.

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series’ specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS. How much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

Working on a title for both older generation consoles at the same time as a current console requires that there be some concessions, because of modern development tools. However, the smaller TFLOPS difference between both console generations doesn’t have a huge impact on our development perspective.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. How can developers take advantage of this, and how does this compare to the Xbox Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

The PS5 and XSX SSDs are without a doubt, much faster than older generation consoles. One opportunity is to take advantage of the loading times, and to use them to develop seamless transitions between maps.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60 FPS console. Do you think it will be able to hold up for the more graphically intensive games as this generation progresses?

1440p/60 FPS is still an ambitious goal from a performance perspective, so it is possible that many incoming games are going to target 30 FPS on Xbox Series S because of those hardware restrictions.

"The game has a very big focus on open exploration, with plenty of secrets, detours, and side missions dotted about the biomes for players to discover."

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

In PS5 and Xbox Series X, TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition will have 4k resolution and 60FPS. The Xbox Series S edition will feature 1440p resolution and a frame rate of 60FPS.

What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the Switch in docked and undocked modes?

For undocked mode, the dynamic resolution will be between 480-720/30FP, whereas docked Switches will have dynamic resolution between 720-1080/30FPS.

What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck? Do you have plans for any specific optimizations for the device?

It is an incredible portable console, I think people are very happy with how it is handling games. However, TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK – Expedition won’t have any specific optimizations for the Steam Deck.

In a recent interview with GamingBolt, Julio Romacho Hipólito, producer at Outright Games, revealed that Transformers: Earthspark – Expedition will run at 4K and 60 FPS on PS5 and Xbox Series X, while on Xbox Series S, it will run at 1440p and 60 FPS.

Meanwhile, on the Nintendo Switch, when played in handheld mode, it will target a resolution between 480p and 720p while running at 30 FPS. When being played in the dock, on the other hand, it will render at between 720p to 1080p, and run at the same frame rate. What performance and resolution it will be targeting on last-gen consoles remains to be seen though.

Transformers: Earthspark – Expedition is set to launch on October 20 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Stay tuned for our full interview.

And though I did enjoy my time with Transformers: Battlegrounds, I was also disappointed with some of its issues. This is a game that’s specifically geared toward younger audiences, and those who fall in that demographic will probably have a great time with it. At the same time, its bid for accessibility clashes with the strategy genre’s inherent need for complexity and challenge, which means anybody who is looking for a layered and nuanced tactical experience is going to be underwhelmed by what’s on offer here.

"Transformers: Battlegrounds’ bid for accessibility clashes with the strategy genre’s inherent need for complexity and challenge, which means anybody who is looking for a layered and nuanced tactical experience is going to be underwhelmed by what’s on offer here."

Transformers: Battlegrounds’ core gameplay loop will be familiar to anyone who’s played XCOM. You control a team of characters across a grid based map in turn based battles, using up your limited number of Action Points to move, use abilities, and make attacks. The usual balancing act of playing offensively while ensuring that you don’t get too reckless is present and accounted for here, and, if nothing else, keeps you engaged enough in the moment to moment gameplay.

Every character has a special attack, for instance, but you can choose to spend more than one (or even all) of your available Action Points to use more powerful variants of those abilities for greater damage and even additional effects, such as knocking enemies back into walls or exploding objects to deal additional damage. Doing so, however, would mean that you can no longer move your character, and leaving them out in the open without any cover could prove to be costly in the next turn.

Each character also has an Ultimate ability, using which requires Energon. Your Energon meter, in turn, fills up every time you move or attack, while you can make it fill up faster if you decide not to use some Action Points and end your turn early, which makes for a nice risk/reward mechanic. Meanwhile, there’s also new abilities to unlock and equip with the currency known as Spark gained from battles, status effects to consider, and different classes of units to make use of during combat.

On paper, Transformer: Battlegrounds has all the basics you need for a solid turn based tactics game, and for the most part, the execution of these mechanics is good enough. It is let down, however, by a lack of complexity, and an even greater lack of challenge. For instance, accuracy isn’t a thing, which means there’s no danger of missing your shots, which tends to make things a bit too straightforward.

"On paper, Transformer: Battlegrounds has all the basics you need for a solid turn based tactics game, and for the most part, the execution of these mechanics is good enough. It is let down, however, by a lack of complexity, and an even greater lack of challenge."

Enemies also have a knack for taking potshots at you and then hightailing it out of the area and getting behind cover out of reach, which means battles often boil down to you cornering them with multiple characters from different directions, lest the whole affair turn into a frustrating game. It doesn’t help that the AI isn’t particularly smart either, and too often you’ll find enemies that seem to be all too happy to miss out on obvious opportunities for attacks, or stand out in the open and leave themselves vulnerable to attacks.

Missions variety is also a bit of an issue in Transformer: Battlegrounds. Most missions either task you with dispatching all foes, or with reaching a particular area, and this bland objective design, coupled with a lack of any real challenge, leads to a feeling of repetition setting in pretty early on in the game. There are some boss encounters, sure, but once again, most of them don’t provide much of a challenge, which means they just end up being longer versions of regular fights. That said, the bosses you fight against do have some interesting abilities that they use against you, so fights against them feel at least a little special.

Transformers: Battlegrounds suffers from technical issues as well. Visually, the game is mediocre at best. It uses plenty of colour, so it can at least be sort of pleasant to look at every now and then, and it’s never not fun watching large robots transforming into trucks and cars and pummeling each other, but there’s a distinct lack of detail, and many environments end up looking a bit too plasticky at times. Bafflingly enough, however, Transformers: Battlegrounds also suffers from frame rate issues, with the game’s performance dipping below acceptable levels quite frequently, even when the action on the screen is far from hectic.

From a narrative perspective, the game’s central premise will be familiar if you’ve had any engagement with the Transformers property in the past. The Autobots and Decepticons are at each other’s throats again, and locked in a race against each other to get to the AllSpark first. As always, Earth is the backdrop for this war, with the planet and its denizens getting caught up in the crossfire between the two robotic races. Transformers fans will feel at home with the narrative here, which is a good thing, of course- but the shoddy, clumsy writing and bland voice acting are letdowns, which means the story, too, is a bit of a mixed bag.

"Visually, the game is mediocre at best."

Something that I mentioned earlier in this review is worth keeping in mind though- Transformers: Battlegrounds is very specifically made with younger audiences in mind, who will probably find the story more satisfying than I did, and who will probably not be as bothered by the lack of challenge as I was. If you’re in the game’s targeted demographic, or if you’re looking for a breezy, enjoyable experience, Transformers: Battlegrounds actually has plenty going for it.

The part of me that was looking for an engaging turn based tactics experience is disappointed in what Transformers: Battlegrounds has on offer though. It’s too bad the game doesn’t deliver a moderately higher level of challenge or complexity, because it does have the basic elements in place that it needed to do just that. In its current state, it’s a moderately enjoyable but largely forgettable game.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

A new Transformers game is on the horizon but it’s not what you think. Transformers: Battlegrounds releases on October 23rd for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. It sees players assuming the role of commander for the Autobots in the war against the Decepticons to stop Megatron from acquiring the Allspark.

From the brief teaser showcased, this seems to be a turn-based tactics title akin to XCOM. Developer Coatsink and publisher Outright Games didn’t provide too many details but there are single-player and multiplayer modes to be had. According to Mark Blecher, Hasbro SVP of corporate strategy and business affairs, “Transformers: Battlegrounds is a new and authentic take on what a Transformers video game can be. It’s exciting for us to bring the epic story of the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons to life for a new generation of fans on console.”

Along with battling in Central City, players will also travel to Cybertron to wage their battles. More details will be provided this Summer so stay tuned. Expect other announcements and reveals later today especially with IGN’s second day of the Summer of Gaming expo and the PS5 reveal showcase coming up.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"The game has its own unique storyline and quests, along with an additional race mode where players can race to the next level once they complete the core storyline in that level."

What elements will Gigantosaurus be taking from the animated series?

Cyber Group Studios have provided all the of the TV series animated assets to Outright Games. The game utilizes a lot of these assets, such as the 2D and 3D models along with the music to create the most accurate Gigantosaurus game that the fans will recognize from the TV episodes.

As a follow up to that question, can we expect to see the game making some additions of its own that aren’t in the animated series?

The game has its own unique storyline and quests, along with an additional race mode where players can race to the next level once they complete the core storyline in that level.

How much do the four playable dinosaurs differ from each other?

Each playable Dino has unique abilities which can be used to help solve puzzles during the adventure. For example, Mazu can operate mechanical contraptions such as lifts to allow players to reach new areas. Whereas Bill has the ability to conceal himself when having to sneak around the raptors.

Can you tell us how much of an emphasis the game will put on its racing segments?

The racing mode is complimentary to the main storyline with the open world style of gameplay. There are multiple levels in the game and in order to reach the next level the player needs to race from their current level (after completing the core story line) to the next level. However, the player won’t get penalised if they don’t win the race or be in the top 3. Outside of the race between levels in the main game mode, once the player unlocks these tracks by completing the storyline then they can also go into the race mode in the main menu screen to practice on their racing skills or to play against their friends and family.

"For Gigantosaurus the Game, the quality of assets delivered from the TV series means that the game will be of the highest quality for a kids’ game, however the game will not support enhanced features."

Can you talk to us about the competitive multiplayer and how it is structured?

Racing is the main competitive element to the game, players can race to the next level in the main story mode. Or if players want to just race, they can do this through the race mode in the main menu screen where they can select the map and which character they want to play as.

Will the game will feature Xbox One X and PS4 Pro-specific enhancements? Is 4K/60 FPS on the cards? How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, in terms of frame rate and resolution?

For Gigantosaurus the Game, the quality of assets delivered from the TV series means that the game will be of the highest quality for a kids’ game, however the game will not support enhanced features. Frame rate can run consistently at 60fps on these platforms.

What are the docked and undocked resolution and frame rate of the Switch version?

30FPS (locked) whilst docked and 30FPS undocked.

With next-gen consoles launching just months from now, are you considering PS5 and Xbox Series X releases for your game as well?

Anything is possible! For now, our focus is to provide the best game possible for the current gen consoles. Once we launch the game, we will maintain efforts to make sure the game is performing at its best and then we can look into next gen possibilities.

There’s been a lot of talk of SSDs, which the PS5 and the Xbox Series X are both confirmed to feature. What’s the biggest impact it’s going to have on development, according to you?

Using SSDs greatly improves disc I/O. The greatest impact will be in the reduction of load times. Theoretically, it may allow games to not have to have loading screens at all.

"Using SSDs greatly improves disc I/O. The greatest impact will be in the reduction of load times. Theoretically, it may allow games to not have to have loading screens at all."

Speaking of next-gen hardware, something else that the PS5 and the Xbox Series X are both going to have is a Zen 2 CPU- how big of a leap is it over current-gen hardware in your view, and how is it going to help development?

This should improve overall game performance and allow better more immersive systems like AI. There will be a learning curve to take advantage of the increased core count. How big of a leap is hard to tell until we begin to put the hardware through its paces.

The Xbox Series X also features GDDR6 memory- what’s the impact it will have on games in conjunction with the other advancements we’re going to see in next-gen consoles?

This is faster memory than previous generation hardware. It will help overall performance of the game. Equally important here is the amount of RAM, 16GB. A lot of games could fit entirely into memory allowing instant transitions.

Backward compatibility is something else both new consoles are banking on quite heavily. How much of an impact do you think it will have from the perspective of both, developers and consumers?

This is important in that projects that are currently in development will not have to worry about targeting the new hardware immediately. It will give time to developers to learn how best to use the hardware and wont limit what hardware the product is available on. These projects will still take advantage of the improved hardware, they just will not use it to its full capability.

"PS5’s haptic-enabled controller is another selling point that some users love and some could do without."

What’s your take on the PS5’s haptic-enabled controller? Do you think it’s something that can significantly add to an experience, or is it just going to be a novelty?

This seems similar to the Nintendo Switch HD Rumble system. It’s another selling point that some users love and some could do without. It can definitely add to the user experience but will take time to figure out.

With the full extent of the Xbox Series X’s now having been revealed and it becoming crystal clear that their next-gen console promises to be an impressive piece of hardware (to say the least), developers from across the industry have been waxing lyrical about it and what it’s going to be capable of.

One such developer is Terry Malham, senior CEO of Wild Sphere, the makers of Gigantosaurus The Game. In a recent interview with GamingBolt, when asked about the console’s memory in particular – its 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM – he talked about how it will boost various aspects of games, from performance to transitions.

“This is faster memory than the previous generation hardware,” Malham told us. “It will help overall performance of the game. Equally important here is the amount of RAM, 16GB. A lot of games could fit entirely into memory, allowing instant transitions.”

Among the many things Microsoft recently revealed about the Xbox Series X, they also gave a breakdown of its memory capacity, which will see as much as upto over 13 GB being dedicated just to the running of games. You can read more on that through here.

Gigantosaurus The Game is out now for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Our full interview with its development team will be going live soon, so stay tuned for that.

NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to the game’s launch.

"When Outright Games came to us with the idea for this game, we all agreed Scrat was the best main character to go with, as to be honest, I think he’s the funniest character in the franchise."

From this franchise’s entire roster of characters, why did you choose to make a game revolving around Scrat?

When Outright Games came to us with the idea for this game, we all agreed Scrat was the best main character to go with, as to be honest, I think he’s the funniest character in the franchise.

Being a game that places such an emphasis on platforming, level design is something that’ll be very important to the entire experience. Can you talk us through the philosophies that have defined this game’s level design?

We had a number of rules that we worked with, one of the main ones was strangely, humour. We set up the levels so that Scrat’s unique abilities came into play. We also tried to use the environments, we knew that some of the levels would be based on environments from the movies, so we thought about this during that planning stage.

Can you talk to us about what sort of power ups and abilities we’ll be unlocking throughout the game?

The game is set across 5 environments split into various sets of levels and as you progress through the game you unlock an ability after each set of levels. Not wanting to give too much away I can say that the first ability is the double jump, so you can now reach higher locations/platforms than you could before. With each of these abilities you can go back and re-explorer earlier levels to get collectibles or other hidden items. My favourite ability is unlocked about halfway through the game and utilizes the kind of humour I mentioned previously.

Beyond the critical path stuff, does Scrat’s Nutty Adventure offer many optional objectives or leave room for exploration?

Definitely, as I hinted at, if you want to 100% the game you will need to explore various nooks and crannies in the levels, but for those, you will need all the abilities you gain through the game.

Will we be visiting a lot of locations that fans of the films will be familiar with? 

We have a few locations based on parts of the movies, mainly in the look of the environments rather than specific locations.

"Our story is based on something that was hinted at in the movies, let’s call it a greater intelligence, or a “past” and our story is entirely based on that."

Conversely, can we expect to see many new locations and landscapes in the game as well?

Yes, the story is entirely focused around something that was touched on very briefly in the latter films, as such we’ve sort of opened up the Ice Age universe and as players make their way through the game there will be nods and winks to this.

How are you striking the balance between taking cues from the films and adding original new content?

Great question, so our story is based on something that was hinted at in the movies, let’s call it a greater intelligence, or a “past” and our story is entirely based on that. We were actually in contact with Lori Forte over at BlueSky Studios regarding the story, we put in a couple of suggestions for the direction we would go in and went with this one. Lori was instrumental in moving ahead with the story and helping us to get the overall arc finialised.

About how long is an average playthrough of Scrat’s Nutty Adventure going to be?

For a new player, a normal playthrough will be around 5-6 hours, with a 100% run being upwards of 8hrs. If you’re going to speed run it and not collect any of the extras you could probably do it in 3-4hrs and we’re excited to see the community try and set some impressive records on this. Saying all this, we’ve built this game for kids aged 6-12 years old, so we would expect this play time to be even longer as they take the time to explore this beautiful detailed world to explore.

Games like this rely on replay value. How are you ensuring that this will be the case here?

As I mentioned, you’ll need go back and forth through the game when you acquire new abilities to be able to find a lot of collectibles and extras. We’ve put in little semi-hidden secrets, so the player will see stuff and think ‘how do I get that?’. Then when they get an ability later on think “of course!”. As such we have a fast travel system in place, where at the start of each section there’s a pad that the player can use to access the map and return to areas they’ve been to previously.

Will the game feature Xbox One X specific enhancements? Is 4K/60fps on the cards?

We didn’t prioritise the inclusion of any Xbox One X specific items in our game, but who knows, we might look at it in the future if there’s enough call for it.

And how will the PS4 Pro version turn out in terms of resolution and frame rate?

PS4 is 1080p on the base hardware and 1440p on PS4 Pro. The FPS is locked at 30p as we were more interested in resolution stability.

"On base hardware, it’s 30fps on all platforms with various resolutions. Xbox One is 900p on base and 1080p on Xbox One X. With PS4 being 1080p on base and 1440p on PS4 Pro."

How is the game running on the original Xbox One and PS4, frame rate and resolution wise?

On base hardware, as I mentioned it’s 30fps on all platforms with various resolutions. Xbox One is 900p on base and 1080p on Xbox One X. With PS4 being 1080p on base and 1440p on PS4 Pro.

What is the resolution and frame rate of the Switch version in docked and undocked modes?

On Switch it’s 720p in docked and undocked. We’re doing a tremendous amount visually on the system and really pushing the limits there while aiming for a consistent 30 FPS.

The latest Jumanji movie, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, was a big surprise. Not only did it come close to breaking a billion dollars at the box office unexpectedly, it was also a fine film with a great respect and modernization of the original film. It transformed the board game into a video game, where the protagonists are sucked in and must complete the game’s main objective to escape. In a twist that seems almost preordained, the movie will get a video game adaptation in Jumanji: The Video Game.

You can see the announcement trailer for the game below. It has a cartoony aesthetic similar to Fortnite, with the vague likeness of the actors from the film. Whether or not this will attempt to follow the events of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle or its sequel, which will come out at the end of this year, or tell its own story is unclear at this time.

Jumanji: The Video Game will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC November 15th .